Covered California Dental plans- Implants. Have info, do not understand it (tooth, dentist)

[Redmond1]

Does anyone know if any Covered California Dental plans cover an implant?

I clicked summary of information and could not find the dental implant listed. There are a lot of big words as to what it covers. Essentially I have dental insurance through work that covers everything, at least to some extent, except an implant.

Thank you

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Redmond1

Does anyone know if any Covered California Dental plans cover an implant?

I clicked summary of information and could not find the dental implant listed. There are a lot of big words as to what it covers. Essentially I have dental insurance through work that covers everything, at least to some extent, except an implant.

Thank you

Pick up the phone and ask them.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Redmond1

Does anyone know if any Covered California Dental plans cover an implant?

I clicked summary of information and could not find the dental implant listed. There are a lot of big words as to what it covers. Essentially I have dental insurance through work that covers everything, at least to some extent, except an implant.

Thank you

It depends on the plan, did you already buy one? There are two different kinds, HMO and PPO. HMO are sort of like discount dental plans, there usually isn't a maximum limit but you have to pay for every service but the prices are less than without insurance. With many of these plans you are stuck with corporate dental clinics which aren't always great, but you can always check reviews of the dentists on Yelp before you make an appointment. The other kind is a PPO which gives you a bigger choice of dentists but has an annual cap of $1500-$2000 on benefits. The insurance will pay for most of covered services up to that amount. There might be a waiting period of 6 months for expensive services like implants and some plans won't cover implants unless they are for a tooth that has just been extracted, in other words, they won't pay for an implant for a tooth you lost 5 years ago. I can't tell you much more than that, but if you are having trouble and you can give me the name of a plan I will try to look up the coverage for you online. Otherwise, do as the other poster suggested and call the number of the plan.

[Redmond1]

I have a pop. We have no hmo's here. Thanks so much for the offer to help me look into this, that means a lot.

Ended up just calling the few Oral Surgeons within 1.5 hrs from here asking their advice. We live in the boondocks so have only a few choices somewhat close.

I have an appointment with the office for a consult I called who quoted 4-5k for the one implant. She said it is generally not worth it to sign up for insurance. Since we live near the boarder, I am going to call for quotes in a few days when I get back from work. It might be cheaper in another state, maybe worth it to drive there.

I have a workplace dental plan, met life, but they pay for no implants under any circumstances. I have a cap on the tooth already. This is due to a bad dentist who drilled down so far that the cap falls off. Being Native American, it can be put on at no cost to me (Indian dental clinic) if needed, meaning if I exhasburate my 2k max dental insurance. They bill my dental insurance first. Then the taxpayers pay but we haven't needed to do that. Thanks again

[Redmond1]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

Pick up the phone and ask them.

I did that before I started this thread.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Redmond1

I have a pop. We have no hmo's here. Thanks so much for the offer to help me look into this, that means a lot.

Ended up just calling the few Oral Surgeons within 1.5 hrs from here asking their advice. We live in the boondocks so have only a few choices somewhat close.

I have an appointment with the office for a consult I called who quoted 4-5k for the one implant. She said it is generally not worth it to sign up for insurance. Since we live near the boarder, I am going to call for quotes in a few days when I get back from work. It might be cheaper in another state, maybe worth it to drive there.

I have a workplace dental plan, met life, but they pay for no implants under any circumstances. I have a cap on the tooth already. This is due to a bad dentist who drilled down so far that the cap falls off. Being Native American, it can be put on at no cost to me (Indian dental clinic) if needed, meaning if I exhasburate my 2k max dental insurance. They bill my dental insurance first. Then the taxpayers pay but we haven't needed to do that. Thanks again

It's typical for dental insurance plans not to cover implants, but now it sounds like your issue is that a crown fell off, is this the same tooth you are thinking of getting an implant for? I had a tooth that was broken and couldn't support a crown but the dentist put a post into the root (he didn't extract the tooth) and that supported the crown. Your Native American dental care would probably cover that so I would go with that first rather than getting an implant unless a reliable dentist has told you that is the only option.

[Redmond1]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

It's typical for dental insurance plans not to cover implants, but now it sounds like your issue is that a crown fell off, is this the same tooth you are thinking of getting an implant for? I had a tooth that was broken and couldn't support a crown but the dentist put a post into the root (he didn't extract the tooth) and that supported the crown. Your Native American dental care would probably cover that so I would go with that first rather than getting an implant unless a reliable dentist has told you that is the only option.

Hmm...This was not mentioned to me. I will call and ask. Thank you!

[toofache32]

Is Covered California a form of Medicaid?

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by toofache32

Is Covered California a form of Medicaid?

No, Covered California is what they call the ACA plans (Obamacare) in this state. They offer dental supplement plans but the ones I looked at were not very impressive