Best Dental Insurance? (how much, buy, costs)

[LXEX55]

Can anyone recommend a good dental insurance carrier that is both comprehensive and accepted by many dentists in the state of Florida? Thanks very much.

[Edvard]

I have Guardian and they are the best I have ever seen.

[MortonR]

"Comprehensive"? What do you mean by this?

Most dental plans cover a great deal of services, however, I've yet in my many years found a dentist that accepts what's referred to as "reasonable and customary" charges. It's almost always far more than this amount.

I once asked an insurer where they came up with the "reasonable and customary" amounts. They couldn't tell me.

RM

[TBMorgan]

Originally Posted by LXEX55

Can anyone recommend a good dental insurance carrier that is both comprehensive and accepted by many dentists in the state of Florida? Thanks very much.

Probably best to find a dental care provider first and ask which ones they accept.

For example....

https://www.greatexpressions.com/pat...and-financing/

[bobandsherry]

Dental insurance typically is not worth the premium paid. Typically insurance is to cover the big, unexpected, expenses. What people look for in dental is to pay for the basics. Most dental insurance plans cost $40-50/mo and then cap coverage at $1,000-1,500, and then only cover 40-60% of the dental cost.

I would suggest that you look at DentalPlans.com. It offers several different dental "saving plans" from major insurers such as Cigna. The cost is reasonable, $125/yr for individual, $180/yr for couple/family. The benefits are they have negotiated lower rates with many dentists. As an example, I had a root canal done, cost would have been $1,300, the negotiated rate and what I paid was $750. It also offers a reasonable cost for 6 month exams, I pay $40 for the cleaning/exam (vs $95 for what the dentist would charge). So essentially the annual premium is a wash against what I save, but if I need any other work it's done at discounted rate. You can look at examples of savings:
https://www.dentalplans.com/dentalse...ldiscountplans

You can look to see if your dentist is in any of the plans offered. There are several highly recommended dentists in my area who are in the plans, but definitely not all. As it worked out, the dentist I was already going to was in the plan.

https://www.dentalplans.com/dentalse...tofinddentists

[MortonR]

Dental is like vision. It pays a basic amount for common things like fillings and crowns, but if anything gets major they're pretty worthless. I've never seen a dental plan that didn't cap annual expenses above $1,500 or so. If you do the math it's not much of a deal...

RM

[Gulf coast jon]

Great post!

Dental discount plans don't have the overhead of insurance processing. You pay either by the month or year (at a discount to monthly) to get a reduced price list for dental services.

One "gotcha". Don't ever choose a dental discount plan that includes free cleanings and checkups. Unlike insurance, NO MONEY goes from the discount plan company to the dentist. They are inspecting and cleaning your teeth for free. I had to deal with several "bait and switch" situations when I first tried a free checkup and cleaning plan. I've been happy with the plans that give me 50 percent off most services. Break even on two cleanings per year, save a bunch when I've lost a filling, needed a cap, and needed root canal surgery (and another cap).

Originally Posted by bobandsherry

Dental insurance typically is not worth the premium paid. Typically insurance is to cover the big, unexpected, expenses. What people look for in dental is to pay for the basics. Most dental insurance plans cost $40-50/mo and then cap coverage at $1,000-1,500, and then only cover 40-60% of the dental cost.

I would suggest that you look at DentalPlans.com. It offers several different dental "saving plans" from major insurers such as Cigna. The cost is reasonable, $125/yr for individual, $180/yr for couple/family. The benefits are they have negotiated lower rates with many dentists. As an example, I had a root canal done, cost would have been $1,300, the negotiated rate and what I paid was $750. It also offers a reasonable cost for 6 month exams, I pay $40 for the cleaning/exam (vs $95 for what the dentist would charge). So essentially the annual premium is a wash against what I save, but if I need any other work it's done at discounted rate. You can look at examples of savings:
https://www.dentalplans.com/dentalse...ldiscountplans

You can look to see if your dentist is in any of the plans offered. There are several highly recommended dentists in my area who are in the plans, but definitely not all. As it worked out, the dentist I was already going to was in the plan.

https://www.dentalplans.com/dentalse...tofinddentists

[MortonR]

With all these ideas in mind, I wonder how much of a deal a dentist might make if you agree to be a cash customer. Their overhead costs fall significantly when they're getting paid on the spot for services rendered, so I wonder what that's worth to them?

Some years back when we were in the middle of a move and between jobs, we had to see a doctor who had been treating us for some time. As we didn't have medical insurance at the time, we paid cash and a lot less than what the insurance paid. The doctor said he would much rather be paid in cash that have to process claims and wait to be paid by the insurance companies, so he had no problem discounting his fees substantially for cash....

RM

[Gulf coast jon]

I've tried that several times. Never had success. OK, once, when my dental plan dentist was on vacation, and I asked the substitute dentist to honor the plan price. She was great. But that was just a one off.

Billing is a PITA for doctors and dentists. I think they accept lower fees if they are administrated outside of their office, and it allows them to profit from price discrimination. Their office staff loves it. Less work (someone else creates the discount fee plan) and the discount plan companies have reps that buy them weekly gourmet lunches (from what I've seen and smelled).

Originally Posted by MortonR

With all these ideas in mind, I wonder how much of a deal a dentist might make if you agree to be a cash customer. Their overhead costs fall significantly when they're getting paid on the spot for services rendered, so I wonder what that's worth to them?

Some years back when we were in the middle of a move and between jobs, we had to see a doctor who had been treating us for some time. As we didn't have medical insurance at the time, we paid cash and a lot less than what the insurance paid. The doctor said he would much rather be paid in cash that have to process claims and wait to be paid by the insurance companies, so he had no problem discounting his fees substantially for cash....

RM

[bgmiami]

The best dental plan is the one accepted by your dentist! When I lost my work dental insurance when I retired, we started looking and were able to find dental insurance through the Affordable Healthcare Act. We are covered for 2 exams & cleanings per year (4 if you are diabetic). Fillings, crowns, root canals and extractions are 50%. But the savings is that it is 50% of the negotiated rate, not the regular rate. We have been very happy with Florida Blue Dental Insurance.