I signed up for dental insurance. Then, I realized they were going to tell me which dentists I was allowed to go to. That didn’t include the good dentist in my area. I was disappointed. I’m considering getting rid of the insurance, but don’t know how to afford good dental care. Is there something obvious I’m missing?
Laney
Dear Laney,
You don’t have to sacrifice quality for affordable dental care.
These days there are plenty of ways to get affordable dental care without selling yourself to the cheapest bidder. Insurance is helpful, but those who will only allow you to use preferred providers will dictate prices to dentists. Some agree to their pricing and others don’t. That’s why you will often find only a handful of dentists listed for PPOs, etc. That doesn’t work for you because your want a specific dentist they won’t cover. That’s okay. It’s better to choose a good provider and find a way to make that work. Let me give you some alternatives.
Affordable Dental Care with In-House Plans
More and more dentists are countering the dental insurance market in a way which allows them to provide quality care at a discount to patients by starting their own in-house dental plan. Drs. Drake and Wallace are among them. For a yearly fee, you can get some free services and some highly discounted services. I’d start with asking your preferred dentist whether they have anything like that. It may be just the solution you need.
Affordable Dental Care with Treatment Options
Ethically, dentists are supposed to give you all your options for treatment. However, some of them tend to do it in a way which makes it sound like there’s only one real answer if you care about your teeth. That’s just not true. When you have a family to care for, there are other considerations besides the “top-of-the-line”. Sure, we’d all love to drive a luxury car, but not at the cost of bankrupting our families. Sometimes, a well-kept mini-van makes more sense.
The same is true for dental care. Let’s say you need to replace a tooth. Your dentist is pushing you toward a dental implant. But, the tooth next to it is in need of a root canal and dental crown. In that case, it would be more sense financially to get a dental bridge which could knock out both problems in one fell swoop. Yes, dental implants are better than bridges. But, a dental bridge will serve you very well.
Affordable Dental Care with Payment Plans
Let’s face it, some procedures are just plain expensive. Seriously expensive. When you need that care given to your teeth right away it isn’t fair to demand the entire payment up front. It puts patients at risk of their situation getting worse while they save up.
Instead, for the procedures that are more of a financial burden for families, Drs. Drake and Wallace allow their patients to pay out the procedure over time. This ensures they’ll get the care they need right away.
This blog is brought to you by Drs. Drake & Wallace.