Does Your Dental Plan Complement Your All-Inclusive Dental Care?

A practice that provides complete dental care eliminates the need to visit several dentists or oral professionals in order to have certain procedures done. For instance, having your preteen's routine cleaning done and being able to have braces applied in-house fosters a cohesive management between treatments. The convenience of comprehensive care is best matched with all-inclusive insurance, but not all insurance is created equally. Ensure that you have the appropriate insurance options to cover those complete dental care procedures.

Restorative Services Vary

Dependent upon your dental plan, certain restorative services are offered on a tiered level as add-on options. After a routine exam, you may find that a cavity needs to be filled or require an emergency x-ray after taking a fly ball to the face. These instances are typically taken care of with a basic restorative plan. More in-depth procedures such as oral surgery for a root canal or periodontics are classified as major restorative services.  

State Funded Dental Care

Public health programs such as Medicaid, for low-income individuals, and Medicare, for seniors and the disabled, offer limited dental coverage, especially for adults. Preventative care such as dental exams that may include x-rays and fillings are included with coverage. Partial and complete dentures are even covered up to a specified dollar amount. Other cosmetic procedures such as orthodontic care are not compensated for unless there is a severe case of malocclusion, or misalignment of the teeth, in children. A Medicaid recipient is classified as a child until the age of 20 years old. 

Know What Your Policy Covers

Although you visit an all-inclusive dental practice, there's a possibility that you may not be on the receiving end if your insurance policy has limitations. Rushing to add on the needed coverage during emergency situations or just prior to services being rendered may not be an option. The insurance company could impose a waiting period before procedures, such as orthodontics, are compensated for. This is done to curb purchases of dental plans only when the time is opportune and later dropping the insurance once the desired procedure is complete.   

Waiting periods are not necessarily a bad concept. Waiting usually coincides with paying a lower monthly premium as opposed to shelling out a larger sum of money right when the procedure is needed.  

Be mindful when enrolling under an employer group policy as well. Certain procedures may not be an option with said plans. Contact a company like Couchman Center for Complete Dentistry for more information.

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