DENTAL INSURANCE
We are participating providers for a few major dental insurance plans. These include Active Duty United Concordia/Tricare, Delta Dental Premier, and First Health of the Carolinas Delta Dental plans. Please call so we can check for you. Even if we are not in-network providers, we will file your insurance for you and accept assignment of benefits if your dental insurance allows.
Dental insurance is very useful for many of our patients, but it can be confusing. The lack of sufficient information provided by most insurance companies to patients and dentists’ offices makes it almost impossible for some patients to fully understand their benefits. Further complication arises from the fact that we base our recommended treatment on what is best for your oral health. Insurance companies base their recommendations on what is best to reduce costs of reimbursement and maximize profits.
ANNUAL MAXIMUM COVERAGE
The current $1,000-$1,500 annual maximum reimbursement was established in the late 1960s, when dental insurance was first introduced. The maximum has increased minimally over the last 50 years. If this value kept up with inflation over the past 50 years, then the yearly maximum would be $7,500. The dental insurance industry has been able to keep your yearly average annual maximum in the past while still charging premiums in today’s dollars. The dental plan selected by your employer is most likely based on your employer’s purchasing power and its ability to cover the most employees with the least expense. Because the plans apply to every employee signed up in the company, the plans cannot possibly respond to the individual differences that exist in the employee group. For that reason, we hope you can come to view dental insurance from your employer (which you help pay for) as a means to help minimize your cost of some types of dental services. The dental plan, designed to cover average needs at the least possible cost, should not dictate making important decisions about your dental health.
Our practice and team members are dedicated to giving you the best dental care possible today. We do not diagnose, deliver treatment, or establish fees according to any insurance table or the insurance company’s interpretation of what is best for you. Individual treatment needs are based on the care, skill, and judgment of our dental team and not on insurance allowable coverage. Our commitment to your optimal dental health is to you and not to the dental insurance companies. However, we work diligently to help patients maximize their dental insurance benefits every year.
FINANCING
Patient payment or patient co-pay is due at the time of treatment. There is a 5% cash or check savings for non-insurance patients for major work over $1,000. We offer financing plans through Care Credit for 0% and $0 down for up to 12 months for major work. Lastly , we have additional financing options for orthodontic treatment.