I have been putting this off for a few years now but I am finally getting my wisdom teeth extracted. Estimated cost is $1430 and this is supposedly the high end of the worst case scenario. So the good news is that I should not be out more than $1430 for being put to sleep and having the lower wisdom teeth removed.
My Teeth Are Funny
My lower wisdom teeth look a little bit like a cross between the two top pictures below. They are partially erupted and face towards the other teeth, instead of straight up. While I was in college I was advised to have them removed because I have (extraordinarily) large roots and they were going to be pressing against some (unpronounceable) nerve as I got older. I finally decided to remove the pesky things and I am praying for a smooth and speedy recovery.
My surgery will be on the last day of school (December 18) so I am only losing one day of vacation time and will have the Christmas holidays to recover. Because my roots are so large and the teeth are sideways (and because I have horrible memories of an extraction in the past) I will be put to sleep for my surgery.
Bring On The Ice Cream
I have already started researching how to recover from oral surgery and I just started stocking up on canned soups, icecream and baby food which are the things people said they were best able to eat in the days following. I will not be able to eat after midnight the day before my surgery…much like the last time I had surgery. I tend to be hypoglycemic so not being able to eat in the morning after staying the entire night without food is going to make me very cranky. Plus, I will not be able to eat for a few hours after the surgery either….and then will be limited to liquids and baby food for a few days.
Which Credit Card To Use?
I thought at first about putting the transaction on one of my rewards cards to earn cash back but realized that the 3% cash back card is only on amounts up to $500, which would give me $15. I would not get the entire amount because I have already spent towards that $500 on other items so I would not be getting more than $15 in cash back.
The other rewards card gives 1% on the full amount so I would be getting about $14.30 on that amount, which is close to the other card’s reward. My third option would be to place the amount on a 12 month fixed 0% card and pay for it in full before the time runs out…while earning interest on my money. I am also trying to see if I will be able to claim that expense out of my Flexible Spending account balance for next year and will increase my contributions if I can do so.
I will therefore be putting this amount on the GE Money card which is the card I used to pay for my LASIK. The beauty of this card (which I just finished paying off) is that you can get an interest free period in which to pay off your card.
In this case the dentist said I could get 12 months at 0% interest…which would become retroactively due if I did not pay on time. This means that I need to come up with $119.17 per month to pay the card and I have that already accounted for in my ‘miscellaneous’ section of the budget. I will actually pay $120 per month (split into two biweekly amounts of differing size) so that I have this under control.
The reason I will be paying (about) half the amount biweekly is to account for delays in processing as this will ensure that they always get a payment by the due date every month. This split payment is part of how I pay my credit cards on a regular basis and will be very easy to set up once again in ING.
Of course paying for this surgery is going to give the Emergency Fund a karate chop but I will be rebuilding it as quickly as I can. I will be more judicious in my use of coupons so that I can save money and will use any extra money to put towards getting the EF back on track.
Write For Me Please
I will be having the surgery in a couple of weeks and will be out of commission for a few days I think as I have to recover alone at home. I am looking for guest post or two for the week of December 20th so feel free to send me something so I can get it set up to go out then.
I remember when I had my Wisdom Teeth pulled. I don’t remember the procedure nor do I remember how I ended up in my own bed when I woke up.
I had the horizontal wisdom teeth above. The recovery sucked. Gauze change every couple of hours, constant drooling, and you cant taste you food. Vicodin was the only positive note. hehe.
Goodluck buddy.
Good luck. I had three of my four out in September. It was a harder recovery than I had anticipated, but the fact that I am 35 was a big reason for that. They waited because my bottom ones are/were close to a nerve and they didn’t want to clip it, and the top ones were close to my sinuses. They had to do a bone graft on my bottom teeth because it had been embedded in my jaw bone. If you have a chance of either of these, the cost could be higher. Because they had to close off the sinuses and do the graft, it added a lot more to the cost than had been anticipated. I’m still working with the insurance company to work out the payouts. Recovery for me took about two weeks before I could eat solid foods but when my wife had hers out a couple of years ago, she was eating normal the next day, so hopefully you fall in that category!
$1430?? geez… I’m glad I live in Poland… we don’t have to pay that much for medical services.
I don’t remember what I paid to get mine done but I hope it doesn’t cost that much. I do remember the worst thing was swallowing all that blood! I’d love to guest post for you- if you want to shoot me an email that would be great! 🙂
@Andrew: Consider yourself lucky!
I am not looking forward to getting mine taken out either. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) I won’t be put to sleep since my case isn’t as serious according to my dentist. Seems like you are preparing yourself well! It’s also nice to have someone else there to help you out with everything since all you’ll probably want to do is lay in bed. Good luck & don’t be too nervous! =)
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to claim the expense out of next year’s flexible spending account since reimbursements are based on the date of service which will be in 2009. You also might want to try to negotiate with the dentist on the charges. They are typically the most flexible of all health care providers and often if you agree to pay up front, they’ll give you about a 20% discount. It can’t hurt to ask!
On the plus side, it’s really not that bad of a surgery. I had all four of mine taken out and count eat that night. (and mine were growing in all sorts of crazy ways) Clove oil/extract actually does wonders on easing mouth pain.
Hope the wisdom teeth goes well… never a nice thing to have done, but everything will be great and you’ll have healed in time for Christmas and the New Year 🙂
Don’t forget the mashed potatoes! I’ve had oral surgery for a re-occurring cyst for the past 3 years in a row and it’s not fun. Have you considered asking your dentist for a payment plan so that you don’t have to put it on a credit card? That’s what I’ve done in the past. Let me know if you are still in need of blog post and I’d be happy to contribute 🙂
Wisdom teeth, this brings back the memories
Eek, wisdom teeth removal is some less than fun stuff. Hopefully, you’ll be back up and blogging again soon. I spent a week in bed when I had mine removed, most of the time too asleep to move.