Wisdom Teeth

Probably 5 years ago the dentist told me I needed to get Daughter's wisdom teeth pulled. He also told me that he didn't know anyone who would take her medicaid. Over the years I have attempted to find someone several times, but have always given up. About a week ago Daughter began to complain about her wisdom teeth again. They are only partially through her gums, and once again, the gums are red and irritated. I told her I'd try again to find an oral surgeon. I started by calling the state help line for medicaid. They told me there wasn't anyone in my county. They gave me names and numbers of people in nearby counties.

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I began making phone calls. Many wouldn't take medicaid. Some would take medicaid from people who lived in their county, but not people outside of it. Because she has medicaid, if they accept any medicaid at all, they can't treat her and take money for it. My insurance may cover the extractions, but again, because she has secondary coverage that is medicaid, they refuse to see her.

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I found one who didn't take any medicaid, so that wasn't a problem, but they didn't take my insurance. I finally found one 2 hours away who takes my insurance and doesn't take any medicaid. We have an appointment for Monday afternoon for x-rays and consult. Hopefully he'll be able to tell me if my insurance will cover it. If not, I guess I'll find the money to pay for it out of pocket. It took 2 calls to the state (yes, I had to wait on hold), many phone calls to oral surgeons around the region, and most of my morning, but I found one.

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Medicaid is supposed to assure that Daughter always has access to medical care. Instead, it has become a barrier. I go on this rant about once a year. It doesn't change anything, but it makes me feel better. Hopefully we'll be able to get Daughter's wisdom teeth removed and the process will be fairly easy, or as easy as it can be for a type 1 diabetic who can't handle narcotic pain killers and has to travel 2 hours to get to the oral surgeon.