Getting the most from your dental benefits

Worried about stretching those dental care dollars? Having trouble making sense of all the options available to you and your family with your plan? Here are a few things you can do to get the most from your dental benefits and have the lowest out-of-pocket costs.

1. Make sure your dentist is a member of your network before having treatment done.

You’ll get the highest degree of quality assurance and most likely the lowest out-of-pocket costs when visiting a dentist in your network – whether that’s the Delta Dental PPOSM network, Delta Dental Premier^® network or the DeltaCare^® USA network.

Network dentists agree to provide treatment to patients at fees determined by Delta Dental, which means your share of the bill will likely be lower. Network dentists have also agreed to uphold certain standards of care, and they are credentialed by Delta Dental, so we ensure that their license is in good standing.

2. Visit the Delta Dental web site to help find the right dentist for you and your family.

You can find the most current list of Delta Dental dentists for PPO, Premier and DeltaCare USA networks through the “Find a Dentist” feature on our web site at www.deltadentalins.com. In addition to locating a dentist in your network, you can also get information about languages spoken at the dental office, the dentist’s education, office hours, wheelchair access and more. You can use this resource to help you find a network dentist who is conveniently located near your home or office and who offers special services that you and your family need.

3. Talk to your dentist and ask questions.

Dentists are an excellent source of knowledge and information. If you are uncertain about anything regarding your dental treatment, you should talk to your dentist. Don’t hesitate to ask for explanations of why he or she is recommending a particular treatment. Ask your dentist to explain the benefits, risks and alternatives of the recommended treatment, including “What will happen if we do nothing?” There are often several ways to treat a condition and, in many cases, the most conservative, least invasive treatment may be the best option, since it involves less destruction of tooth structure, tissue or bone. This option may also be the least costly.

You can also ask your dentist for a pre-treatment estimate, a free service Delta Dental provides to its enrollees. When your dentist requests a pre-treatment estimate from Delta Dental, you’ll receive an estimate of your share of the cost and how much Delta Dental will pay — before treatment begins. You can ask your dentist to get a pre-treatment estimate for any procedure, but this service is specifically designed to help determine costs of an extensive treatment plan, especially those that are expected to exceed $300.

If you are still unclear about your benefits and what procedures are covered under your plan, you should talk to a Delta Dental Customer Service representative for clarification on the plan’s policies and payment procedures.

4. Don’t let your dentist replace amalgam (“silver”) fillings unless the fillings are damaged.

Dental amalgam is a combination of silver, mercury, tin, copper and other metals, chemically bound together to form a very hard and stable filling material. The American Dental Association (ADA) maintains that dental amalgam is a safe, affordable and durable cavity filling choice for dental patients. In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not recommend the removal of amalgam fillings from patients who have them because this could cause more harm to the tooth structure and pose other health risks to the patient. The amount of mercury released in the mouth under the pressure of daily chewing and grinding is extremely small and no cause for alarm. In fact, it is less than what gets released in patients who opt to have an existing amalgam filling removed.

5. Oral health and overall health: get the connection.

More than 120 medical conditions can be identified in the mouth by a dentist. Recent studies suggest there are associations between oral health (especially the gum and bone surrounding the teeth) and many medical conditions such as low birth weight and pre-term births, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and respiratory ailments. That’s another reason why visiting the dentist regularly is so important even if you have good teeth or no obvious signs of dental disease. In addition to regular preventive dental treatment, your dental exams can lead to detecting other health problems in early stages when they are easier to cure or less costly to treat.