Patient Information

Appointment

The first step towards a beautiful, healthy smile is to schedule an appointment. Please contact our office by phone or complete an online appointment request.

Payment Options

For your convenience, we accept cash, personal checks, debit cards, and most major credit cards. Payment is expected at the time services are performed. Feel free to contact our office if your treatment plan requires more comprehensive dental work and you want to discuss financial arrangements.

   

Dental Insurance

We accept many insurance plans, however, we encourage you to call your insurance company prior to your visit to verify your benefits. We are happy to file insurance claims on your behalf as long as you are free to choose your own dentist.

Just a reminder, insurance policies may cover only a portion of the total treatment cost. Unless other arrangements have been made, we ask that you pay your portion of the bill on the day of treatment. It is your responsibility to pay any balance not paid by your insurance company. 

Please contact our office for insurance details. We look forward to hearing from you.

 The Facts

Dental insurance is playing an ever-changing role in helping people obtain dental treatment. Since we strongly feel our patients deserve the best possible care we can provide, and in an effort  to maintain a high quality of care, we would like to share some facts about dental insurance with you.

FACT #1: Dental insurance is NOT meant to be a PAY-ALL; it is only meant to assist you in the payment of your preventative and basic dental care.

FACT #2: Many routine dental services are NOT a covered expense and are excluded or limited by the policy description. These services, when recommended are necessary for your treatment and well-being, and should not be interpreted as “unnecessary” because the insurance company does not provide for your care.

FACT #3: Insurance  is a contract between you and your employer. The benefits your plan pays is largely determined by how much your employer is willing to pay for the plan. The less they pay for the insurance, the less you will receive. Many plans state that you will be covered “up to 50%, 80%, or 100%.” In spite of what you are told, we have found that many plans pay less than that depending on their established fee schedule, The insurance company’s fee schedule rarely matches those of community dentists.

FACT #4: Insurance companies established “Usual and Customary” fee schedules may or may not have an accurate relationship to what “usual and customary” fees are for a given area. It has been the experience of many dentists that some insurance companies tell their insured that “fees are above the usual and customary fees”, rather than say to them that “our benefits are low”. This may be so, because there are various ways and calculations by which the company establishes their usual and customary fees. Therefore, it is possible that different insurance companies will have different usual and customary fees even in the same geographical area. Our fees may be within one company’s and not with another company’s usual and customary fees. Remember, you only get back what your employer puts in, less the profits of the insurance company. 

In approximately 60 years that dental insurance has existed, we have seen the maximum yearly allowable benefit limit remain $1000 (for most plans). The premiums paid, however, have risen and kept pace with inflation. So, where’s the money going? Yes, the insurance companies keep it! Do you realize that $1000 adjusted for inflation from mid-1950s comes to just over $7000 today? 

We are obligated to provide you with the very best of our care, skill and judgment. Insurance limitations will not cloud our ability to recommend and provide you with excellent care.

The insurance company is in business to make a profit from selling health care. We believe that when your insurance company makes recommendations to your employer on costs this limits treatment. 

These are some ways they cut costs, with your employer’s consent:

• Exclude the benefit from your policy 
• Limit the services on an annual  basis (fluoride once a year rather than twice a year)
• Provide only a small amount of coverage (80% to 50%)
• Recommend an alternative treatment to limit benefits and save money (silver amalgam fillings instead of white resin fillings)
• Alternate benefits on x-rays (pay for your procedures using a cheaper procedure)

Please carefully consider who you want to be making your health care decisions: the insurance company or your personal dentist. You can count on us not to compromise your diagnosis or treatment.

FACT #5: Most insurance programs run on a calendar year system. As the year progresses you pay, be it directly or indirectly, premiums for the “right” to receive a “benefit”. Please understand that premiums for the “right” to receive a “benefit”. Please understand that premiums paid this year expire on December  31st. You are never allowed to go back and claim benefits that were paid for but unused from a previous year. Remember too that deductibles start all over again January 1st. The simple truth at the end of the year is that Dental insurance is a “use it or lose it” proposition. 

Please let us know if you need assistance in making the most of your dental insurance. Also, talk to your Employer’s HR Department to renegotiate your benefits.