It's basically a cheat code

I'm german. I didn't pay jackshit to get my wisdom teeth removed. As soon as a dentist deems it medically necessary, it's fully covered by even the most basic health insurance. Even if it's prophylactic.
Call it communism all you want, but it's great.
- For me, they said my wisdom tooth was too impacted, so unless it was causing pain O should just leave it because removing it could damage a nerve and leave part of my face numb.
  And I'm in the US, and dentists are constantly trying to upcharge you for whitening and other stuff, so I took that warning seriously.
  
  So is yours still in there? Because I was told that just a couple of weeks ago and am scared it's going to cause problems in the future. (Am in Austria with general health care though)
- Anyone smart enough to be here knows socialized healthcare is better for people than the alternative.
- As soon as a dentist deems it medically necessary, it’s fully covered by even the most basic health insurance.
  Yeah, that's the joke. Americans pull wisdom teeth left and right regardless of whether or not it poses a medical risk, it's a part of their culture. Source: https://www.sciencealert.com/no-you-probably-don-t-need-to-get-your-wisdom-teeth-removed-ever
- Er, your dentist still gets paid.
  
  Obviously. But people are sharing how much they paid in the comments, so I figured to do the same.
- Can Germans stop wanking off about their country all the time? You guys have basic healthcare compared to many countries, only reason you don't realise it, is that you are too Americanised. Women have to pay for their own mammography here for fucks sake
  
  I didn't read that tone as overly nationalistic. I read it like someone saying, "My dentist makes bank on wisdom teeth removal." And this person responding with, "Yo, that's wild. Mine doesn't charge anything for procedures like that. You should consider trying my dentist's system."
  I didn't get any vibes that the poster above was claiming Germany has the perfect system or the best system. Just that people in Germany don't pay for necessary dental, like in the US.
  Idk, though. I've been known to miss subtlety before.

Italian tooth
- 🤌
  
  🤌

Why is the tooth Italian and what’s wrong with an Italian tooth??
- 🤌

I spent way too long looking for Saddam Hussein.
- Where was he?
  
  In every corner of my expensively empty mouth apparently

Had 4 done at once. Because asthmatic, had to be done at the hospital because of general anesthetic. 2/10
Was told to eat protein rich diet to support healing, but couldn't chew meats like steak for months due to the risk of breaking my jaw. (Big holes left in bones when teeth removed.)
Invented meat smoothie.
1 steak, medium rare Montreal steak spice. 4 slices bacon 1 spicy italian pork sausage 1 chicken thigh deboned. Salt Water Yogurt
10/10 surprisingly good.
- You do realize that whey protein shakes are a thing, right?
  
  But mine was good.
  
  Not to mention protein from sources other than meat... quinoa, lentils, whole grains, etc.
  
  You do realize whey allergy is a thing for some people, right?
  Downvoting me won’t make it any less true.
- What a horrible day to be literate
- Look, I ain't calling you a liar or anything, but that's going on the list with balut as the second thing that I won't try at least once.
- My doc only takes 2 out at the same time (from one side), so the patient can chew. 4 sounds risky
  
  I had all four done with just a couple benzos and local anesthetic. Granted they were reasonably accessible and not impacted. I have vague recollections of making a pun while they were "elevating" one of the teeth. I don't remember the pun, and that's the worst part.
  
  Even if they only do two at a time, if any of them are impacted into your bones, you won't be able to chew. Something about physics but chewing anywhere in your mouth can cause the weak spot to crack.
  Source: I had all 4 removed and one was impacted. Dentist told me I shouldn't be chewing on one 'safe' side cause still can break my jaw.
- HORK
- Meat smoothie sounds terrible. Really terrible.
  
  How about the mango mahi mahi smoothie I enjoyed instead.
- The big holes aren't the issue in this case, the issue is that your jaw was under a lot of strain from the pulling and yanking and microfractures are common under these circumstances.

Loved when my impacted wisdom tooth that looked closely to that exploded in my jaw in 2019. Great times. Real glad my surgery was in February of 2020.
- Do they still give you an almost 2 week script of hydrocodone after? I remember watching a lot of magic school bus high as fuck when I was younger for a few days after.
  
  You mean the dentist who, when seeing me, told me immediately they don't prescribe narcotics at that office and then immediately looked guilty when I said that's fine, I just wanted a scrip for the big ibuprofen because taking 4 of the small ones at a time made my stomach sick?
  No. No they did not.
  
  The dentist slipped when pulling one of my non-impacted teeth and hit me in the back of the throat with his whole body weight. He prescribed me 10 days of hydrocodone and when I called back and said the default dose still left me with a sore throat he called me in another 10 days of a higher dose.
  Needless to say, my throat didn't hurt anymore and I played WoW a lot (~2007)
  
  I was told I could go to school the day after my wisdom teeth were taken. I took my dose of hydrocodone before heading to school and have no memory of that day at all. I never took the rest. Somehow I had no pain whatsoever after my wisdom teeth were removed and it was almost as if it never happened. Other people I know needed to take a week off.
  
