Understanding How Dental Insurance Works
Many people assume that dental insurance is just like medical insurance. While they are similar in many respects, what separates them is the focus of the coverage they provide. Medical insurance is mainly meant to help you pay for treatment in the event of an emergency. While dental insurance does provide this kind of coverage as well, it’s mostly intended to encourage preventive care. Dental checkups and teeth cleanings are mostly or fully covered so that patients seek the care they need early and avoid the need for more costly procedures. As such, one of the most important steps for maximizing your dental insurance is to visit your dentist on a biannual basis.
What Your Dental Insurance Plan Covers
Most of the time, you can expect your dental insurance plan to look something like this:
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Preventive services like cleanings and checkups are fully covered.
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Fillings and other basic dental services are covered up to 80%.
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Extensive treatments are covered up to 50%.
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Elective procedures (i.e., cosmetic dentistry treatments) are not covered.
This is just a general outline of a common structure for dental insurance; your own plan may not look like this, so be sure to call your insurance carrier to clarify.
Our In-Network PPO Dental Insurance Providers
When looking at potential dental offices, it’s important to understand the difference between an in-network provider and an out-of-network provider. An in-network provider has agreed to provide services at set rates to allow patients to save money. Out-of-network providers often still take your insurance, but an in-network provider can help you reduce your out-of-pocket costs even further. If you call our dental office and tell us what plan you belong to, we can confirm whether we’re in-network with it. We are currently in-network with these plans:
- Aetna
- AIG
- Ameritas
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Careington
- Cigna
- Connection Dental
- Dental Benefit Providers
- DentaQuest
- Dentemax
- Dominion National
- Delta Dental
- EmblemHealth
- Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield
- GEHA
- Guardian
- Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
- Humana
- MetLife
- Principal Financial Group
- Renaissance Dental
- Sun Life Financial
- Tricare Dental Program
- UniCare
- United Federation of Teachers
- UnitedHealthcare
- UnitedHealthcare Oxford
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And many more!
Don’t see your plan? We likely take it! Reach out to our team today!
