skip to main content

Dental Insurance

12 years ago

The dental coverage offered by DH's former employer isn't expensive, but it also has VERY limited benefits. I have awful teeth, so this is a cost I'm interested in covering.

Does anyone here have a policy they would recommend? (Not Cigna; that was ever worse than the other company offering! I wouldn't feel safe parking my car in the areas where the Cigna network dentists worked.)

Someone has mentioned Delta to me. ???

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

morz8 - Washington Coast
12 years ago
That's hard to answer, companies can have different policies for different states. Most I've looked into (WA state) have limited coverage compared to a group policy, and won't pay as much the first year covered as they do the second, then pay full benefits the third year you have been paying premiums. Clearly they don't want someone with a mouthful of work to be done to sign up for just a year or 18 months....

Too often, they pay what they feel is a fair allowed cost for a procedure, lower than what my dentist charges.

Small business owners now, no group plan available to us, we have Security Life Dental and it's $53/mo each for the two of us. It works out to about the same as paying out of pocket instead for 2 exams and 2 cleanings a year for us both. If either of us need anything done, I can count on it paying around half - for filling, crown etc....so it helps a little but isn't ideal by any means.

If you don't find what you are looking for and your husband has coverage of some kind through his work, does he also have a health care savings plan? If you put estimated money aside in that type account you are at least claiming that much less earned income for the year.

My only advice would be to go to an insurance broker in your area, it doesn't cost to ask - and they can lay out what is available in your area for you to compare benefits and cost.
vala55
12 years ago
My sister has had two daughters who have lived with her at different times. Both were in bad need of dental work, serious dental work. She found a place that did the work almost free. It was probably cheaper than insurance. I don't know what organization helped them, but do some checking in your city or the nearest large city. Call a family member's dentist and ask about it. There surely is a dental organization like there is for doctors. That might the first place to check.

