{"id":8652,"date":"2012-01-04T00:15:48","date_gmt":"2012-01-04T08:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=8652"},"modified":"2023-07-17T13:52:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T20:52:59","slug":"the-high-cost-of-getting-my-sons-wisdom-teeth-removed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id8652-the-high-cost-of-getting-my-sons-wisdom-teeth-removed.html","title":{"rendered":"The High Cost of Getting My Son’s Wisdom Teeth Removed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Nobody likes a big mouth.<\/p>\n

At least that’s what I used to think.<\/p>\n

My teenage son, Matthew doesn’t have a big mouth — although I wish he did.<\/p>\n

That’s because most big mouths have one particular virtue that makes the rest of us extremely envious: they usually get to keep their wisdom teeth. As a result, they — or their parents — also end up avoiding those dreaded dentist bills for their removal.<\/p>\n

My son was cursed with his dad’s pie hole; my fly trap is so tiny it can barely accommodate 24 teeth.<\/p>\n

Although Matthew’s mouth isn’t that<\/em><\/strong> small, last week the dentist removed all four of his wisdom teeth — plus a fifth<\/em><\/strong> molar that was almost hopelessly impacted, somehow pointed at a nearly 90 degree angle to his other teeth.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the removal of that fifth molar left an unacceptable gap in my son’s not-so-big mouth that threatened to undo thousands of dollars worth of orthodontia work that we previously paid for. So to prevent that, Matthew also needed a bone graft to support a future dental abutment for a fake tooth.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not, by the time this orthodontic odyssey is finally over, it looks like the wisdom tooth gig is going to cost me even more.<\/p>\n

Check out this itemized bill:<\/p>\n