Question: My five year old daughter has dental caries.  She currently need four filling an a possible baby root canal.  I have dental insurance but it does not cover much and I have already maxed out it 1000.00 yearly limit.  I found this is easy to do when your child’s teeth keep getting cavities.

Answer: You could look into buying and HMO dental insurance plan that dose not have any waiting periods for the services you daughter needs.  Or buy a another PPO plan with a high yearly maximum limitation then just $1000.00. However, that would mean you may have to deal with waiting periods that will not help you with your daughter current dental care needs.  I would also suggest calling your current dental insurance plan and seeing if you can increase the maximum limitation without restarting the plan.

Tooth decay forms because certain types of bacteria in a person’s mouth consume sugar from human food and produces a small amount of acid, which can break down the protective enamel layer of the teeth. By constantly drinking acidic drinks, such as juice, soda and sport drinks, it has the same affect, making the deeper layers of the tooth vulnerable to bacterial infiltration and infection.

However, research out of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry and published in the Journal of the American Dental Association shows that by using “food sequencing,” or eating foods in a certain order, people can prevent the onset of cavities by changing the pH, or acidity, of their mouths.

Some people may feel that getting dental insurance is not really worth the cost of having the plan. That may be true for some dental insurance plans if the person wanting it only wants the dental insurance for short term use.    Sadly many people put off their dental care until they are in pain or having major dental issues.  Because of that, these people can tend to get upset when they find out that many PPOs or Indemnity insurance plans have limitations that will not be able to help them with their major dental needs right away.

A dental PPO plan is not for those people that only want’s to buy a dental insurance plan to fix a current dental issue then turn around and cancel the plan once the dental issue if fixed. Reason being is that dental PPO are designed to be long terms plans and not for sort term.  The thing to try and keep in mind when thinking about buying a dental PPO or Indemnity plan is your long term dental needs. When getting these type of plans it would be a dental plan you would want to keep for at least a few years.

Question: My son is not yet two but I want to take him to see a pediatric dentist.  I currently do not have dental insurance for him.  I would like to get some insurance in place before I take him to see Pediatric dentist.

Answer: Yes there are some HMO plans to do provide for specialist. However generally you have to be refer to one by the general dentist you would have picked within the plan.

According to a Surgeon General’s report issued in May 2000 labeled Americans’ bad oral health a “silent epidemic” and called for a national effort to improve oral health among all Americans.   What is important to know is that in most people gum disease is preventable. Attention to everyday oral hygiene, coupled with professional cleanings twice a year, could be all that’s needed to prevent gum disease as well as actually reverse the early stage.

Question: My 20 month old son teeth are coming in crooked. A couple of them are straight but it look like the other teeth are crooked. What should I do? I cannot tell if his teeth are hurting him and he does not complain much about them.

Answer: I suggest that you take your son to see a dentist. The dentist could advise you if in fact the teeth are coming in crooked and if any action is needed in order to make corrections on how his teeth are coming in.

Senior citizen are seeking out dental insurance to help reduce the cost of oral care. With dental care cost on the rise buying and having dental insurance in force is a good way to control cost for dental care needs.  This website provide a broad selection of dental insurance plans from HMO, PPO and Free choice of provider plans (Indemnity). These plan type can range in cost from affordable HMO plans that fits into most people budgets, to PPO and Indemnity plans that let you stay with or pick your own dental provider.

In California this website provide many good low cost dental insurance plans which are available for seniors.  Dental HMO insurance plans provides dental insurance services at a much more affordable cost making it easier for many seniors to budget in there dental care needs.  Dental discount plan also are low cost plans that help to reduce the cost of dental care services.  Take a moment to review the many different dental insurance plan options and please call member services if you have any questions about the dental insurance plans we offer.

One large problem for many seniors in taking care of their oral and dental health is cost. The cost of seeing a dentist exceeds their budget. That is because many seniors do not have dental insurance and the cost of dental insurance can also exceed their budget. However there is a low cost dental alternative for seniors.  Dental discount plans are available in most states they run around $10.00 a month and greatly reduce dental care cost.  Making dental care more affordable.