I lost my upper teeth in my twenty's due to an accident and they didn't do caps back then. I had upper dentures by the time I was 25 and they have never been a problem for me. But the lowers are another matter, they can be pure hell. If you have to go that route, leave 3 or 4 of your best teeth to anchor lowers. They act like implants. There are still dentists who make good inexpensive dentures unlike the ones who charge thousands of dollars, they are what I think of as dentists for the stars.
Related Discussions
How dentists bill insurance
Q
Comments (5)
There are sometimes confusing situations if you went to a non-participating (with your particular insurance plan)dentist. A plan will pay up to a MAC/maximun allowable charge for a given procedure. Some times that plan will not pay the MAC to a non-participating dentist, occasionally (not usually) the plan will pay MORE to a non-paticipating dentist. If you went to a non-participating dentist, his charge may have been higher than what your insurer has set as its MAC fo a given procedure. In this situation, the dentist has the right to charge his own fee, your insurer pays a portion and you would pay the balance. Normally, the dentist would bill the insurer for his fee, not the MAC, and would be paid by the insurer only the amount for the MAC, or sometimes another amount, either higher or lower than the MAC, depending on the insurer's rules. If you went to a non-participating dentist, you are responsible for whatever portion remains after the insurer has paid. It would be unlikely that the dentist would bill the insurer only for that amount they know that would be paid; ie: the MAC, because your ledger (record of all charges, kept by the dentist) would not reflect what you owed. It is more usual for the dentist to bill out the normal fee to both the patient and the insurer, send in to the isurer for that amount, and ask for the balance from the patient at the time of service. This amount is usually an estimated amount, based on previous experience by the office with reimbursements from that insurer. There is also the possibility of an embezzelment situation by an employee of the dentist, where the employee asks for payment above what is actually due. The best advice is to ask for a copy of your ledger to see what charges were billed, what you paid, and what the insurer paid. You may be pleasantly surprised to see a credit in your account with the dentist for all that extra $ you paid out. When submitting for flex acct reimbursement, you need to have individual statements for each date of service printed out by the dental office to coordinate with the dates of your EOB's/Expl of Benefits. This way the Flex acct people don't have to decipher the whole ledger history (too much work). Make sure to choose a participating dentist to maximize your benefits. This, however opens up another kettle of fish, b/c many insurance plans have ridiculously low MAC's and quality dentists will not participate with those plans, b/c they pay so poorly. You would not like to go to work every day for only half of your normal paycheck. Make sure in the future you get a "Walkout" statement as well as your CC receipt from the front desk after every visit. Just another tidbit--the dentist will probably not want to give you anything if you owe money to him. It is illegal for dentists to withold xrays, records, etc, even if you owe money. They are allowed to charge a fee for copying any records, but cannot refuse to provide them. Hope this helps you out--
...See More
100% increase in dental insurance
Q
Comments (18)
The state of our postal service? You do realize WHY the Postal service is going down right? it is solely because of Reich wing loons, Tpublicans that back in about 2006 decided to destroy the post office. http://crooksandliars.com/kenneth-quinnell/more-details-emerge-republican-as """"It's almost hard to comprehend what they're talking about, but basically they said that the Postal Service would have to fully fund future retirees' health benefits for the next 75 years and they would have to do it within a ten-year window," There is not a single business today that could survive that, NONE, that would collapse Walmart. They did this in order to privatize it and to get as many "Public Employees" laid off as possible. They are disgusting. The Post Office was doing great up until 2006. Universal Healthcare works fantastic in every other country on the planet, not "cheaper" health care which is all Obamacare is trying to do, but basically FREE healthcare. It would free up businesses to hire several more employees and pay them better, the economy would be booming and everyone would have healthcare and not have to worry about going bankrupt because they got sick. It will HAVE to happen sooner or later because our current system is simply not sustainable, not even close. So best to do it now and plan for it, implement it properly instead of waiting until we absolutely have to do it and do it in a hurry. What scares the heck outa me is Obamacare NOT being implemented and I have the best insurance available in the USA at the cheapest price you can get it. The government is not the problem, it is the Tpublican congress which BTW hate government and are constantly trying to destroy it from within. If people would simply stop voting these loons into power we would be doing ever so much better. Here is a link that might be useful: The Poison Pill to kill the Post Office
...See More
Need to vent due to lack of control over situation!
Q
Comments (27)
"I can understand how CP feels she has to bear the entire burden at tiems."(sic) If you are referring to a "financial" burden, my DH pays a large sum of child support each month, more than enough to cover ALL of their groceries, clothing, CDs/games, activities and misc. expenses, etc. As for care of the DSSs (in addition to BM's DD), BM is lucky enough to have her parents live next door. BM is out of town a lot either traveling with her DH or taking her DD to national dance competitions, so DSSs spend a lot of time with their GPs and are frequently dropped off at BMs parents on Sundays after visitation. BM works part-time during the school year only, so she is able to be home when the children come home from school and has summers and holidays off with them. I am happy that DSSs enjoy such a great situation. It is quite a stark contrast to my situation, since DH and I (both professionals) work about 50+ hours a week, have no family nearby, so our DSs are in daycare/afterschool care, and we arrive home at about 6:30 pm every night. "Maybe since she was fronting the money for the downpayment she thought that the amount of the downpayment should be up to her. Maybe it worked better with her medical FSA." BM did not advance DH's portion. It is due to the orthod. I am not aware of a "medical FSA." As I said, there is no insurance coverage for this. DH pays 100% of health and dental insurance for DSSs but there is no orthodontic coverage. "That's the advantage of being the NCP who merely has to reimburse the CP for medical expenses. The CP has to actually pay the doctor or the orthodontist at the time of service, and the other parent can take his sweet time about reimbursing her." LOL at this one. You've got it all wrong. The "advantage" here is to the CP who went out and chose whatever orthodontic care she wanted then stuck DH with the bill. TOS, your bias is showing. You have absolutely NO basis to say DH is taking his "sweet time" in paying his 60%. I said the up front money is to be paid "immediately," and I've said NOTHING to indicate it will not be paid immediately. As I said, we HAVE the money to pay it. You really have to work hard to have that type of wilful blindness to the real issues--the fact that BM unilaterally chose: 1) when the braces would be put on; 2) by whom they would be put on; 3) the amount that would be paid for them; and 4) the payment arrangements, all WITHOUT consulting the person who is responsible for 60% of the payments. TOS, if you hope to have any credibility, you have to recognize that there are times when BMs are just WRONG.
...See More
dental crown questions
Q
Comments (3)
I had a crown on one of my front teeth from 1979 until 2007. I had it replaced solely for cosmetic reasons. The new crown cost $930. I originally had a PFM (porcelain fused to metal) crown, but got it replaced with a zirconia one after a few months. I was worried about having the 30-year-old crown removed, because it was a little twisted and two different dentists told me it could be a problem. But I hated the way it looked, so I had it done. It didn't hurt, but I was numbed up pretty good and I think I may have had nitrous gas too, for my anxiety. That tooth had had a root canal, so it was dead. He numbed me because working on it could have made the adjacent area hurt. I also had a crown put on a molar, and that cost about $1000. My husband just had one done too, for about the same cost. Both required removing a huge filling and building up the tooth for the crown, so it cost a little more. So, to answer your questions: I had a crown last nearly 30 years. It probably would have lasted many more years. It was a PFM crown, with gold/platinum on the back, porcelain on the front. It didn't hurt at all to have the old one removed, but my tooth was "dead." I had the replacement crown on and off many times trying to get the color right, and then had it removed again to replace it with the zirconia one. All without getting numbed up. Didn't hurt a bit. My recent crowns cost about $1000 each, as did the three veneers I got at the same time.
...See More
chisue
Original Author
12 years ago
To update: We have continued with the same 2011 dental coverage for 2012. It pays a pittance for each procedure, but paid out over $1000 for DH and me -- mostly me -- this year. (Premium is about $400 for both of us.) There is a $9000 pp lifetime payout.

