dental insurance

naturalwoman · #1 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 12:35 PM

i will be needing a lot of dental work done in 07 and i don't have dental insurance. has anyone tried an individual plan and if so how did it work out and is the savings, if any, worth it. my dentist, who i like very much doesn't take many kinds of insuance and the only one he does take is for a group plan and not an individual. i'm considereing getting an individual plan and changing dentist. i do however like this dentist, and i'm currently saving for a root canal 1445$..

thanks.

scfr · #2 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 01:29 PM

We tried an individual dental plan for one year and cancelled. Since insurnce is a business, I think the insurers know how much to charge to make sure they come out ahead.

If you don't have insurance and you pay cash, your dentist will have a lot less paperwork to deal with, so it is fair to ask him or her for a "cash discount." Out dentist discounts our bills 10% for cash payment.

You may also want to look in to a medical savings account, but I cannot comment on that since I know almost nothing about them.

PRICEPLUS · #3 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 03:15 PM

The wife and I are fortunate as we have dental insurance through her job. While it is not the greatest I cannot imagine how much we'd pay if we had no insurance. I have had individual medical insurance through Blue Cross when I was single but never dental. I would imagine it has to be very expensive and there is the deductible to think about. There is also the problem with the insurance paying only the "usual and customary fee". Sometimes the dentist can't make a buck with the payouts and won't accept the insurance!

Here is a thought about what my wife did before she had dental insurance. She went to a dental school and had the work done fairly cheaply. Granted it is not the best option but it still may be a good one. Please don't get angry it is just a thought!

naturalwoman · #4 (**permalink**) 12-29-2006, 03:27 PM

thanks for the info. i will try asking for a cash discount because that's exactly what he's getting.

also i tried the dental school, that's where i had been going. instead of doing a root canal on the tooth, they did a filling and my tooth blew up! so i'm going to have my teeth looked at by another dentist so i will know for sure if other work should be done and not just giving me a bunch of fillings. i may go to the dental school for implants, but if they can't "see" things on the xray, then i'm scared.

hate to be in pain.

MonkeyMama · #5 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 07:38 AM

Bummer.

I am curious too, I don't think either of us have ever been offered dental with our jobs, ever. We can't be the only ones - what do people do? My health insurance offers a "dental reimbursement" plan but it doesn't really seem worth it, the money reimbursed is not much.

In the meantime I am blessed with a decent dentist and good teeth, but he will retire soon. Every time I try a new highly recommended dentist, they recommend thousands of unecessary treatment. (Something different every time). I am SO frustrated. My dentist back home (which I still drive 2 hours to see) AND a good dentist friend of ours says BS!!!! We will switch to our friend probably, he is just young and inexperienced for now so I am waiting out, but at least someone we can trust. We will be driving 2 hours for our dentist for the rest of our lives I guess, it seems...

Anyway, I just share this to say I would get some more opinions, just because you were told you need a lot of work, doesn't mean you do. I would be out thousands of dollars if I hadn't of gotten 2nd and 3rd opinions. Mostly because I am blessed to have an honest dentist and a friend who is a dentist.

My friend dentist did also say look for dentists who own their own practices (vs. practice in big centers) and also ones who went to public colleges, they don't tend to be so aggressive overall and are less likely to recommend root canals and such which are iffy if really necessary a lot of the time.

Anyway, curious if anyone else has idea too as I started to say I am not so worried about us and I am saving the cash in case we need dental work, but the kids have unfortunately inherited my teeth and will no doubt need lots of work and orthodontics. I would love to find some decent insurance. For now hoarding cash for dental visits and keeping a trusted dentist is about all I can do.

MonkeyMama · #6 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scfr

We tried an individual dental plan for one year and cancelled. Since insurnce is a business, I think the insurers know how much to charge to make sure they come out ahead.

If you don't have insurance and you pay cash, your dentist will have a lot less paperwork to deal with, so it is fair to ask him or her for a "cash discount." Out dentist discounts our bills 10% for cash payment.

You may also want to look in to a medical savings account, but I cannot comment on that since I know almost nothing about them.

I will have to ask my dentist if we can pay cash up front for a discount - great idea! Thanks!

katwoman · #7 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 11:25 AM

You may also want to ask other dentists what they charge for root canals. It is possible you'll come up with different numbers.

I had found out that the dentist who owned the practise was charging the same amount of money for any filling. When she sold the practise the new owner changed the fee structure so that it better refected the degree of actual work that needed to be done on the tooth! Seems there are 3 levels of fillings and the first dentist was just plain GREEDY.

safari · #8 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 05:24 PM

I really like my dentist. She never recommends unnecessary work, if it's not required. I was at her office yesterday because one of my teeth cracked; she looked at the X-ray and told me that the nerve is far from the surface, so I won't need a root canal, just a crown. I have dental insurance from work, which she accepts, and I never had to pay any deductables because the money that she gets from my insurance company is enough to pay for the work that she's done.

