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A WORD ON DENTAL INSURANCE
Chances are, we take your dental insurance. Here's what that means: Dental insurance is intended to help reduce the cost of dental care. Dental insurance works more like a coupon than a credit card, though, and people often misunderstand the difference. A patient is typically allotted a certain maximum dollar amount toward a year's treatment costs, and they are responsible for a "copay", or co-payment. This means the insurance company expects you to pay a portion out of your own pocket with the intention that you think twice about using the covered benefits. These copays are based on percentages and can at times be surprisingly high. Some insurance policies fund clinics, or certain dentists to provide care in volume at reduced rates - HMO's, for example, and some PPO's. I choose not to participate in these because they force me to cut overhead in ways I would rather not.
So by accepting your insurance, it means we collect money from the company as a courtesy on your behalf.
Some dentists do not accept "assignment", meaning they will not bill your insurance company. They expect payment in full from the patient as if there were no insurance, and you, the patient, must seek reimbursement directly from the insurance company on your own. It saves the dentist headaches, and it's within their rights to do so; payment is ultimately the patients responsibility. At our office, we do the following for you: We tell you your options and give a reasonable estimate of your out-of-pocket expenses for copays; we submit the necessary paperwork to your insurance company; we wait, anywhere from two to six weeks, for payment, and we do it as a courtesy for our patients.
My advice to you is this: The best insurance is a toothbrush, dental floss, and regular check-ups. Rarely will a person responsible in these regards need more than a few hundred dollars in dental care per year.
Call to see if we accept your particular dental plan.
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