As we enter the busiest, most expensive time of the year, you take a closer look at your finances. Every dollar counts, especially when you’re putting together a budget for gifts and holiday activities. You try to be careful with your money, but if you haven’t visited your dentist in a while, and you don’t use your checkup appointment before the end of the year, you could be leaving a significant amount of money unused. Furthermore, not attending this appointment could actually end up costing you a lot more money in the long run. In this post, you’ll learn and understand why taking advantage of your dental insurance benefits is a smart financial choice.
How Dental Insurance Works
Have you ever wondered why your dental and medical insurances are separate? Although both entail paying a monthly premium, the similarities between them end there. Medical and dental insurance plans respectively have a different focus when it comes to your care. Medical insurance covers some diagnostic and preventive work, but it predominantly is there to help with treating existing problems. In contrast, dental insurance emphasizes the importance of prevention. As a result, it covers most, if not all, of the cost for preventive services.
Why You Should Go to Your Dental Checkup
In many cases, dental checkups and many other preventive treatments, such as fluoride or dental sealants, are either mostly or completely covered by your dental insurance. This means that you may not have to pay anything extra, or out of pocket, when you go to your dentist for a checkup and cleaning. Think about it. You’ve already paid your monthly premiums, and this routine service is the best way you can take advantage of that money. If you skip visiting the dentist, you essentially give up hundreds of dollars for nothing in return.
What Can Happen if You Wait
You may be thinking that you can simply postpone a dental appointment until a problem pops up to seek professional help. That would be a big mistake! Your dental insurance does cover part of the cost for treating oral problems, but your coverage reduces as the problem becomes worse. Although specific plans can vary, minor restorative care is generally about 70 to 80 percent covered, but dental insurance will usually cover only about 50 percent for major restorative care.
Basically, if you wait to see your dentist until you notice a problem on your own, it has likely already progressed to the point where you’ll have to undergo more extensive and expensive treatment to fix it. On the other hand, if you go to the dentist’s office on a regular basis and receive a professional cleaning, you can prevent oral problems from developing in the future, potentially leading to incalculable savings.
Ultimately, you get the most value out of your dental insurance and save yourself the most money by taking advantage of its most highly covered service: your dental checkup and cleaning. In the long run, you can avoid having to pay to resolve large problems and keep your teeth and gums healthier. Now, that’s something to smile about! Reach out to your dentist to schedule your visit today.
About the Practice
With More Smiles Dental Spa, families in Covington and the surrounding areas have three experienced, highly trained dentists to choose from for their oral care. This team encourages two dental checkups and cleanings per year to keep oral problems from harming patients’ smiles. To help make dental care more affordable, they accept all dental insurance. If you have questions about your specific insurance plan, feel free to reach out to More Smiles Dental Spa by calling (985) 888-0668 or clicking here.