banana · #9 (**permalink**) 12-30-2006, 05:30 PM

I dont have any dental insurance but I also drive almost 2 hours to see my old dentist twice a year. When we moved we found a new dentist that swore that my dh had gingivitis and needed all this expensive treatment, he also told me he couldnt clean my teeth without giving me xrays of my whole mouth (which couldnt be done because I was pregnant). Well we went back to my old dentist, dh didnt have gingivitis and I got my cleaning and he does give us a big discount for us paying cash. Even with the gas and tolls it is still much cheaper for us to drive the distance and get good service.

ren · #10 (**permalink**) 12-31-2006, 10:25 PM

MonkeyMama, you're in the Sacramento area, right? If you need the name of a good local dentist and you're willing to go to Rocklin, I highly recommend Stanford Ranch Family Dentistry. About half a dozen of us in the office go there and everyone has been very pleased with them. Both of the Scorzas are wonderful and I hear Dr. Riordan is as well, though I haven't been seen by her myself. I don't know if they give a cash discount (we have dental insurance through work), but they're all reasonable people, so it might be worth a go.

LuxLiving · #11 (**permalink**) 01-01-2007, 11:37 AM

No insurance here. We pay out the wazooo it seems. Hubster just had a nice little surprise to the tune of $625.00 that we had to come up with. Needless to say I didn't have that much put back in the dental hole (savings) so to speak so had to rob our mini-emergency fund. OUCH!!!

Shop around. My dentist is quite a bit more expensive than his - but his won't work on me unless I go to the regular doctor for another heart test - I have a murmur and I'm sorry, just ain't happening. I just paid the extra and went to my dentist instead.
I know it's for my better if I'd go to the regular doc, but I'm not sick and it's just to get some baseline thing and he's covering his butt and mine too, but hey, I'm just not up to all the headaches to get in a 3 to 6 month que to go have them tell me, yes, you've got a heart murmur.

fairy74 · #12 (**permalink**) 01-02-2007, 09:56 AM

I have an individual dental plan ($32 per month). BC/BS. Unlike my ridiculous individual medical plan. I am thrilled with the value my dental plan provides me. Deductible is $50. I have had a a full exam, two cleanings and 4 fillings this year and paid only $75.00.

MarianneJ · #13 (**permalink**) 01-02-2007, 01:28 PM

Another option that I did not see mentioned is a discount dental plan. They are not insurance, but just what they sound like - you buy a plan that your dentist accepts and you pay a pre-negotiated dollar amount for each service just by showing your member card.

I read an article on Bankrate not long ago on how to save money on dental, and they recommended DentalPlans.com because you can view all the details of each plan they offer before you buy anything. After reading that article and hearing alot of good things about them, I signed up as an affiliate. I receive $40 for each plan purchased through my link. Here is that portion of the Bankrate article I mentioned:

Evaluate dental discount plans.
These aren't insurance plans, they're simply discounts on dental procedures. For example, if the cost of an adult teeth cleaning is $75, then a typical discount rate might be $39, saving you $36 on that procedure. The premiums are low (fees are usually less than $12 a month for an individual and less than $30 a month for a family), but these plans usually limit your choice of doctors.

There have also been scams involving discount plans. "None of the legitimate companies are going to ask you to pay before you see an outline of the plan," says Ireland. "If you don't see something in writing, don't send them any money." Check out DentalPlans.com where you can type in your ZIP code and see a list of dentists in your area who participate in each discount plan, as well as the average discounted cost of each procedure, or visit the Web site of the National Association of Dental Plans for a list of plans in your state.

CRFSaver · #14 (**permalink**) 01-05-2007, 04:05 PM

Be careful they don't exclude "pre-existing conditions". If you know you need the work done the insurance company may exclude paying for that work unless it is under a group plan.

saver25 · #15 (**permalink**) 01-10-2007, 03:01 PM

A dental discount plan may be fine for most procedures but be sure and figure just how much of a discount that the plan you choose will give you for the particualar procedure that you need. A good hint is to just give the receptionist or front desk worker at your dentist a call and see what their experience is with one particular dental discount plan versus another (the front desk workers are usually fairly familiar with which companies will pay up and are worth the money as they handle all of the billing).

MarianneJ · #16 (**permalink**) 01-10-2007, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saver25

A dental discount plan may be fine for most procedures but be sure and figure just how much of a discount that the plan you choose will give you for the particualar procedure that you need. A good hint is to just give the receptionist or front desk worker at your dentist a call and see what their experience is with one particular dental discount plan versus another (the front desk workers are usually fairly familiar with which companies will pay up and are worth the money as they handle all of the billing).

Absolutely! Just like shopping for anything else, you need to do your homework first. If you know which dentist you want to go to, call them and find out which plan the prefer and how much they charge for certain procedures you will need using that discount plan. Their are plans that include "cosmetic" procedures such as whitening and others that are only the basics. You've got to go in knowing what you want.

What is great with the discount plans, is that they are just as good when used to find a dentist in a new town. You can pull up a list of dentists that accept your plan, and call around to just those offices to get quotes.

Of course, money is not the only consideration, and honestly should not be the top priority. You want to find a doctor and hygienist that you can trust to look out for you and not just their bottomline who also provide exceptional service.