January 24, 2011

Texas Wisdom Teeth and Dental Implants offers Tips to Maximize Your Dental Insurance Benefits

Dr. Chilcoat @ 9:33 am

Dental insurance is designed to defray the costs of dental care. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to understand exactly what your policy covers and how to make the most of your benefits. You probably pay a monthly premium for dental insurance, and you deserve to maximize your coverage for needed dental care.

Texas Wisdom can help you navigate the ins and outs of dental insurance to cover dental implants and wisdom tooth removal.

Things to Consider…

Make sure you know what your policy covers. If you have questions, call your insurance company’s customer service department. If they can’t help, bring your policy to us. We’ll help you decipher the oftentimes hard-to-read language.

Use an in-network dentist. Just because a dentist accepts insurance from a provider doesn’t mean that he or she is a preferred provider for the insurance carrier. Choosing a dentist that’s in network can drastically reduce any out-of-pocket expenses you may have to pay.

Check to see if your policy mandates a waiting period before specific procedures are covered. If so, wait until the period expires before scheduling your dental work, such as dental implant placement or removal of erupted or impacted wisdom teeth.

Make sure you obtain pre-authorization, if necessary, from your dental insurance carrier prior to having dental work performed. If you don’t obtain pre-authorization, and your policy demands it, your insurance carrier may not cover your procedure.

If you need dental implants, but your policy won’t pay for them, ask your insurance carrier to cover the cost of a bridge or denture. Then, you can pay the remainder out of pocket.

Remember to utilize your flex spending account, if applicable. These pre-tax dollars deducted from your paycheck can be applied to your dental implant surgery or your wisdom teeth extraction.

Don’t be intimated by your insurance company. Call and ask necessary questions, and follow up if you need additional information.

Call our Irving or Valley Ranch office for help, as well. Our team is experienced in dealing with insurance companies. We’ll be your ally to help maximize your coverage and determine that you get the care you need for the smile you deserve.

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