Do You Take Insurance?
Why don’t you subscribe to dental benefit plans?
At Chittenden Dental, we provide a health based model of care. Our practice’s speciality is to address the underlying reasons for disease and to help promote optimal wellness and to improve your overall health. There are a variety of reasons why we don’t subscribe to dental insurance. Primarily it’s because our practice is focused on helping our patients attain optimal wellness. With that focus, our practice looks at the “Big Picture.” This includes proactive, health based dentistry, with special emphasis on airway, TMJ and biological based care. Sadly, insurance companies aren’t willing to pay for this customized type of dentistry. Insurance companies only allow patients to fix a few teeth every twelve months. This is certainly a recipe for disaster. When people only treat what insurance allows they will find themselves with a host of problems as the years go by. Those problems will end up costing more than you had bargained for in the long run because insurance won’t cover it. In addition, you won’t be able to afford the emergency treatments because of your insurance premiums. Since we care about overall health and wellbeing we provide our patients with optimal, long term treatment plans that are over and above what the insurance companies are willing to support. Sadly, the reality is that insurance companies only care about their own financial needs and not the wellbeing of dental patients. At Chittenden Dental, we care about you, and so we prefer to work directly with you and not be limited by your dental benefit company.
Dental Insurance or Dental Assistance?
When it comes to dental insurance, benefits are not part of the equation, in the classic sense anyway. Most employers offer dental benefits to team members. However the escalating cost of health care benefits has literally brought employers to their knees as they shop carefully for policies that make the shareholders happy. With that being said, restrictions and exclusions are up while benefits are down.
Oral Health is more than Cleanings
If your dental needs require more than professional cleanings twice a year, you will have to pay for it and be realistic, the majority of people don’t have perfect teeth and gums. Most dental plans don’t cover what you need. That means you will have to invest above and beyond what your dental insurance will cover. In other words, your dental benefits are designed for the bare minimum and that is about it. For example, if your dentist in Burlington discovers that you have bite dysfunction, and if you would benefit from a dental orthotic into balance: your insurance may not cover it. In addition, anything cosmetic that can actually help correct your smile is also not covered by dental insurance.
Never Assume Anything
You can honestly never assume that your dental plan is going to take care of all of your dental care needs. Unless you have optimum oral health you will need to invest in your smile from time to time. Old restorations need to be examined and periodically replaced. If you want to replace missing teeth, the insurance rarely covers this as it is considered, “optional.” At Chittenden Dental we understand how a full set of teeth is integral to the orthopedic stability of your head and neck, as well as your overall health. In most cases your dental benefits plan won’t be covering new tooth colored fillings or dental bonding. There are some dental benefits that will cover restorative care and periodontal treatment. However, you will most likely have to kick in half of the cost or more as your insurance company will rarely pay 100 percent of your claim.
Chittenden Dental Knows Your Value
Home improvement, education, travel and entertainment are all things that people invest in by choice because every one of those things holds value. Of course Chittenden Dental doesn’t know where oral health fits when it comes to your system of values; that is up to you. What your dentist in Burlington does know is that you are worth the investment. The dental team will work with you and your dental benefit plan so that you will receive the maximum benefits possible when it comes to oral health. More importantly we will ALWAYS recommend optimal treatment so that you know what’s possible and what your options are for your most ideal health and wellness.
Burlington Vermont Dentist
Smile With Confidence You Deserve
