Is There Such A Thing As Dental Insurance?

Health insurance starts when you need it the most.

Dental insurance stops when you need it the most.

There are dental benefits but this varies greatly from "dental insurance." And I'll bet most of your patients don't know the difference. In fact I'd wager that several times a week a patient hands your front desk person their medical insurance card!

As we know, with medical insurance the patient pays the deductible and then the insurance pays the rest or a large percentage of the rest. Most patients think the same applies for dental care. But it doesn't. Dental benefits work more like a gift card at Best Buy. You might want the $1200.00 stereo (or in the case of dental care, need it) but the gift card is only worth $200. So should the buyer settle for the $200 stereo or get what he wants and needs? And does your financial arranger cower to the patient's shock factor and settle for the lesser treatment?

So to prevent patients going into shock at the sight of their bill you need to educate the patients beforehand on how "dental insurance" works. Ask patients if they understand their dental plans (if they don't educate them) so they are not shocked when they go to the front desk, thinking they only have to make the co-pay and instead get a bill for $800.00. If they balk upon realizing what they have to pay, a good question to ask the patient is if his or her goal is to keep their teeth for a lifetime.

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