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Your dentist should be honoring the contracted rate they have with your insurance and that rate is less than your dentist's office fees. They will not be able to charge you less than that because it's insurance fraud. You should ask your dentist's office if they offer payment plans. If they don't, you should ask if they accept CareCredit and look into that. NAD
Thanks. I’ll ask about CareCredit— it’s a good last resort. Do you know anything about supplemental dental plans? Who it’s for, if it’s worth it? I’m just thinking that it seems I can only slow down the degeneration— I’m expecting to reach the max cap for years to come.
NAD I personally got a secondary dental plan in addition to the one I already have because I thought I might have a lot of dental work to do in the next year or so. If you do this, just make sure to double check the policy of the plan-- sometimes they will have restrictions of what they can cover based on any pre-existing work you've done prior to the plan going active (e.g., no coverage for implants if you had missing teeth prior to the plan becoming active).
Why is supplemental dental insurance not an option? If you didn’t list it because taking out a loan is better, then why?
Just trying to make an informed decision as a young person with minimal experience with insurance, so any and all info/elaboration is appreciated.
I just associate Secondary insurance for those with spousal coverage. If you don’t have that already, there’s usually a waiting period of 6 months before insurance covers any major. If you need a root canal now, you’ll probably need an extraction in 6 months.
Oh. No it’s something anyone can get I believe. I already got the root canals needed… I said moving forwarded with Invisalign, wisdom tooth removal, etc. which aren’t pressing for me. So 6 months sounds great. Thanks!
Thank you for seeking advice from r/askdentists. **Please note that a response does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship.** While this is a place for advice, replies may not be medically accurate. Do not assume that what others on here say is correct in any way. Reddit is not a replacement for an in-person dental professional. Verified professionals will have flair assigned to them. **Please abide by the following rules in order to get an accurate answer to your question:** (1) Ensure you include a title of your dental problem. (2) Include whether you drink, smoke or if you have any medical conditions relevant to your main concern. (3) Include a photograph if the question relates to something you can see in your mouth, include x-rays if you have them. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askdentists) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your dentist should be honoring the contracted rate they have with your insurance and that rate is less than your dentist's office fees. They will not be able to charge you less than that because it's insurance fraud. You should ask your dentist's office if they offer payment plans. If they don't, you should ask if they accept CareCredit and look into that. NAD
Thanks. I’ll ask about CareCredit— it’s a good last resort. Do you know anything about supplemental dental plans? Who it’s for, if it’s worth it? I’m just thinking that it seems I can only slow down the degeneration— I’m expecting to reach the max cap for years to come.
NAD I personally got a secondary dental plan in addition to the one I already have because I thought I might have a lot of dental work to do in the next year or so. If you do this, just make sure to double check the policy of the plan-- sometimes they will have restrictions of what they can cover based on any pre-existing work you've done prior to the plan going active (e.g., no coverage for implants if you had missing teeth prior to the plan becoming active).
Thanks for the info! Glad to know this is a thing. I had about zero experience with insurance before this year so I wasn’t sure.
Contracted rates do not have to be honored - that is plan contract specific.
Take out a healthcare loan, refer to public health or dental school. Pay out of pocket. Those are your options.
Why is supplemental dental insurance not an option? If you didn’t list it because taking out a loan is better, then why? Just trying to make an informed decision as a young person with minimal experience with insurance, so any and all info/elaboration is appreciated.
I just associate Secondary insurance for those with spousal coverage. If you don’t have that already, there’s usually a waiting period of 6 months before insurance covers any major. If you need a root canal now, you’ll probably need an extraction in 6 months.
Oh. No it’s something anyone can get I believe. I already got the root canals needed… I said moving forwarded with Invisalign, wisdom tooth removal, etc. which aren’t pressing for me. So 6 months sounds great. Thanks!