  When I got all 4 out at once, they gave me 4 pills, each is supposed to last about 12 hours. I had to do the math on how to efficiently take them on a longer schedule than once every 12 hours to minimize the pain spike when I switched to ibruprofin.

I had them out at 18 in the Navy. At first I didn't want to have it done, but then looking at the X-ray, I was all about it.

...
- My dad's are like that and he went to a dentist a few years ago that told him "we need to get those out of there". My dad was just like "why? They haven't a problem til now and I'm almost 70." He did not go back to that guy.
  
  Damn. I went to the dentist for the first time ever (37) and my dentist was cool about it. She said if they've never bothered me, who gives a shit at this point. Fixed my cavities and told me I was awesome.
- "Impacted" sounds like unbearable pain. No? Got a good story about mine. Bear with me.
  Got my top 2 out because they erupted sideways, actually cut my finger, thought it was a stuck Dorito. Shit had to go. Got the bottom 2 while I was under general.
  First time completely under. Dentist said I wasn't going home until my gf could drive me. Great! Woke at home with her hovering over my face. She was a little bitchy when I asked how I got home.
  "You don't remember that? Nothing?!"
  I had refused to leave the comfy office bed, fought and cussed. Whole waiting room heard:
  "FUCK YOU! I'll take you back there and do to you what they did to me!"
  Jesus. (Nurses right about now: Yep. And I know OP is a guy.)
- Same, they told me I would need oral surgery and to break my jaw open. No thanks. Occasionally they twinge and hurt, but I suppose I haven't died yet.
- One of mine is like that. The dentist said to just ignore it unless it gives me trouble, or if I'm planning extended stay in the developing world, then I should get it removed before I go, just in case.

"wisdom teeth"
Dumbest fucking teeth!

can someone explain this? I don't get it
- I had that. The 8th (wisdom) tooth grows in that position. At first there's no problem but it starts to create pressure on all other teeth and eventually starts to hurt as it's pushing against the 7th tooth. The solution is to take out wisdom teeth, which is a quite common procedure any way. Don't know what the "infinite money" is about. Maybe this is some USA thing.
  
  Costs like a thousand dollars or more to get them taken out here
  
  Probably because more people keep getting born with wisdom teeth to take out
- It took a while for me but after some thinking I believe it is a joke for Americans, for whom dental care is infamously expensive. Probably this type of wisdom tooth causes problems so frequently that a dentist could pretty much live off a single patient with this condition, that'd be the joke. Full disclaimer I'm not American, not a dentist and my wisdom teeth also not like that
  
  Nah, just a joke about there always being more to remove as it becomes problematic for a new person
- I suppose the idea is that most people have this set of teeth and for many it becomes problematic at some point. Removing "wisdom teeth" isn't the cheapest stomatological procedure.

Had this surgery done this march for two teeth... 2 weeks on painkillers. Here in Denmark all I got was store bought painkillers... ibuprofen and paracetamol.. and a bill for 8600DKK ~1000$
0/10 - will not recommend

i thought that was a hand with too many fingers. teeth make more sense.
- That back tooth be like 🤌

I lucked out. I never had to have my wisdom teeth removed. I had enough room for them.
- When did they break out? You better take excellent care of them or they'll rot and have to be pulled anyways
  
  A long time ago, around 15-16. I was frequenting the dentist and they said it would be no problem.
  I actually had to have my molars removed. Soft teeth in the family and bad childhood antibiotics have made my teeth very fragile. The dentist said my wisdom might move to my molars and they did.
  Now both my bottom molars are actually my wisdom teeth. Another cool thing, because my adult teeth have been fragile all my life, their roots have grown up to my cheekbones to compensate. My x-rays are wild. I have the longest roots my dentist has ever seen.
  Edit: Also not so cool. I had a root canal and it took 4 hours.
- I lucked out even more by not having any wisdom teeth at all.
- Lol yeah, something like the colossus titan, but put a large underbite on him. Wish I could see what my actual physical skull looks like. I have a gold tooth in the back, too. Would be a gnarly skull.

StuNdent? Can’t people spell check?
- Graduates, sure, but stundents are still learning
  
  Don’t you mean “granduates“?
- Typos in meme captions or post titles really trigger me.
  It’s okay to make mistakes in comments or posts, but ffs check your titles and captions at least.

stundents 😭

Someone always profiting from your misery, is why we can't have nice things.

Had six done at once with local anesthesia. Yup, whole two supernumerary teeth.
It sure was an experience that I wouldn't want to experience again.