South Jersey teen receives free wisdom teeth surgery as part of Woodbury practice's new program

WOODBURY, N.J. (CBS) -- A South Jersey student is feeling lucky and grateful about having dental surgery after his wisdom teeth removal was free of charge thanks to a new program.

Seventeen-year-old Dante Scott is used to being strong in difficult situations, and now he's about to have four wisdom teeth surgically removed.

Scott is getting a procedure that would cost about $5,000 for free at Westwood Oral Surgery in Woodbury, New Jersey.

"We've been in this community for about 50 years now and we have so many students that we see all the time. We wanted to just be able to give back," Kristine Gleason, an oral surgeon at Westwood Oral Surgery, said.

Gleason said the practice created a program called Wisdom for Wisdom, providing the extraction at no cost to a deserving student who's faced hardships.

"The money that was going to go to the surgery will definitely be put towards college," Scott said.

Scott, who's about to be a high school senior, wants to be a mechanical engineer. But paying for college will be a struggle.

"He lost his mother in 2018. His father is in and out of his life," Scott's aunt and guardian Taylor Brandon said. "In spite of everything that he's gone through in his life, he has persevered. He's doing great academically."

Brandon is the one who submitted his name for the Wisdom for Wisdom program.

"It's awesome because now I get to, like I said, we get to save money and put it right towards college. Every penny counts." Brandon said.

"His wisdom teeth, which you can see here, are growing in sideways on the bottom," Gleason said.

Gleason said wisdom teeth can be painful and cause a variety of problems. They're removed with sedation usually without complication.

"I think this opportunity is crazy. It's definitely incredible. I'm insanely grateful for it," Scott said.

Scott did fine with the surgery and was even singing in recovery. Now he'll be eating lots of ice cream and drinking smoothies, without a straw, of course.