STEPHANIE SKOPEK DDS

What is Dental Insurance and what does it really do for you?

Most patients think that dental insurance is the same as health insurance where there’s no limit to what will be paid and that if you need a procedure done the insurance will help you regardless of your limit.

One of the biggest differences between medical and dental insurance is that the maximum dental benefit per year is relatively low compared to medical insurance, only covering only a percentage of dental work that needs to be done. For this reason, it makes more sense to refer to it as dental ‘benefits’ rather than insurance because although it will not cover everything, you will receive some benefits while investing in the maintenance and health of your smile.

Insurance companies have to show their shareholders that they are profitable, often leading them to exclude dental services from their ‘benefit’ plans by refusing to pay the provider; therefore, making it seem that if the service isn’t covered then it isn’t necessary. That is simply not true and is actually dangerous to your health. Each year we find that more and more employers are carefully shopping for policies to offer their employees and the benefits covered by those policies become lower and lower with more restrictions and exclusions to save the company money. It is our responsibility as educated professionals to get to know you and give you the best advice regarding your health because ultimately it is your responsibility, not that of the insurance company, to determine what you need. Unless you have exceptional dental health with no restorations, at some point in your life you will be required to make some type of dental investment.

In-network dental offices make an agreement with insurance companies to discount their fees. We have found that we cannot offer both personalized service and problem solving for patients along with the highest quality of materials if we are accepting lower fees and being told by the insurance companies what procedures they think are best for the patients that we are spending time and building relationships with in our office. 

In-network dental offices typically have to see more patients in a day in order to make up for the discounting of fees and we want to be able to spend as much time as is needed with each and every one of our patients so that we can gain a comprehensive understanding as to what their exact dental health problems and concerns are as well as to determine the best treatment plan required to solve these problems. Out-of-network fees are often very similar to in-network depending on the type of insurance that you have. 

As a fee for service office, we accept any type of dental insurance that accepts us…If you have the flexibility to choose your own dentist, then please give us a call and we’d be happy to answer any questions about your dental health.

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