Costs, insurance and treatment planning
How to read a written treatment plan, compare quotes fairly, understand what drives cost, and plan treatment in stages.
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
What consent for dental treatment should help you understand
Informed consent is a conversation, recorded by a form, that should leave you understanding what was found, what treatment is proposed and who will perform it, the…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Why one dental treatment plan may include a specialist
Dentistry has ADA-recognized specialties: endodontics, periodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, prosthodontics, pediatric dentistry, oral and…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Understanding maintenance costs after cosmetic dentistry
Cosmetic treatment is not finished at delivery. Expect routine exams and cleanings, a night guard if you grind or clench, periodic whitening touch-ups because natural…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
If your insurance denies a dental claim: questions for the plan and office
A denial is the plan's decision about what the contract pays, not a judgment that the treatment was unnecessary. Start with the explanation of benefits: find the denial…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
What to check before traveling for lower-cost dental treatment
The checks are the ones you would apply to any office, near or far: who exactly is treating you and with what training, what is planned tooth by tooth with procedure…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Does dental insurance usually treat cosmetic care differently?
Usually, cosmetic care is treated differently. Most dental benefit plans pay toward procedures their documents define as necessary to treat disease, injury or loss of…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Annual maximum, deductible, and coinsurance in dental benefits
The deductible is the amount you pay before the plan begins paying; coinsurance is the percentage split between plan and patient once the deductible is met; the annual…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
A dental preauthorization is not always a payment guarantee
Not necessarily. A preauthorization or predetermination is the plan's advance review of a proposed treatment, and it usually states whether the procedure is a covered…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
What to ask an out-of-network dental office before booking
Ask five things before booking any office whose network status you do not know: whether the office participates in your specific plan, how it bills (does it submit…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
What to prioritize when you cannot complete every recommended treatment at once
Most plans can be phased, and the order usually follows risk rather than cost or appearance: active infection, pain and anything that threatens a tooth or your health…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Using an HSA or FSA for dental care: verify your plan and eligibility
Generally yes for care that prevents or treats dental disease (exams, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, crowns, extractions, implants, gum treatment, orthodontics), because…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Treatment alternatives should be part of a dental consultation
Yes. Presenting reasonable alternatives, including monitoring or no treatment for now, with their risks and benefits, is part of the informed-consent duty described in…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
How to ask for copies of your dental records and images
Ask in writing. Under the federal HIPAA Privacy Rule you have a right to inspect and obtain copies of your dental record, including x-rays and scans, generally within 30…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Getting a dental second opinion without starting over: what records to bring
Ask your current office for copies of your records before you book anywhere else: the written treatment plan with tooth numbers and procedure codes, your most recent…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
Why a crown quote can differ from an onlay quote
A crown and an onlay are different procedures, so their quotes differ because the work differs, not because one is a discount version of the other. A crown covers the…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
What a written dental treatment plan should explain
A written treatment plan should let you understand your care without the dentist in the room. For each tooth or finding it should name what was found, the proposed…
- Costs, insurance and treatment planning
How to Compare Dental Treatment Quotes Without Comparing Only Price
Two quotes with different totals are often describing different treatment, so the first job is to make them comparable: the same teeth, the same procedures, the same…