Now that it’s 2020, your dental insurance benefits from last year have likely reset – and if you want to save money on oral health care, you should start planning how to use them right away! Every year, many people lose hundreds of dental dollars that could have gone towards keeping their smiles healthy. If you don’t want this to happen to you, follow these 3 important tips that will let you get a head start on maximizing your benefits.
1. Review Your Dental Plan’s Details
First of all, it’s important to confirm your plan’s annual maximum as well as the deductible. The annual maximum is the amount of money your insurance carrier is willing to pay for your care during the year, and the deductible is what you need to pay your dentist out of pocket before your coverage kicks in. It’s important to keep these amounts in mind so that you can plan ahead for any dental work that you already know you’ll need in addition to regular visits.
You should also check your policy to see if anything has changed in terms of what services are covered and by what percentage. Just because your carrier covered a certain dental treatment last year doesn’t necessarily mean you can expect the same benefits this year. Take the time to confirm that your plan will help pay for any treatments you might be considering.
2. Find a Dentist Who Accepts Your Insurance
Does your dentist accept your current insurance carrier? If not, it’s important to find a practice that will. Ideally, your dentist will be in-network with your current insurance plan – that way, you can be sure that you’ll enjoy the greatest amount of savings possible.
3. Schedule a Dental Exam Now
Even if your teeth don’t need any particularly special attention this year, you should still see your dentist for regular preventive care. Such visits are normally completely covered by insurance, and for good reason: by having your teeth cleaned and examined by a professional who can recognize and treat oral health issues in their earliest stages, you can avoid the need for more complex and costly treatments later on – and thus, will save money for yourself (and your insurance provider). Most dentists will recommend an appointment every six months; if it’s been a while since your last visit, you should schedule your first dental checkup of 2020 sooner rather than later.
Your dentist can provide additional guidance for making the most out of your insurance benefits. Take the time to talk to them about your dental needs and figure out the best way to fulfil them while keeping your out of pocket costs to a minimum.
About the Practice
Our team at Advanced Smile Design is dedicated to bringing your family all the dental services you need at one convenient location. We want your visits to be as stress-free as possible, which is why we’re in-network with multiple dental plans (including Cigna, BlueCross/Blueshield, and many others) and are happy to accept out-of-network providers. To schedule an appointment at our office in Willow Grove, visit our website or call (215) 659-3334.
