All Smiles Dentistry Blog

A note from the front office

Six questions you need to ask yourself about your dental benefits NOW!!

The time of year is here to start thinking about whether you have gotten the most out of this year’s benefits

The holidays are upon us and Football season is in full swing.  Maybe you are planning to have the family in from out of town for Thanksgiving; the holiday season can be a busy time of year!  Going to the dentist is the last thing on your mind this time of year.  Maybe it shouldn’t be.

Studies show that millions of dollars worth of dental insurance goes unused each year in our country. Dental insurance is not your normal kind of insurance policy.  Most programs have a “use it or loose it” policy and benefits don’t usually carry over to the next year. Since the yearly maximum benefit for dental insurance is much lower than most medical plans it is important to be preventive and don’t waste the benefit if there is something preventive it can be used for. 

Dental Benefits have a use it or loose it policy

People are so conditioned to trust insurance to cover what is needed in case of emergency, but with dental insurance it is just not that way. When you pay in each year premiums you expect that when you need to use the insurance that it will be there for you.  That is just not the case with dental insurance.  With dental insurance there is an allotted amount that can be used toward treatment and prevention that year, each new year the amount is zeroed out and starts over.  With the amount of preventive dental care why not take advantage of every dollar you can?

Of course it is always wise to check with your companies human resources representative to get details about your plan, but most plans cover 100% of preventive services and 80% of basic restorative services.

If a patient comes in regularly for checkups, they may already know this information – so in some ways I may be preaching to the choir. Our hope is that our patients will use what we give them and help others. Your friends and coworkers may not be aware of any features of their dental insurance. They pay in year after year and the premiums are never used and the money is wasted, no prevention was done and a problem that has gone undiagnosed is brewing and will become an expensive emergency one day.  We hope to stop the cycle for those who have chosen our practice and those that you know and care about – this can include your friends, family and coworkers.

So whether it’s your child coming home from college for the holidays who needs to have a cleaning, or maybe it’s you that has put off treatment this year don’t put it off another day.  

Six questions you can’t afford to ignore about this years dental benefit

• When does your yearly benefit wipe clean?
• How much benefit are you wasting?
• Do you have Flexible spending that will be lost?
• What kinds of things can you use your flexible spending benefits on?   You may be surprised.
• Have you had at least two dental cleanings this year?  If not call and schedule.
• Do you have dental treatment that you have not complete this year?  – look for our letter then you need to call and schedule treatment before December.

If you find that you need to call, others you know probably need to know this information also – please forward this link to them.

We hope that this information is helpful to you. If you have any questions or need to schedule, you can contact Maggie at (972)747-1996 or email her at info@numberonedentist.com