"Dental Insurance" Topic

My wife has been complaining about a tooth ache so I gripe at her to do something about it and go to the dentest. After a month goes by she has her appointment and comes home with an estimate….of $10K! That's right, ten thousand ing dollars.

She needs to have several root canales and fillings, along with some other work (yes, I'm sure she really does need the work).

I ask her about our dental insurance and she tells me that it only pays a maximum of $1K. That's just great. I pay $1.30 USD a year in premiums for the last 5 years and they'll only pay out $1K.

I called the insurance company to ask about it. It was true. They'll pay $1K per individual per year or $3k for the family. No, it doesn't seem probable that 3 of use would need that much work done at the same time to me.

No where in the literature is there a statement that there is a maximum payout. It just goes on about how they'll pay various percentages for each type of work. I feel like an idiot, and I'll damn well know better next time.

So, does anyone know of any good dental plans, or are they all crap?

One of the tricks for dental insurance is to take advantage of the annual or twice-annual check ups. That way, the pain (both literal and payment wise) is spread out over time ( and it also finds problems before they get out of hand.) If there's big work like a crown, I had a pair a few years back, is to have one late in the year and the next the following new year. The dentist might be able to work out a long term payment plan for you though, talk to them.

$10000? What the heck does she need done?!? Have you talked to a different dentist?

The problem with many dental plans is that you have to be in them a while, sometimes a year or more, before they'll start paying for some things, particularly the big things. It's a way to keep people from signing on, getting the work done, and then dropping the coverage. They want to get some income before they have to pay out.

Yes, I have had a lot of work spread out over time. Is your dentest reasonable enough to split it out by problem and prioritize?

And it varies a lot by dentist. I had a specialist quite $7,000 USD for a piece of work; took it back to my regular dentist who took a look at my plan and we worked out a deal. He ran close on his margins but it came in at about $2,500 USD – still some out of pocket, but $500 USD rather than $4,500. USD

IMO they're all crap. We no longer bother buying it. My last one paid $89 USD for a crown. The dentist was willing to take payments, luckily. In your case I'd get a 2nd opinion.

By all means, go to a different dentist. And spread that work out as much as possible so that your dental plan will pay for it! Good luck!

go abroad

go abroad

A friend goes to Poland for his dental work. It helps that his girlfriend is Polish.

For a premium of $1.30 USD a year $1,000 USD seems quite good.

Sorry to hear about your problems. The charge seems excessive and your insurance company seem like charlatans.

It's probably no consolation but it's as bad here in England. It's almost impossible to get a National Health Service dentist so people are forced to go private, despite often having paid for dental care many times over via National Insurance which is deducted at source from wages.

I had hoped that our government would fix that, in fact I had hoped for some element of Socialism from what purports to be a Socialist party; health care for the poor, that kind of thing, not too much to ask is it?! No such luck. No money to keep dentists in the NHS but plenty of cash for failed bankers though.

I hope your wife can get herself sorted out, toothache is miserable and being in constant pain wears anybody out. Best of luck with it.

Regards
Alan

$1.30 USD should have read $1,300.

Judasfreakingpriest! I thot you meant $130.00 USD per year. How can paying $1,300 per year make ANY sense, when you only get $1,000 coverage??!! Just quit and save the money you pay for your "insurance", you'll be no less than $300 USD ahead!

It's a gamble. If he and his family needs dental work (and depending on the size of his family) he can come 700 to several thousand dollars ahead. I pay $80.50 USD a month for a $1,000.00 per person per year family plan. In addition, if you have ins. you generally only pay a percentage of the balance, not 100%, which is what you would pay without any ins.