One of the best ways to save on the cost of your oral health care needs is by doing your part and maintaining good dental care habits at home.   The better you maintain your teeth and gum care the less likely you will need major dental services that can be very costly even with insurance.

The following tips will helps to maintain clean and healthy teeth for the best dental health.

* Brush teeth every day with a fluoride toothpaste for dental health maintenance.
* Floss your teeth every day for healthy gums and teeth.
* Limit sugary snacks.
* Get enough calcium.
*  See your dentist on a regular basis (at least two times a year more if advised to do so by your dentist)

Question: My son is going on ten and my general dentist is advise me to talk to an orthodontic dentist because he thinks my son will need to go into braces.

My problem is after talking to my dental insurance company I found out that they will only pay $300.00 a year up to a $1000.00 life time maximum towards the cost of braces.  This does not seem very good at all to me but it what I get for free from work.  Is there anything else I can get to help me off set the cost of putting my son into braces?

Answer: You may want to review our HMO’s and or Dental discount plans and compare them to what you already have.  These dental insurance and plans will help you save money off the cost of braces, at a very affordable plan cost.

Many people may feel that there are no real benefits to having dental insurance if they have good teeth and are only having twice a year check up and cleaning’s.  Stating that the cost of insurance out outweighs the cost of dental care. That can be true depending on the type of dental insurance plan,  if one is only talking about preventive care.  A PPO plan costing around $35-$65 a month for an individual could outweighs the cost of just having preventive care services.  However what happens when you wake up and one day and need a filling, crown or root canal?  What happens when you find out you may have good teeth but you also have gum disease?   Cost for dental care beyond preventive can quickly escalate, then what?

One dose not buy Auto insurance hoping to get into and accident so they can get their money worth out of the plan. With dental PPO plans, though many plans do provide free to low cost preventive care services, they are designed to be long term plans to help pay for larger future dental care needs.  A PPO plan may not be the best fit for a person that has healthy teeth and gums and only wants to maintain preventive care.

If that is the case, then try reviewing dental HMO insurance plan instead.  These are normally low cost plans ranging around $7-$20 a month for an individual.  These types of plans normally do not have waiting periods, maximum limitations or deductibles much like many PPO plans.  For an individual’s that only wants preventive dental care services this type of dental insurance not only provides you preventive care at little to no cost to you but also helps you save money on larger care dental needs without waiting periods. There by maximizing your savings with regards to the plan cost and dental care services.

Question: I would like to know why is dental services so costly? It really does not seem right that general maintenance on you teeth should cost more then seeing your doctor for a check up.

If I go to the doctor for my once a year wellness check it cost me only $40.00 for my co-payment.  Yet when I go to see my dentist for my once a year check up and cleaning I have to pay $95.00 since I have a $50.00 deductible and the plan only covers 80% of my cost for preventive services.

This may not seem to much but since I should be seeing the dentist twice a year (and don’t due to cost) it is too costly for me to see the dentist like I should.

Answer: I am unable to address you medical insurance plan. However, with regards to your dental insurance plan it sounds like you may have a PPO plan so things like $50.00 deductible and 80% coverage for preventive care even yearly maximum limitations are common in PPO dental insurance plans. You may be able to find a PPO that over 100% on preventive care but sometimes they do not provide that high of a coverage until you have the plan for two to three years so make sure you read the plans terms and conditions carefully before making any changes.  Also note that if you do by a new PPO plan they will normally have waiting periods for both basic and major dental care needs.  Something to keep in mind if you do not currently have to deal with waiting periods.

Another dental insurance options that is lower cost and normally will not have these types of restrictions would be dental HMO plans.  Most HMO plans do not have waiting periods, maximum limitations, deductibles and they will normally provide preventive care for free to little cost.  However what you may be giving up is being able to stay with your current dentist. HMO’s dental insurance plans to make you choose a dental provider in their network there is no out side network benefits like with a PPO plan.  So unless your current dentist is a provider of a HMO dental insurance plan, that could be something you want to keep in mind.

Some dental insurance plans and dental discount plans cover a portion of the cost for wisdom teeth extraction. Please refer to our web site and enter your zip code. Then review the different benefit schedules for your area. Nearly all of the dental insurance plans we sell offer coverage for this dental procedure

In order to review the plans we have available on dentalbenefit.com just put in your zip code in the quote box that toward the top of the screen. If you have any questions you can call our member services line a 310-534-3444 CA time 8am – 5pm M-F.  And remember we are here to help your find the best dental insurance and or plan to fit all your  dental needs.

It depends on a lot of variables such as whether they are impacted and causing pain, they are growing in and moving your good teeth. It is best to contact a dentist. Keep in mind some people never have their wisdom teeth removed.

