DENTAL INSURANCE WOE’S

 

35 years ago there was little if any dental insurance. In 1972 our practices were slammed with patients seeking care and many practice schedules were booked out solidly for two months ahead. When employers began offering dental benefits, dentists were delighted because they knew that even more people would be seeking care. We and our patients welcomed third–party participation with open arms.

 

Who knew that this love affair would become tumultuous? We in dentistry could not believe our new "lover" would turn on us and start dictating how we would run our practices, Even to the point of making it difficult to stay solvent. Like a spouse staying in an abusive marriage, we have silently allowed insurance companies to control us.  

 

Enter PPO/HMO insurance giants. Our "lover" morphed into something we did not recognize and forced us to accept lower fees if we wanted to stay in the marriage.  Many dentists have decided to stay with insurers out of fear of losing patients and their practices.  

 

Plan participation has the risk of making dentist feel they should compromise treatment, because of those limitations. My conscience will not allow me to make those compromises.  I refuse to deliver anything but the highest quality care and that is what you will receive when you come into my practice.

 

You can help to keep our cost down by:

1. Having your current insurance information with you each time you visit our office. (It takes valuable time for us to call your spouse/parent to get the needed information)

2. Know what coverage your plan provides, your annual deductibles, benefits and limitations. (We will file your insurance as a courtesy, but you are ultimately responsible for the debt incurred) 

3. Go online and request a benefit rundown to bring to your appointment that we can keep in your record as a reference.