Your health case study: wisdom teeth

How much does it cost to get your wisdom teeth out?

Little is commonly understood about health insurance. We thought we could change that by examining what our members can expect for common hospital treatments. Our first case study is wisdom teeth removal.

Unfortunately, dentistry is costly, and many working Australians are not eligible for free public alternatives. Therefore, you will more than likely be using your RBHS cover for wisdom teeth removal.

Firstly, there are two places you can get your wisdom teeth removed:

• In hospital (often a day hospital)
• In the dentist’s chair

All of the 20 most recent RBHS wisdom teeth removal claims were performed in a hospital.

Did you know?

Even though wisdom teeth removal is more common in your late teens to early twenties, wisdom teeth removal is common to accommodate dentures.

Which health cover provides benefits?

	Extras	Hospital
In hospital	✓	✓
Dentist's chair	✓	✗

 

Extras cover* provides benefits towards:

• The dentist or oral surgeon performing the extraction. RBHS pays 90% of their fees up to the item limit.

Hospital cover* provides benefits towards:

• Hospital fees (accommodation and any minor dental prostheses). RBHS pays 100% of these fees.
• Anaesthetist fees. RBHS pays a minimum of 25% of the Medicare Benefits Schedule fees towards anaesthetist fees. If your anaesthetist participates in Access Gap, we pay them significantly more, reducing your out-of-pocket expenses in the process.

Before you go in for your wisdom teeth removal, ask for an itemised quote and ask your anaesthetist to participate in Access Gap to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.  

*Waiting periods may apply.