Having wisdom teeth removed while studying abroad?

<p>The estimates I've gotten for the removal of my four impacted wisdom teeth have been around $3000 to $4000. My parents' insurance doesn't cover the procedure, and they don't think it's necessary to have them removed, but I'm worried about potential damage to my health in the future (cysts, infections, shifting of my other teeth?).</p>

<p>Has anyone here had surgery in another country, while studying abroad? If anyone knows anything about having medical procedures done abroad, I'd be glad to have your input. :)</p>

<p>Keilinger, I don’t have the answer to your question, but I did have a suggestion - do you live near a major dental school? Dental schools often have clinics that offer dental services (by dental students under the supervision of professors) for free or very low cost.</p>

<p>Hey!</p>

<p>What a wild question. I had my wisdom teeth taken out by uncle same – did some military service before finishing school.</p>

<p>I can say, however, that I just went to a dentist in Spain – and I have to go back to have another filling done! </p>

<p>Here’s what I paid:</p>

<p>cleaning: $75 (roughly, cause of the exchange rate)
1 cavity filled: $125</p>

<p>I go back for another filling on end of next week – and I Will Ask how much it costs to have a wisdom tooth removed!</p>

<p>Health care in Spain, by the way, is much, much cheaper than in the US. I just looked yesterday (cause of the dentist thing) and for me the cost would be about $800 for the year.</p>

<p>Also, I only had two of my wisdom teeth removed. If your dentist didn’t tell you that it was absolutely necessary at this point to have all four removed (or any, for that matter), then don’t sweat it.</p>

<p>Oh yeah–I was petrified about the whole thing, but it went really smoothly. I didn’t even feel the injections for the anesthesia – don’t know how he did that, but great! The anesthesia wore off about two hours after the dentist was finished, and I had no pain, no problems. So, while it’s my only experience with any kind of medical treatment abroad (and not exactly surgery), my experience says that the quality of the health care I got was A+.</p>

<p>Will let you know. Hope you check back!</p>

<p>Thanks, magellan. My dentist never explicitly told me to have them removed, but he did say they at an angle and wouldn’t come up; hence, I’d need to get them taken out before they cause an infection or whatnot (that’s what I got from it, although I must admit I’m a bit of a hypochondriac and I research things like this online, and then imagine the worst possible scenaria, haha).</p>

<p>My orthodontist did recommend that I get them out by the end of this year, but he didn’t seem very adamant about that. I wonder if my orthodontic work can be screwed up by my wisdom teeth? </p>

<p>Best of luck in Spain!</p>

<p>Hey Keilinger,</p>

<p>Cool, planning ahead never hurts… I go back to the dentist middle of this week, and I’ll ask how much it costs to have a widom tooth taken out … and if you get a volume discount for 4! lol</p>