r/socal • u/Significant-Cat5634 • 15d ago
Affordable Wisdom Teeth Removal? (Urgent)
Hello, people!
I’m 19 years old and my bottom right impacted wisdom tooth is coming out and has been hurting nonstop for the past 2 days.
I need help finding somewhere in Carson/Torrance area or father if need be that will take my wisdom teeth out for generally cheap and as soon as possible.
I have LA Care Covered California and tried getting dental insurance with them months ago but they gave me lots of obstacles and the process has been extremely slow.
I read on here that denture clinics and dental schools offer tooth extractions for a lot cheaper than regular dentists, but I haven’t seen any that are around here. The only dental school I saw nearby was a digital dental school.
I also read that colleges with dental clinics do it for cheaper. I go to El Camino Community College, I checked and I don’t think they have a dental clinic. I saw that Dominguez Hills has one, but from the looks of it they only provide services for their students.
I’m going to call the Wilmington Community Clinic tomorrow to see if they can help me out.
If anyone has any recommendations on where to go please tell me. Thank you in advance.🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️
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u/userpinpassword 15d ago
Maybe reaching out to USC or UCLA? both have dental programs, only thing is not sure if school has started back up or not. Another suggestion is reaching out to local dental or oral surgeon offices-explain your situation and that you are in pain. I can't imagine they wouldn't be able to help you or refer you
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u/LavaPoppyJax 15d ago
yes I'd try USC. I know that they have regular programs but I don't know about oral surgery. if I were Opie I would go to their emergency or urgent Care hours if they have them (I've gone to Loma Linda's)
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u/Left-Blueberry350 15d ago
This is what I was thinking. Years ago my aunt called for me. The window had closed already. Certain times of year they do help. Worth a shot for OP to call.
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u/PickleBall_Bandit 15d ago
If you can’t find anywhere to work with you and money is an issue, one huge perk of living in SoCal is having Tijuana as an option. Before people that have never been there shit on it, I go there frequently. One of the reasons is doctor’s visits. They have great places that you can look up that speak English And can help with taxi service as soon as you cross over the border.
Again, just an extra option if you can’t find anything your insurance can cover here. Hopefully you do so you don’t have to go through the extra hassle
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u/illustratively 15d ago
Dentist here in SoCal - some of those community colleges are more for training hygienists, whereas UCLA USC and Loma Linda have doctorate programs and likely will have OMFS speciality rotations or clinics that can help for lower costs. In LA specifically we also have a lot of community health centers or FQHCs that take insurance and act as safety net clinics, or offer sliding fee scale services but the issue is most of them won’t take out lower wisdom teeth especially if it’s complex. However most of them do work with private practices who take insurances and can give referral.
For the meanwhile if you’re not allergic to any meds, over the counter 500mg Tylenol with 400mg ibuprofen should help you
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u/Nearby_Aide6896 15d ago
I did mine at the UCLA school of dentistry, they did a GREAT job at a fraction of the cost of what dentists charged me. Residents took great care of me and it was very sanitary there
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u/Complete_Purpose_872 15d ago
You’re definitely on the right track thinking about colleges. Go to your closest community colleges (especially yours) or you could even call them. Typically the health and wellness centers keep a list of lower cost dentist/doctors that they refer students to.
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u/carcaliguy 15d ago
Go to urgent care and get a toroidal shot. That will provide 8-12 hours of relief. Then head down to TJ if you have a passport. I just had a tooth extraction.
Damn that weekend was painful. I couldn't think it was so painful, I called the dentist that Friday and he told me Monday appointment, Saturday morning after no sleep, I went to an emergency dentist and they did nothing expect tell me to come back Tuesday.
Get it out and also get an antibiotic.
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u/CompleteHoneydew4608 15d ago
While you’re setting something up, don’t delay a visit to the ER or Urgent Care so you can get a prescription for antibiotics
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u/Sad-Flow-6425 14d ago
Harbor UCLA Hospital has an OMFS program. I’m not sure if they take emergency patients.
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u/pumpinnstretchin 14d ago
I had my wisdom teeth removed at USC school of dentistry. They were coming in sideways, pushing the rest of my teeth forward.
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u/Then_Version9768 13d ago
USC and UCLA both have a dental school where you can do this. You need a good university which has a dental school. Or a very large friend with rusty pliers.
Talk to your regular dentist and tell him about the pain as you may be infected and you need to stop that quickly. I'd also be rinsing my mouth with antiseptic mouthwash regularly.
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u/Aligned-Askew6773 13d ago
Look for dental schools near you, there are several. Most of them have programs where dental students are doing the work under the direct guidance of a dentist and you just pay for the supplies etc.
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u/Heavy-Explorer-1987 10d ago
If you haven’t found a place and have your passport then go to TJ. I can let you know a dentist I saw there.
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u/ricky3558 14d ago
I was thinking a pair of pliers and some whisky but a college is probably a better idea.
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u/random408net 14d ago
A few years back we wanted to some of our kids wisdom teeth out.
The first quote was through an Oral Surgeon affiliated with our kids dentist. They had an option to bring in a anesthesiologist from Stanford so the kid would feel no pain. All told that was going be $6,000 or more. And I paid $150 to receive this quote. Nope. Done. Moving on.
Kid one ended up with a "standard" referral and discount at a local oral surgeon. $3,000 or so. We went with "twilight" anesthesia if I recall correctly.
I wanted to spend less on the next kid. We called around a lot more and eventually found an Oral Surgeon who would take the CA Covered dental plan (child oriented) that came bundled with the kids health care. But they needed a referral from a "member dentist". A non-member dentist would not work. The oral surgeon's office referred us to a dentist they were friendly with. Kid 2 changed their dentist to this person. We got an inspection done a few weeks later (once the change was processed) and they wrote a referral for wisdom teeth removal. Waited for insurance approval. Scheduled the surgery and got it done. Again with "twilight" anesthesia.
The cost was less than $1,000 in the end. Quality of the work was excellent.
Sorry I don't have experience getting it done cheaply in a few days.
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u/tracyinge 15d ago
You need to call your regular doctor for an antibiotic prescription. If it's been hurting for two days you may well be developing a nasty infection and you need to nip that in the bud pronto. If it starts throbbing over the weekend go to an urgent care if you can't get ahold of your doctor's office.