18Sep

The new dentistry brings together a unique complement of skills, knowledge, and capabilities with one primary focus: ensuring your dental health care. Working as a team, your dentist and the dental finance team he or she has assembled wants to recruit you to join them in making sure this focus is maintained. The dental team has two major parts that you may hear referenced during your visits: the “back” and the “front.” These terms refer to two very specific functions of your dental team. The front office handles all the administration, scheduling, and dental financing, and the back office provides the treatment.

Your front office team makes sure you know about scheduling opportunities, handles dental finance, and keeps the administrative details under control to provide you efficient services and support. The back office team is thus free to do what they do best: provide the best dental health care, financing health care and service for you. You’ll find the dentist, dental hygienist, and dental assistant ready to assist you during your appointments.

The key component for success of any team is each member’s commitment to do their part. As a consumer and team member, your commitment involves three things:

  • Maintaining your commitment to your dental health through regular hygiene appointments and the daily practice of flossing and brushing.
  • Asking questions and getting the essential information you need about your teeth and gums or to understand any treatment plans or dental financing.
  • Staying open to options and opportunities that the new dentistry offers you by thinking about the information and feedback that your dentist provides you about the status of your dental health.

You can maximize the benefits of the skills and expertise of your dental finance team by deciding for yourself what kind of relationship you want with your dentist and the dental team and how they can help you achieve a positive outcome for your dental future.

By Brian DesRoches, PhD

18Sep

What do you want from your relationship with your dentist? Oftentimes, this question is answered when there is a dental problem or emergency requiring immediate attention. There is a different approach to your relationship with your dentist that relates to your own needs and dental health. This approach is designed to help you create the kind of experiences you want with your dentist.

You have a choice about this relationship and how it can support and assist you in your life. It begins with the simple question stated at the beginning of this article: What do you want from your relationship with your dentist?

The answer to this question can take many forms. For some people it may mean having a lot of information about their dental health and future. They seek facts to know they are making good, informed decisions. Others may want a friendly relationship in which openness and communication are valued. They want information but, more importantly, they want to know they are important to the dentist and the dental team. Some individuals want minimal information and discussion — just the facts and the solutions to take care of any dental or dental financing problem.

We all have different wants in our relationships with health professionals such as dentists. Here are four tips to assist you in deciding what you want in your relationship with your dentist:

  • Do you want a lot of detailed information about actual problems or potential problems or do you prefer a quick summary of data with recommendations about what to do?
  • Do you like to make quick decisions or do you prefer to think about things before you act?
  • Do you like to talk about what is happening or do you prefer to have your dentist just tell you what is going on?
  • Do you want the dentist to describe a problem situation and solution with pictures so you can see what it happening or do you prefer to go on gut feeling?

Each person looks for different things in their relationships. It is your responsibility to determine what you want and look for that in the relationship with your dentist. The answers to the questions above will tell you something about this.

The next step is communicating what you want so that you are understood. Only you know when someone else understands you. Here are four tips to assist you in this communication process:

  • Tell your dentist that you have some ideas about how he or she can assist you with your dental health and dental financing.
  • Ask when it would be a good time to discuss your needs and desires for your dental care and relationship with your dentist.
  • Communicate what you want and how that will help you.
  • If you had a negative experience in the past with another dental professional, always discuss what happened. Past hurts or disappointments have a way of negatively influencing present situations that are similar in nature.

Communicating what you want is important to your dentist for it is the best way for him or her to plan for the optimal dental health for you.

By Brian DesRoches, PhD

18Sep

What is the best dental insurance plan for financing health care for me?

Choosing a dental expense plan can be a confusing experience. Although there is no one “best” dental payment plan for financing health care, there are some plans that will be better than others for you and your family’s dental payment plan needs. We will try to guide you in simple terms. However, rather than just giving you answers, the best thing we can do is to make sure you are equipped with the right questions for the dentists.

There are three major things to consider, each with their own unique set of questions. By considering the questions thoroughly, you will arrive at the right dental payment plan for you and your family.

  • How affordable is financing health care (cost of financing health care)?
  • How much will a dental payment plan cost me on a monthly basis?
  • Should I try to insure just major dental expense or most of my dental expense?
  • Can I afford a policy that at least covers my children?
  • Are there deductibles I must pay before the insurance begins to help cover my costs?
  • After I have met the deductible, what part of my dental expense is paid by the dental plan?
  • If I use dentists outside a plan’s network, how much more will I pay to get financing health care?
  • How often do I visit the dentist and how much will my dental payment plan be each visit?
  • Do the included services match my needs (access of health care)?
  • What other dental providers are part of the plan?
  • Are there enough of the kinds of dentists I want to see?
  • Where will I go for financing health care? Are these places near where I work or live?
  • Do I need to get permission before I see a dental specialist?
  • Are there any limits to how much I must pay in case of a major illness?
  • Is the prescription medication which I need covered by the dental plan?
  • Have people had good results when covered by a specific dental payment plan?
  • How do independent government organizations rate the different dental plans?
  • What do my friends say about their experience with a specific plan?
  • What does my dentist say about their experience with a specific dental payment plan?

If you consider these elements carefully when choosing a dental financing plan, you can be assured the best possible outcome and minimize dental expense paid by you.

18Sep

Your dentist’s biggest concern is your dental health. Teeth are a priceless possession. Maintaining them should never have to take a back seat to details like dental costs or insurance coverage.

