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Get your wisdom tooth extracted at govt hospitals

I previously complained about my wisdom teeth.

Some people are lucky - they either dont have wisdom tooth, or their wisdom tooth grew well vertically.

Since young, I don't have much luck with my teeth. I had braces done for very vain reason because my front tooth was protruding outwards. Other than that, the rest of my teeth are generally fine. I recalled paying $3500 back in 2005-2007. Oh man, that was a long long time. I'm not sure how much braces cost nowadays, but it was a lot of money back then considering how I had to dig into my savings. Anyway, I don't regret this cosmetic surgery since it gave me confidence to smile properly.

Back to my wisdom tooth, I knew back in secondary school that I had some growing in my gums. My dentist told me when I did my xrays for the braces. But as it was still growing, there was no way of getting it out. The dentist did hint that my tooth were likely impacted judging from how they grew.

Fast forward to today, it was during a recent dental checkup that I told my dentist about an aching pain at my gum and some headache. He asked if I'd like to get my xrays done immediately and that he'll refer me to a specialist to get it extracted.

How much would that be? I asked.

For your case, it's complicated since it is likely touching the nerves...judging from the old xray. Probably $1000+ for 1 tooth, claimable via Medisave.

The money-minded me didn't bear to part my money for the immediate xray. Since the doc said that I may have to do xray again at the specialist (what for I do now right). I didn't do the xray nor got his referral.

I did my research online and found that the most affordable way to remove my darn wisdom teeth were at the govt hospitals. First, I had to get a referral letter from the polyclinic. This was the toughest part of the whole process as it was very difficult to get a slot at the polyclinics! Took a few months before I got a slot at Geylang Polyclinic and things went smoothly after that.

My surgery went smoothly although it was nerve wrecking to be under local anaesthesia. I could feel my heart beating really fast when I sat on the chair :'(
It was relatively painless except for the LA injections. I could also eat solid food the next day.

Here's a breakdown of my bill (your price may differ, please don't quote me):

ItemPrice
dental at polyclinic14.7
xray and consultation57.87
surgery on left side (medisave)525
Total597.57

Nearly half of what I would have paid at a private clinic! I'm very pleased with myself for initiating this surgery although my tooth weren't hurting. So, please get your teeth done at our govt hospitals, and don't wait till it hurts badly cause that's when you need to beg for dentists to operate on you!

Comments

  1. Wah pian. You had time to schedule appointments? Oooh.

    Every time my wisdom tooth got into trouble, it's like, "Get it out now!" Fortunately, there aren't too many of them. Good riddance.

    ReplyDelete

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