I am sorry to hear that. It really is agony. I am truly glad that you were able to have the wisdom tooth removed, for me it was such a relief once it was out.
I'm also sorry you had to deal with all the hassle with your health insurance. In Canada, where I'm from, people often admire our free healthcare, but I'd honestly prefer the U.S. system. Our wait times are brutal - you’re looking at a minimum of eight hours in the ER for almost anything. When I went to the hospital for tooth pain, they initially offered me extra-strength Tylenol and two Advils. I had to politely explain that I’d already been taking that combo for hours with no relief and that I desperately needed something stronger. I thought I’d have to fight for better treatment, but thankfully, they could see I was in serious pain and gave me muscle relaxers and dilaudid, which got me through until my same day dental extraction.
I hope that you've been relatively dental pain free for the last 13 years. It's a pain like no other as far as I'm concerned.
I wasn't very clear in my description, I realise.
Dental care - normal, standard, dental care - was covered by the state, and my dentist was (is) excellent.
However, on this particular occasion, following a few meetings, x-rays, and a long, thoughtful discussion, my dentist felt that the challenges presented by the angle of my impacted (painful) wisdom teeth meant that he felt he couldn't risk addressing it himself and wished to call in the services of an actual dental surgeon.
Normal waiting times for a dental surgeon's treatment - under the state system - would have taken two to three years (this was thirteen years ago), and my mother, sensibly, suggested that I attend to this as soon as possible as I had just suffered the worst migraine of my life which is what had prompted my visit to the dentist (and a year or so earlier, while serving in the Caucasus, had nearly passed out at my desk - that had required an immediate visit to a doctor in a mission car with dip plates - with the second worst migraine of my life, all triggered by an infected, impacted wisdom tooth, or teeth).
Anyway, I phoned my private insurance company to check, or confirm, that they would cover this treatment/procedure - the removal of my impacted wisdom teeth - and they stated that they wished to have their own independent medical report prior to issuing approval, making it sound as though they thought this was a mere cosmetic procedure; however, I had been in agony, the dentist had prescribed industrial strength painkillers - and had never claimed anything - ever - from the damned insurance - and, as it happened, my mother and I were in complete agreement that this was utter nonsense.
She simply said to go straight ahead, - rather than suffer, annually, for several more years, - moreover, it was clear that my migraines were getting worse - and just get it done, and kindly offered to pay whatever it cost.
And this is what we did; in fairness, the dental surgeon - if memory serves, he might have had Iranian ancestry, but this is not what I was paying attention to, at the time - was excellent, the cost was quite a bit less than I had assumed, and both the dentist - who was present throughout, and acted as second during the procedure, for we agreed for it to take place on his premises - and the dental surgeon signed off on all of the paperwork which we subsequently submitted to the insurance company, which they (without any further quibble) did agree to pay for.
However, at the time, - I was irked by their attitude.
I will also state that (touch wood, etc) I haven't had a - or suffered from - a migraine since then.