Your dentist’s patient financing policy is probably pretty basic: somehow, they’ll find a way that lets them perform the work you need now, rather than put it off for money reasons. Simply put, they’re there to help.

As a patient, you should receive a proposed treatment plan that’s right for you. You should also receive a complete description of what’s needed and a dental fees estimate – so you know what, when, and how much – right from the start.

If you’re covered by dental insurance, your dentist’s staff will work to obtain the maximum benefit your plan allows. They may even elect to spread your treatment over two “insurance years” to expand your coverage. Every plan and patient, of course, is different.

If you’re not covered by insurance your dentist can still find a way to get you the dental work you need done. Credit cards, a dental loan, and monthly payments are all dental financing options you can explore in tailoring a program that fits your dental needs.

Your dentist realizes that dental costs will always play a part in the decisions you make together. But cost alone should never prevent you from seeking the dentistry you need early on, before the problem gets worse – and more expensive.

18Sep

Dental insurance is not meant to be a pay-all. It’s only meant to be an aid. You are very fortunate if you have dental insurance coverage and don’t have to pay the entire dental fee plan out of your own pocket. Many patients don’t have any dental insurance at all. Some patients have excellent dental insurance policies or dental credit, some have fair policies, and some have poor policies. Many plans tell you you’ll be covered up to 80% – 100%. In spite of what you’re told, most plans cover only 15% – 70% of the average dental fee plan. We realize that every bit of help you get from your insurance company is a big help, and we are glad you have coverage. However, it must be understood that how much your policy covers has already been determined by how much your employer paid for your insurance policy. The less he/she paid for the insurance, the less you’ll receive.

FOR EXAMPLE: PLAN Costs a lot of money Costs 1/2 the amount Deductible is $50.00 Deductible is $100.00 Pays $84.00 on a filling Pays $35.00 on a filling Yearly maximum is $1,000 Yearly maximum is $800 It has been the experience of many dentists that some insurance companies tell their customers that “fees are above the usual and customary” rather than saying “our benefits are low.”

Your insurance company sets the “allowables” or “a usual and customary dental fee plan” depending on how much your employer paid for your policy. It’s just like your car insurance. The lower the benefits you choose, the less it costs you in premiums. Many necessary routine dentistry services are not covered by dental insurance at all. Again, what is covered and what is not is determined by what benefits and dental payment plan your employer purchased for you.

We do not believe it is in your best interest for your treatment to be compromised in order to accommodate an insurance policy’s restrictions that may provide you with a quality of care that is considerably less than you deserve.

We strongly feel that you, not your insurance company, should choose the treatment you feel is best for you.

18Sep

What are the Costs Associated with Root Canal Treatment?

There are many factors that affect the costs and payment associated with root canal treatment. Each patient and tooth presents a different set of circumstances. Generally the cost of root canal treatment is directly related to the chair time necessary to perform the treatment as well as to the costs of the dentist staff, training, and technology that the dentist has available when performing the procedure. Be sure to ask your dentist about dental financing credit, dental treatment financing, or if there is a possible loan for dental work available.

There are many factors that influence the amount of chair time necessary to treat any particular tooth:

  • The position of the tooth in the mouth.
  • The number of roots and the number of canals within these roots.
  • Root curvatures and the length of the roots.
  • The presence or absence of calcifications within the root canal space.
  • Special dental considerations. For example, it may be more difficult for the dentist to work through an existing crown or a bridge than to work on a tooth with only a small previous filling. Also, some teeth may have been severely broken down by past dental disease and these may have to be “built-up” before root canal treatment can even be started so that an aseptic field can be established and maintained during treatment.

In addition to the chair time involved for treatment, other factors are also taken into consideration when determining a fair fee for root canal treatment:

  • The cost of technology. Dentists who use state-of-the-art technology for certain procedures have invested in microscopes, computer digital radiography, ultrasonics, and specialized training courses for themselves and for their staff. The costs of these items are shared by those patients who benefit from them.
  • The costs of the dental office overhead include staff, rent, and supplies in addition to many other expenses. These costs vary significantly in different areas of the country.
  • Fees vary among practitioners due to differences in their endodontic treatment philosophies, which in turn dictate the chair time required, the materials selected, and the technologies utilized.

In conclusion, there can be marked discrepancies in the fees charged for root canal treatment by different dentists. Ultimately, the best value for care is treatment that is done once and works over a period of many years. Conversely, the most expensive dental treatment is the treatment that may cost less initially but does not work predictably and needs to be redone one or more times. The wise dental consumer does not make a treatment decision on the basis of cost alone.

Will Insurance Cover the Cost of Root Canal Treatment?

Dental insurance will usually help with a portion of the endodontic treatment
fee. A variety of dental insurance plans are available. A specific benefit package is selected contractually by each employer for the benefit of the employees. Some benefit packages may restrict or not recognize certain procedures, while in other instances the yearly maximums are unrealistic for anything other than the most basic care. The dentist will make a professional judgment and treatment recommendation based on what is best for the patient, not on what is best for the for-profit insurance company. The total fee is the patient’s responsibility but the dental office will work with the insurance carrier to get the maximum contracted benefit. The patient should speak with the dental treatment coordinator before treatment begins in an attempt to estimate the available insurance benefit.  Be sure to ask your dentist about patient financing, dental treatment financing, dental credit cards, or if there is a possible loan for dental work available.

by Clifford J. Ruddle, DDS, in collaboration with Philip M. Smith, DDS