Your child may need a tooth extraction for several reasons: extensive decay, loosening caused by trauma or gum disease, chipping, and wisdom tooth impaction. For those without dental coverage or who have not enrolled in a dental plan, estimating the cost of tooth extraction can be quite difficult. Whenever this happens, it is best to speak with your dentist first to see if you can work out a payment plan that suits your budget.
Costs And Types of Tooth Extraction
Tooth extraction can be quite expensive, and some families cannot afford the cost without insurance. However, you must be aware that the need for this procedure may arise when you least expect it; accordingly, you should calculate how much you may need. The following is a list of the different types of tooth extractions and their prices.
Extraction Without Surgery (Simple)
Traumatic or gum disease-induced loose permanent teeth are easy to extract and can be removed without surgery. The same is true for erupting baby teeth that must be removed to make room for their permanent counterparts. The tooth can simply be removed from its socket with forceps by further loosening it until it pops out. These simple extractions are the least expensive at $75-$300 per tooth because they are easy and straightforward.
Complex/Difficult Extraction (Surgery)
Extractions of this type are for more difficult cases, like teeth with extensive decay where there is not enough remaining tooth structure for the dentist to grab firmly. It may be necessary to split the tooth into two or to have some bone around it reduced in such a situation. The complication in extraction means that more steps must be taken in order to remove the tooth. The cost is between $150 and 650 per tooth, so it is more expensive than simple extractions. If your kid needs more local anesthesia, nitrous oxide, or sedatives to relieve the pain, this number will increase. Extraction of teeth partially impacted by gum tissue and some bone also falls into complicated extraction. An average extraction without insurance costs around $334.
Wisdom Tooth Surgery (Odontotomy)
The impacted wisdom teeth, especially fully impacted and angulated ones can negatively affect your child’s oral health. These infections are painful, uncomfortable, and can even be infected if untreated. You should consult with a dentist to have an x-ray taken if you suspect your child has an impacted wisdom tooth. When your child’s wisdom teeth are indeed impacted, you will need to pay between $225 and $600 per tooth, or up to $3,000 if you wish to remove all four at once.
This is a cute picture of an African teenage girl sitting at a dentist’s desk. The dentist is examining her teeth. Please have your child’s wisdom teeth evaluated at the earliest sign of discomfort or if you think they should be removed.
Extraction Of a Tooth: What to Expect
Your dentist will explain the procedure to you in detail before beginning the procedure. The dentist will then administer anesthesia to numb the tooth and its surrounding tissues.
A dentist can perform your kid’s extraction with just local anesthetics if it is a simple extraction. In cases where surgery is necessary, such as the removal of wisdom teeth, additional sedatives may need to be administered intravenously. Following the extraction of a tooth, the healing process becomes immediate. The healing process will look like this:
- Clot formation takes place within 24 hours.
- Swelling subsides within two to three days.
- After a week, the stitches will dissolve, and the dentist will remove any remaining stitches.
- The swelling should subside within a week after the procedure.
- Bruising should fully disappear two weeks after the procedure.
You should consult your dentist immediately if your kid complains of severe discomfort or pain following a tooth extraction or if you think the extraction site is not healing properly.