Question: I am on a fixed income and can not afford a dental PPO insurance plan at this time. Therefore I am looking into HMO dental insurance plans. However, since I am new to having to pick a plan provider is there any advise you can provide so I choose a good dentist.

Answer: When having to choose a dentist in a network provide plan like a dental HMO her are a few tips you may want to keep in mind.

1) Call the providers listed and confirm they are still accepting the plan and new members.

2) Confirm anything that is important to you but keep it simple. Such as hours of operation, how far booked up are they, do they do the type of dental services you are looking for. You may want to ask if they have their own website so you can review detail information about their practice.  However avoid questions such as “how much is it to fix my broken tooth” They are not going to know that type of question without first seeing you and examining your tooth.

3) I suggest making sure the plan you are reviewing has more then just one dental office as a provider in your area(or how ever far you are willing to travel).  You want a dental HMO plan that has at least three or more dental offices so if you what to change dental office you will be able to do so.

4) If you want to know more about the dental office in question try reviewing online review sites such as Yelp or Angie’s list

HMO insurance plans are normally the more affordable and budget friendly dental insurance option. However they only really work if there is a dentist in their network you want to go to. So taking the time to talk to and review the dental providers in the plan network of providers is worth doing. The more you like your dentist the more likely you will be to maintain your dental health care.