A dental is a fixed dental restoration used to replace a missing tooth by joining an artificial tooth permanently to adjacent teeth or dental implants.

It is important to understand with most dental insurance plans there will be out of pocket costs.  Out of Pocket costs is any amount the enrollee is responsible for paying, such as coinsurance or co-payments, deductibles, and costs above the annual maximum.

Dental Bonding is a composite resin applied to a tooth to change its shape and /or color. Bonding can also refers to how a filling, orthodontic appliance or some fixed partial dentures are attached to teeth.

Many dental insurance will have a limiting age of coverage clause. This is the age at which a dependent covered by a dental insurance plan is no longer eligible to receive benefits. However, most dental insurance plans offer an extension of benefits beyond the limiting age of coverage to student and handicapped dependents. Therefore make sure to read the plans terms and conditions if you have an older depending living in the household.

It is important to understand that dental insurance plans typically do not cover every dental procedure. Each insurance plan contains a list of terms and conditions that limit or exclude dental services from coverage.   Limitations may be related to time or frequency such as the number of procedures permitted during a stated period. For example, no more than two cleanings in twelve months or one cleaning every six months. Exclusions are those dental services not covered by the dental insurance plan.

Did you know that it is starting to become common practice to charge for missed or broken appointments?  Many dental office will charge you a fee if you miss or brake a dental appointment without giving advance notice. Normally around 48 – 24 hour notice is required for changing or missing your dental appointment. The fee for this will very depending on the dental office.  Therefore make sure to ask the dental office what they charge for missed appointments. It is  also important to note that most insurance companies will not coverage this type of charge.

In a prior post we talked about questions to ask a dentist when choosing a new potential dental office. Here are some more questions you may wish to ask and keep in mind.

* How long does it take to get a dental appointment? You may want to say away from dental offices that are so far booked up that making a dental appointment for yourself becomes difficult

* Do they charge for missed or broken dental appointments.  If so how much advance notice is required in order not to be charged.

* Does the dentist take continuing education courses and stay up to date with the latest techniques?

* Does the office offer any kind of payment plans? Many dental offices are starting to offer financing plans.

* Will the dentist office file the claims for you or will you have to do it yourself?

* Will the dentist accept your co pay or will you be required to pay the full amount up front and be reimbursed by your dental insurance company later?

When searching for a new dentist make sure to know what their business hours are and how they deal with dental emergencies.  The reason you want to confirm their business hours is that you are more likely to make and maintain regular dental visits when the practice has hours that works around your time frame.

Someone that has to take time off from work will tend to put off their dental care needs. Check if the dental office is open on a Saturday or if they provide latter hours during the week.  In cases of emergencies know what their practice is.  Will they take a walk-ins or get you in that same day or the next in case of an emergency. Knowing this ahead of time will help make choosing a dental provider that is best for you and your needs.

When searching for a new family dentist make sure the dentist/dental office is quipped to provide services to children as well as adults.  One common mistake made is not choosing a provider that is able to provide services to young children. Or you choose a dental provider that may provide services to children but does not have an office that is kid friendly.

This becomes a very important matter especially when dealing with dental insurance, since there are some dental insurance plans which will only let you go to one provider for the whole family.  Therefore it becomes important to see a dentist that able to provider dental care services regardless of age and offers an environment that benefits both children and adults.

If you are searching for a new dentist, and you have special conditions that you need to address (such as physical handicaps, diabetes HIV/AIDS, Autism etc) that may effect your dental services and or care make sure you go to a dentist that can handle you special needs requirements. All dentist are not the same so make sure to ask prior to booking a dental appointment.

If you have a current dental insurance but you are no longer happy with your current dentist or your current dentist is no longer accepting your dental insurance, it may be time to search for a new dental provider.

With current insurance you want to make sure that the new dental office either accepts your dental insurance plan or that you have a dental insurance plan that lets you choose your own provider. Such as if you have a dental HMO plan you have to choose dentist within the plans network of dental providers. That does not mean you can not change dental office only that you must still make sure you going to a dentist that is a provider of said plan.