I investigated the Delta Dental plans and it all sounded OK until I got down to the line about maximum payout. It's $1000 per person per year. Um...nevermind.

I have 'dental' on my mind today since I had an extraction + temporary bridge yesterday -- not too bad, but my neck hurts like heck from being in a dental chair for three hours. I'll have the temporary bridge until March, when permanent one will go in.
vala55
12 years ago
I read an article that said people who had taken care of their teeth did not need dental insurance. If you haven't taken care of them, you need insurance. Pay the $400, get your teeth in tip top shape then cancel it.

Cleaning cost me $100 a year. We had dental insurance with my husbands company, but it would not pay for dentures or implants, so what good is it, if your teeth are in good shape.
lenvt
12 years ago
Chisue--

Sorry about the three hours in the chair! I am an RDH so here are my thoughts: Call the dental office where you are having your procedures done and ask the billing person which of your dental plans offers the best coverage. They deal with these plans all the time and may just know which will cover more of what you need. For example, if your treatment plan doesn't call for implants then it doesn't matter if they are covered. So right now that might not be a large factor in your choice. Also, the $$ limit. What eats up that limit? Some plans pay for cleanings and don't count them toward the $$ limit.

What do the plans offer for accident coverage? Sometimes this is a component of plans as well. Your teeth may be health and fine, but people hurt their mouths all the time, breaking teeth etc.

If your teeth are "bad" (meaning causing you pain or lack of function ie. chewing ability vs. cosmetically unsightly) you will also need x-rays taken. The x-rays will eat away at the $$ amount of your policy. You can save money by contacting a local dental hygiene school. The students need to learn to take films and are often looking for patients. The savings can be significant. You might only pay $10 for a set of 4 bitewings vs. $60 (or more) at an office. Make sure the gives you a set to "hand carry" to your dentist or sends it to your dentist for you. If they are working with digital, they can easily forward your films via the internet. It's worth calling a school and asking if they can schedule you for some radiographs (x-rays), if you need them. This will limit the # of films the dentist needs to take in the office.

Lastly, find a conservative dentist, not one who is going to try to sell you whitening kits and a bunch of cosmetic stuff. Get your mouth healthy and pain free first, then move on to cosmetic things. The dentist I work with does sort of a triage with people who need a lot of work. We figure out what is an 'emergency' must do, what can wait a bit, and what materials work best finanancially for the patient.

Good luck with it all!

Len
dreamgarden
12 years ago
My DH has had dental problems all his life. So did his parents. His teeth were discolored and parts of them kept cracking off.

He didn't want false teeth, bridges or implants, so we did much research and stumbled on a cosmetic dentists site who uses and teaches Cerec technology.

DH had his entire mouth redone. Every single tooth. The surface of his teeth looked like hell, but the base/roots were in good shape.

It wasn't cheap, but now his teeth look great. Not a single filling, bridge, root canal, etc.

Its a pleasure watching him enjoy smiling and being able to take a bite of hard food knowing a tooth won't crack off while he's eating.

A link that might be useful:

www.dentalprofessionals.com/services/cerec-tooth-restoration/

Related Stories

PETS So You're Thinking About Getting a Dog

By Alison Hodgson

Prepare yourself for the realities of training, cost and the impact that lovable pooch might have on your house

HOUSEKEEPING When You Need Real Housekeeping Help

By Becky Harris

Which is scarier, Lifetime's 'Devious Maids' show or that area behind the toilet? If the toilet wins, you'll need these tips

FUN HOUZZ 10 Things People Really Don’t Want in Their Homes

By Mitchell Parker

No love lost over fluorescent lights? No shocker there. But some of these other hated items may surprise you

BATHROOM DESIGN Should You Install a Urinal at Home?

By MyFixitUpLife show

Wall-mounted pit stops are handy in more than just man caves — and they can look better than you might think

MOST POPULAR 12 Key Decorating Tips to Make Any Room Better

By Judith Taylor Designs

Get a great result even without an experienced touch by following these basic design guidelines

Sponsored

More Discussions

Question regarding Basmati rice calories

19