[beej71]

Dental care isn't cheap, but a non-surgical extraction is one of the cheapest things you can do. It'd probably make sense for the hospital to pay for it instead of getting stuck with their ER bill.

(My brother and I have been self-employed for years, and we both just self-insure for dental and visit the dentist for regular checkups. If you have good teeth, it seems to be cheaper than buying dental insurance even if you have to pay for a $1200 procedure once a decade. But, see, we are willing and able to pay that when it happens; a guy who can't afford a $100 extraction cannot, let alone regular exams!)

What I really don't understand is why the body doesn't auto-extract these teeth. I mean, it seems like it would be in the genetic interest for that to happen.

[beej71]

I thought about it again, and given the number of dental-related deaths and emergency room visits versus potential $100 extractions, it actually probably wouldn't make financial sense for hospitals to offer the extractions preventatively. Oh well.