Dental insurance or pay private

amother

Wed, Dec 22 2021, 12:57 pm

My kids are on Child Health Plus insurance which technically includes dental only I called every single local dentist and the only one that took it was in a not great neighborhood and I was so uncomfortable in the office and so unimpressed with the staff that I won't go back. I looked into getting a private dental plan but it came out the same as just paying private for the dental visits.
How do you pay your dental bills?

amother

Stonewash

Wed, Dec 22 2021, 1:19 pm

In my experience dental offices that take Medicaid are dental mills because the reimbursement is too low for any good dentist to want to practice. There might be some young dentists who work there but if they are good they will leave as soon as possible.

There might be a dentist who is the exception but if you want high quality dental work you will probably need to go to a private dentist who has enough of a reputation to be able to charge private rates because people are willing to pay.

FWIW this is also true for dentists who accept any form of insurance as full payment. When I had insurance I used the dentist of my choice and they never took insurance but I would be compensated a small amount by sending in the necessary paperwork.

amother

Bluebonnet

Wed, Dec 22 2021, 6:22 pm

amother [ Stonewash ] wrote:

My experience does not align with yours, b"h. Im pretty picky with dentists. My kids see an excellent pediatric dentist that takes some medicaid insurances. Their dental work is high quality, their office is nice, and it's been the same 3 dentist that they've consistently been seeing for the past few years. At some point one of my kids had a gap in coverage, and the dentist wanted 3x what they get reimbursed through the insurance! They said that's their price, but they accept insurances as a courtesy to their patients, but don't give discounts to non insured patients. I was annoyed, but they have the right to make their policies...
My dentist is really good, does good quality work, thorough exams, etc. But it did take me a few years (where I was without a dentist) to find them.

amother

Offwhite

Wed, Dec 22 2021, 8:22 pm

I lay out of pocket even though my child health plus plan really covers dental. I was screwed by a couple "insurance" dentists and won't go back. ( Like to the point of missing root canals on my children, promising me a pediatric dentist and giving me an adult dentist really for my children ) I use the same dentist for my self and my children now. His office isn't as "kiddy" and fun but he knows his stuff and does great work. Some of my children have really bad teeth so I need to have a really good dentist.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Dec 23 2021, 9:29 pm

amother [ Bluebonnet ] wrote:

Do you mind sharing?

amother

Red

Fri, Dec 24 2021, 9:32 am

I imagine insurance is very different from place to place. We have dental insurance through work but if it weren't given to us at no cost, I would never bother to get a policy for this because it pays so little of our dental bills that it would never be worth it. Every time any of us has cleanings, check-ups, any kind of dental work, we submit for payment and they pay maybe 15-20% of the bill and we pay the rest out of pocket.