Yesterday I took Whitney to meet with an oral surgeon to talk about taking her wisdom teeth out. After years in braces, we certainly don't want wisdom teeth to ruin her smile. The office was most helpful it telling me how much I would owe upon the removal of the teeth. I specifically got dental insurance for her knowing this was coming up and my total will still be over $1,000. The entire procedure is more than $2,000. The dental insurance costs me $30/month. Of course if I had more children, this cost would be spread amongst all of them, but no discount for one child families. Add this to the orthodontia bill of over $5,000 and I've realized that we all missed our calling. Teeth is where the money is. Think about what just a normal visit to the dentist costs for a cleaning. Almost $100. Add in x-rays and you are up to $150. Poor Whitney had to have 5 teeth pulled for her braces over the 3 years she had them and the expander, add that to the dentist's coffers.
For those of you with more than one child, save your money. Fixing teeth is more costly than a college education. Encourage your children to go to dental school. Then they will be set for life.
P.S. Anne tell Eric he made the right choice. I'm sorry I'm complaining about his profession but I can't help it.
And ortho insurance is a joke. Seriously, even the good plans only pay 50%. When you're looking at an $8,000 set of braces, that still leaves you with a lot to pay. Sarah's ortho was cheaper because it wasn't the braces she needed. It was the head gear to adjust her bite. The brackets are just to hold the head gear on and move teeth a bit forward when done. It was still $4,000, which means $2,000 for us. Next up... Hannah. Same thing, same price. It's a racket!
ReplyDeleteThis was the first year our dental insurance even had any ortho payments. Of course, I finished paying last year.
ReplyDeleteFOUR yes FOUR wisdom teeth at once! the movie said i could die but mom said that was only for safety and so the office wont get sued.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Whitney. We will sue if you die. We've got your back. :-)
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