Dental Savings question

[avengerki]

Ok so I just went to the dentist the other day and I have some major dental work needed. I checked my dental coverage and it will max out at $1500 for the year still leaving me with ~$5k out of pocket. I have started looking into the discount dental plans out there and am trying to find one that will work with my insurance and my dentist. Any ideas? I live in Oregon btw. I keep finding sites that sell and list multiple plans but they don't give the complete details on the plans like the fine print.

I will be trying to space out the work on into 2009 so as to take advantage of the insurance again.

[garilon]

I completely sympathise - I am in the same boat but live in NZ - you can't get dental insurance here. When we lived in the UK, I knew some people who went to eastern europe to get their teeth done - the flights, accomodation and dental costs were cheaper than having it done at home. Is there somewhere closer to home that would be cheaper. Might sound drastic - but if you have future bills also looming ...... might as well get a holiday out of it??

[PrincessPerky]

You might want to get a second opinion..not all dentists are totally legit, and 6.5K is a lot of work to have done all at once. Have you been neglecting any work at all? (not an insult, we certainly neglected ours)

If you have been consistent with checkups and care, I find 6.5K out of the blue to be totally unlikely.

As to savings plans....they tend to be scams way often, though not all. I just haven't heard of the name of one that isn't a basic scam..if you try one read the fine print for how long you have to be a member before you can get coverage for different proceedures.

[leighangela]

My aunt lives in Pheonix and she went to Mexico to have her teeth done!!! Sounds scary, but she looks great and hasn't had any trouble.

[JBinKC]

If you have the time and patience you could get your care done at a dental school for a reasonable price. The other option is to go on an overseas on a trip. I think India has excellent dentists as many of them end up teaching in the schools here.

[vole]

My company offers a dental discount plan. You pay the dentist the "insurance companies negotiated fee" rather than "list price." The savings varies with the dentist. For some dentists who charge low fees, there's no savings. For other dentists the savings can be 50%.

Coverage starts immediately with no limits. And it's only $4/month.

Traditional dental insurance is one of the biggest profit lines for insurance companies. Costs close to $500/year and pays only 80% with a $1500 cap.

-Dave
berkshirecard.com

[vole]

BTW, the discount plan uses the Aetna Dental Network.

There's an online database to check for participating dentists.

When I've used the program, there were savings of 50% with some dentists while with some who had low fees there weren't big savings.

The other program that I like is the Doctor Hotline. Gives you 24X7 access to a doctor by phone with unlimited calls. If you get sick, a most doctors can't see you until the following week. This service lets you call, talk to a doctor, and they prescribe medicine for you so that you can start treatment without having to wait until you see your regular doctor.

If a visit to a doctor is $100, using this feature once saves you enough to pay for a bundle of 3 programs for a whole year.

-Dave
Affordable Dental Insurance Alternative and Benefits - Employee Dental Vision Health Benefits for Small Businesses

[ishanbansal]

Dental treatment is one of the most expensive medical treatment. Many a times, people do not carry any Dental Insurance. In such cases, the cost of the dental treatment becomes very expensive and you have to pay all the expenses out of your pocket.

A very cheap option is to use a Discount Dental Plan. Discount dental plan is NOT insurance plan, but discount programs. Essentially, if you have a Discount Dental Plan, you get huge discounts on expenses incurred on Dental Treatment. A Discount Dental Plan normally features savings of 10% to 60% on most dental procedures.

[Marikam]

I suggest you go to the closest university where they teach dentistry, and see how much work they can do for you and the price. Most often they are a great deal cheaper and since all the work is supervised, you don't have to worry about them doing a bad job.

[mommyof4]

Get a second opinion before undertaking such expensive work- last year, one dentist told my mother that she needed 16K worth of work. She panicked and called her financial advisor for suggestions on how to pay for it. He referred her to another dentist for a second opinion, and the second dentist charged her under $800 for the exact same work that the first dentist suggested. Yes, HUGE difference.

If second opinion comes in high, I'd find a dental school that may do it for less, too.

Hope all turns out well!

[thomas09]

Originally Posted by ishanbansal

Dental treatment is one of the most expensive medical treatment. Many a times, people do not carry any Dental Insurance. In such cases, the cost of the dental treatment becomes very expensive and you have to pay all the expenses out of your pocket.

A very cheap option is to use a Discount Dental Plan. Discount dental plan is NOT insurance plan, but discount programs. Essentially, if you have a Discount Dental Plan, you get huge discounts on expenses incurred on Dental Treatment. A Discount Dental Plan normally features savings of 10% to 60% on most dental procedures.

yep, i do agree with you.

[wsophie]

Dental savings is a good idea but not at the risk of dental health and oral care.