Discount dental insurance?

Hello, I am looking into purchasing discount dental insurance for 20 a month for me and my husband. Thing is we need ALOT done. He needs 3 root canals, deep cleaning and a few cavities, i need 6 cavities and a deep cleaning. We only have about 100 a week left over after bills and need to figure something out? Does anyone have any expierence with this? I went on the site and found dentists in my area and how much things cost if you go to that dentist w/ this plan, and things are pretty cheap, but how do i know thats real, and how do i ask for a "exam" and an estimate? is that possible to both go in and get the free exam and xrays for new patients and then ask for an estimate w/ this insurance and let them get back to me? i really have no clue how to go about this. We really need this stuff done.

Discount dental insurance?
First, relax! Most dental problems are not emergencies. So you can calmly look at your options and decide what is best for you. Read on...





Most employers provide some kind of dental cover for their employees. Dental Insurance, dental reimbursement plans, group plans etc. are some of types of dental cover provided by employers. If you have one of these then most of your dental costs will be covered under them and you need to pay only a percentage of the costs. I assume you and your husband DO NOT have any of these types of dental cover.





The cheapest option for you right now is to find a dental school near you and get registered there. The students at the dental school are always in need of patients to learn their craft. So, find out if they are willing to take you as patients. You will be worked on by student dentists and the outcome may not be great but you can expect reasonable amount of care as they will be supervised by their teachers.





But if you want good quality dental care then an option you can explore is getting dental discount plans - these are not dental insurance remember - they are kind of discount clubs. The company offering the discount dental plan negotiates a deal with dentists around the country to offer their dental services at lower costs then it would normally cost. The whole thing is upfront. That is you know how much you have to pay for your dental treatment.





For example: Here's a sample Actual You Pay


Root Canal Treatment - Front Tooth $542 $336


Root Canal Treatment - Bicuspid $646 $403


Root Canal Treatment - Molar $829 $491





What you could do is save $100 left every week and after you have accumulated say 400 dollars at the end of month get one root canal treated. That way at the end of the year you could get most of dental treatment done.





What you can also do is visit the dentists around your area and get an estimate for the overall dental treatment for both of you. You could outline your position to them and ask them to give you an overall plan so you can plan your treatment over the course of a year or two.





Most dental treatments are not an emergency so you can spread out your costs over a year or two. Ask your dentist to priortize your treatment needs. That way you will be able to get the most needed treatment first.





I know you can't put all your money into getting dental treatment alone. Several other emergencies will crop up claiming your savings. But don't worry things will work out with a little bit of planning and care. Try a combination of dental school and discount dental insurance to make the most of what you have.





All the best!
Reply:do it yorself!
Reply:if you live close to a dental school... call the school and see if any students still need patients for board exams. they will be able to provide you with cheaper dental service but you will have to show up at the time of their exams.





some dental insurance will only allow you to deduct major surgery (like root canals) after you are with the plan for 3 or 6 months or so, so it is important to watch that one out.





a great place to get dental insurance and just check the different price/options is EHealthInsurance.





another great place to search discount dental place is SearchAllDeals, just start with a search term like "discount dental insurance".
Reply:You should know some things about discount dental plans:


First of all, they are NOT insurance. You are paying for a list of dentists who agree to discount their fees. You usually have to pay at time of service to receive the discount - no credit will be extended.





Secondly, these plans are sold by multi-level marketing. This means that in order to make money, the sellers depend to getting others to sell under them, and so on. There is no profit in the product itself, only in building a pyramid of others.





Third, most dentists operate on an overhead factor of 65% to 75%. That means they CANNOT provide full service and discount their fees by 50%. It's just not possible. Either they will sell you something not covered by the plan, or they will perform the cheapest (and maybe not longest lasting) alternative treatment.





Bottom line: discount dental plans are not a good use of your limited funds. By calling the local dental society, you can get information on lower cost clinics which accept a sliding scale, or how to become a patient at the local dental school.
Reply:Go to http://www.discount-dental-plans.us , they have great plans
Reply:Your discount dental insurance is not a true dental insurance. These dentist pay someone to steer you to their office and you get what you pay for. Call their office and ask what their procedure is for new patients. Normally speaking they will tell you will need to have an exam and xrays and they will give you an estimtate of what it will cost and what needs to be done. This is usually routine.





You have to be carefull as to what they tell you needs to be done. They usually over treat to maximize their time. Trying to do as much as possbile in the shortest amount of time to make up for not getting full payment. They will also try and get you do treatement that is "not covered by the insurance". You might be safer to go to a younger dentist. At least they may be trying to build a practice by doing discount dentistry. I would be cautious about going to an older dentist since he is probably doing it since the quality of his work is so bad that no one that can pay wants to go to him.





You just have to understand you don't get something for nothing. Good dentistry takes time and money to deliver if it is discounted you have to at least wonder why. Your best bet is a younger dentist or a dentist just starting a practice who is willing to discount his dentisrtry since he has empty time and want to just fill it till he gets busy at which point he won't be discounting.