Sometimes wisdom teeth can cause crowding of the teeth, infections, cysts, tumors, jaw and gum disease.
A wisdom tooth can become impacted,  which is when the tooth is  entrapped completely or partially by soft tissue which can also be a cause of bacterial infections.  Sometimes wisdom teeth can be painful when they are erupting through the soft tissue and can become swollen and or infected.

Wisdom teeth are the last set of molars to come in the back of the jaw bone, know most commonly as the third molars.   Most people get their wisdom teeth between the ages of 15 – 25 years old.  If you cannot see them toward the rear of your mouth, wisdom teeth can be detected by an x-ray given by your dentist.

Another true dental insurance plan, a Preferred provider organizations ( PPO) falls somewhere between an indemnity plan and a dental HMO. This plan allows a particular group of patients to receive dental care from a defined panel of individual dental insurance dentists. This type could be used to provide dental gap insurance.

The participating individual or family office agrees to charge less than usual fees to this specific patient base, providing savings for the plan purchaser. If the patient chooses to see one who is not designated as a “preferred provider,” that patient may be required to pay a greater share of the fee-for-service.

A group of individual or family dentistry providers agrees to provide services at a deeply discounted rate, giving you substantial savings — as long as you stay in their network. Unlike the more restrictive DHMO, though, you can go out of network and still receive some benefits. Some typical features of these plans:

Monthly premiums
Annual dollar cap
You must stay within the approved network of individual or family dentists or pay higher deductibles and co-payments
Your average monthly cost is normally based of your zip code
Dental companies selling these plans are regulated by state insurance departments

Find out what PPO dental insurance plans are available to you and their cost just by entering in your zip  code in the quote box above.  If you have any questions you can ask them in this forum or just call our member sevice line at 310-534-3444  we be happy to hear form you.

Question: My dentist told me I have gingivits and need to have treatment that include deep cleanings.  Up until now I just paid cash for my basic dental care.   However this deep cleaning is very expensive.  I live in Florida and would like to get a dental plan that can help me out with the cost.

Reply: Assuming that you want to stay with your current dentist, call your dental office up and verify if they are a provider of any HMO’s dental insurance plans or any dental discount plans. These types of plans are provider plans only but they are lower cost plan options that will not have waiting period for the deep cleaning service you currently need.

If your dentist only takes PPO’s the issue would be is that deep cleaning will normally fall under major services and many PPO plans have waiting periods for major of a year or more depending on the plan.  If you bought a plan like this it will not help you with the deep cleaning cost now but you will not still be in the same case a year from now (or however the longest waiting period is under the plan)

Question: I am looking for an Individual dental insurance plan that would be available in multiple states.  I am a driver and I am in many different states throughout the year.  I would like a plan that I would be able to use regardless of where in the US I am be in at the time.   Since I am all over the place it not about staying with one dentist other wise I would just get a plan where I live.  Is there anything that would fit my need.

Reply: Typically you would be wanting to review either a dental PPO or Indemnity dental insurance plans. These types will normally let you see dentist in other states (other then your home or rated zip code) as long as their plan is provided in the state you want to use it in.  However all plans are different so make sure you check with the plans terms and conditions ahead of time before buying one.

HMO will normally not be like this since they are network only plans meaning you have to choose only a dentist in their network and go to that dentist only. Also many times they may only be in the one state they are offering it in. Such as California Dental is only in California.

Another option over is a dental discount plan. Like an HMO you will need to choose dentist that take the plan, however unlike most HMO’s insurance plans with a discount plan you are able to use it in any state it is available in and still receive discount that are set up for that state.

Question: I live in CA and it seems like there are many different dental insurance plans in CA on your website.  I would like to know which plan is the best or which would do you suggest that people get.

Reply: In CA right now we have 50 different dental insurance and plans for your review. To determine what is the best plan for you depends on what you want in a plan.

If you looking for the lower cost plans then review the dental HMO or dental discount plans. If you want to stay with your own dentist maybe the PPO or Indemnity plans would be better for you.

Hard to say for sure without knowing some of your dental needs. I say review some of the plans we a have then if you have any questions please call our member service line at 310-534-3444 as we be happy to walk you though the different plans.

Question: I have a really bad toothache and I can not take it for much longer.  Most dental insurance have waiting periods for dental procedures and I can not continue to wait things out.  I need something now not six or twelve months from now.  Please help out here in Florida

Answer: In Florida I would suggest review our HMO’s insurance plans though Delta Dental, Assurant or Argus as all of these plans do not have waiting periods. You do need to sign up by a set date for the first of the following month for a plan effective date. Such as with Delta dental it is you need to signed up by the 20th of the month that you are in for the first of the following month effective date

If you are wanting some thing that start right away then there are the dental discount plan option though Aetna DentaChoice +  it start the next business day from buying the plan online.