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Is anyone familiar with Northeast Dental Plan? I've heard their radio ads, and a friend just suggested I try it after he met one of their dentists. It's a membership fee after which you get hugely discounted rates.
Does anyone have a sense of whether it's worthwhile, whether the dentists on their roster are good?
Based on what I know of some other discount dental plans (namely Signature Dental), the dentists on the plans are ones who don't have a large clientele of private and traditionally insured patients. In some cases, they're new dentists. In others, they're sub-par. Other times they're clinics.
You should get a list of particpating dentists before you pay any money, and see if the one you want (or ones you would consider) participate. Also, look at what the discounted fees actually are, and compare with the membership fee. Consider whether you would use the discounted services... if you go for two cleanings per year and maybe need a filling once every two or three years, then that would be a different story than if you had deep scale cleanings, crowns, root canals, and replaced filings each year.
I've had Northeast for 5+ years, as have several friends, and we all think it's fine:
-- It's cheap ($85/year); it cuts costs significantly, especially with high-end work - root canal, crowns, and varied surgeries; and it also helps with fillings and such. Unless you never need dental work, you'll more than recoup the fee, because regular NYC dental costs are surreally eye-popping.
-- If you're covered by regular dental insurance, now or later: Northeast still applies, and further reduces your costs.
-- In an emergency, it beats looking for a Hit 'n' Run Cheapo Dental Clinic or rushing off to NYU's dental school.
-- If you don't like the dentist you chose, or if you move, you can switch to any other member in the NYC area; no problem.
HOWEVER: Check out their dentist list and see if the most conveniently-located dentists have been around awhile, have a good vibe (including friendly, efficient staff and tidy, uncrowded, pleasant office), and-or have good reps with friends/neighbors, or if locals' most-recommended dentists are on the Northeast list.
Northeast _does_ have many experienced dentists, including my own. In fact, I found him before I found Northeast. _He_ recommended the plan, to reduce mega-costs. I've also seen Northeast specialists who were great, with long experience, impressive credentials, and on-top-of-it knowledge. (You don't want someone whose awareness/methods are stuck in 1975.)
But like all such dental plans, it has newbies who are trying to build a practice.
That might be fine if you just need an occasional filling or checkup. But for more regular or complex work, you want someone who (a) knows his-her stuff, and (b) really knows other dentists ... so that if your dentist is away or if you need a specialist, you'll be referred to a known quantity with a solid track record - not just to someone your dentist met playing golf, or randomly picked from the Northeast list.
I've had Northeast for 5+ years, as have several friends, and we all think it's fine:
-- It's cheap ($85/year); it cuts costs significantly, especially with high-end work - root canal, crowns, and varied surgeries; and it also helps with fillings and such. Unless you never need dental work, you'll more than recoup the fee, because regular NYC dental costs are surreally eye-popping.
-- If you're covered by regular dental insurance, now or later: Northeast still applies, and further reduces your costs.
-- In an emergency, it beats looking for a Hit 'n' Run Cheapo Dental Clinic or rushing off to NYU's dental school.
-- If you don't like the dentist you chose, or if you move, you can switch to any other member in the NYC area; no problem.
HOWEVER: Check out their dentist list and see if the most conveniently-located dentists have been around awhile, have a good vibe (including friendly, efficient staff and tidy, uncrowded, pleasant office), and-or have good reps with friends/neighbors, or if locals' most-recommended dentists are on the Northeast list.
Northeast _does_ have many experienced dentists, including my own. In fact, I found him before I found Northeast. _He_ recommended the plan, to reduce mega-costs. I've also seen Northeast specialists who were great, with long experience, impressive credentials, and on-top-of-it knowledge. (You don't want someone whose awareness/methods are stuck in 1975.)
But like all such dental plans, it has newbies who are trying to build a practice.
That might be fine if you just need an occasional filling or checkup. But for more regular or complex work, you want someone who (a) knows his-her stuff, and (b) really knows other dentists ... so that if your dentist is away or if you need a specialist, you'll be referred to a known quantity with a solid track record - not just to someone your dentist met playing golf, or randomly picked from the Northeast list.
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