More then 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance.  Those that are lacking insurance tend to put of dental care due to cost.  Even though early childhood is a critical time period for kids to learn effective dental health care habits, many parents can not afford their needed dental care.

Many schools in effort to help children build strong dental health care habits, reach out to volunteer dental hygienists and dentist that are willing to visit their school and provide dental education and free dental screenings.  See if your child school is active in having such programs available.

What I am wanting to know is, if  I buy a typical dental insurance plan for my ten year old son,  what types of benefits would he get?  I know some plans say free cleaning and X-rays but is that really all he would get?  Would I be able to get him filling at an affordable cost  too? What about the rest of the dental services do all dental insurance plan make you wait until you can have anything beyond a cleaning?   How can a ten year old wait for dental services if he needs to have them now?

Healthy Families is a low cost insurance for children and teens. Healthy Families provides health, dental and vision coverage to children who do not have insurance and can not qualify for free Medi-Cal.

The Federal Government has recently issued the 2012 Federal Income Guidelines. Healthy Families has new income guidelines this year.  For a child to qualify for Healthy Families, one of the requirements is that the family’s monthly income (after applicable deductions) must fall within the program guidelines. Applications received on or after April 1, 2012 will be based on the new 2012 FIGs.

Having good dental care habits established early on could help avoid dental issues in the future.  Good oral health care is more the just having healthy teeth. According to the Surgeon General oral health is integral to general health care. However, sadly many parents may not realize proper dental care, like traditional medical care should begin in infancy to prevent the development of disease.

The American Dental Association advise new parent to have the first dental visit before the child first birthday. Pediatric dentist are specialist in treating children dental care needs. The dentist has the same goal in mind for your child dental health care “Prevention.”  With maintenance, routine check-ups and cleanings on a regular basis it will help prevent larger dental care needs.

What I do  know is that on a dental discount plan you get discounted saving off your dental services.  But want I do not know is would I be lacking in coverages or benefits if I buy a dental discount plan over dental insurance?   I am leaning towards a dental discount plan simply because they are within my budget.  However if I am going to lose out on coverages on the back end then the money I saving with regards to cost will not matter.

Dental care cost can be high even just preventive dental services without dental insurance can cost over $150.  Where as most dental insurance plans provide preventive dental care for free.

Keep in mind you have an obligation to pay as agreed to the dentist any dental service provided. If you can not afford dental treatment do not agree to have any dental care until you are able.  Dental insurance helps in making dental care more affordable so you do not have to put of needed dental care services

My son needs to have all his wisdom teeth pulled, however, there is one that is really starting to hurt him.  The problem is that I do not receive dental benefits though my employer. Up till now I been paying for his dental care out of pocket to help him out.  He is 21 but also does not have any dental insurance.  I am not sure what to get to help him now with his wisdom teeth. What dental insurance plan will offer him the most in coverages for having the wisdom teeth extracted?

It is important to understand that your family dentist is not a mind reader.  You have an obligation to be truthful with your dentist.  What you do not reveal they can not know.  If you have additional information tell them and do not hold back on your opinions and or feeling this go for positive as well as negative.  Keep in mind most dentist want you to be happy.  If you do not let them know you are displeased about something how can they tek measures to correct the issue.

I am undecided on which is a better dental plan type to buy for my family.  Since I would like to be able to see a dentist right away without having all the waiting periods that are in the dental insurance plan I’ve seen, a discount plan seems good.   However,  what am I missing if I get a discount plan instead of dental insurance?  If I wait out the waiting periods would I have better coverages therefore in the long run having  dental insurance would be better then a discount plan?

When taking your child to see a dentist here are some tips that you should know.  Make sure that the dentist provide you complete information about any dental care services being advised.  Make that the dentist explains things to you in a language you can under stand.  (Note Many dentist have their own language “dental talk” that many people may not completely understand)

Make sure the dentist is providing you with all available options. It is hard to make an informed choice unless you know all your available options.  Ask you dentist to understand why they are suggesting one option over another.

Don’t forget you always have the right for a second opinion any time you want additional information from another source.  Do not be afraid to get a second opinion a good dentist will not get insulted.

Make sure you have a dentist that treats you and your child with respect at all times.  A dentist should not be rude because you are asking questions about your child dental care and or dental treatments.  Respect also includes the privacy and security of your records and the privacy of your discussions with the dentist and staff members.

It should go without saying but the dental office that you choose to go to for you and your family dental care should be clean. Cleanliness and sterility is what you are looking for if you do not see that leave.

It is important that children’s dental and oral health care needs are met.  Having healthy teeth and gums is also important to a child over all health care. In order to meet a child dental care goals it is important to have proper preventive dental care habits at home, as well as a dental care provider.  Seeing a dentist regularly is just as important as seeing your doctor regularly.   Talk to your child dentist, go over some healthy dental care habits to have a maintain from home

CHIP or Children’s Health Insurance Program helps to provide free or low-cost health coverage for more than 7 million children up to age 19. CHIP provides coverages to U.S. citizens and eligible immigrants.

CHIP is Available in Every State and in general children in families with incomes up to $44,100 year (for a family of four) are likely to be eligible for coverage. However, in many states, families can have higher incomes and their children can still qualify.

Each state designs its own CHIP program, which includes eligibility, benefits, premiums and cost-sharing, and application and renewal procedures. States can decide on the benefits provided under CHIP, but all states cover routine check-ups, immunizations, hospital care, dental care, and lab and x-ray services.  Children get free preventive care, but low premiums and other cost-sharing may be required for other services.

I have a family of four and even though we have some medical care though Medicaid my kids do not have good dental benefits.  I living on a very fixed income and taking care of three kids on my own.  Is there any dental plans that would fix a low income budget but provide good dental care benefits.

A common and potentially debilitating non-cancerous brain tumor has been linked to dental X-Rays. Research from the Yale School of Public Health published online in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society, says that people who received frequent dental X-Rays before doses were lowered, were more than twice as likely to develop the tumors known as meningioma.

Close to 50 million Americans live in rural or poor areas where few to no dentists practice. Many more dentists do not accept Medicaid patients, and the shortage of dentists is only going to get worse,

Under the Affordable Care Act, 5.3 million more children will be entitled to dental benefits from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. However little is being done by the dental profession or by the federal or state governments to prepare for it.

I am a single mom with two children under the age of ten.  They have not had a dental appointment in some time and I want them to have their teeth checked.  I just can not afford dental care without dental insurance and can not seem to find any information on affordable dental health care plans for low income households.

The largest study of its kind finds that a history of frequent dental x-rays, particularly at a young age, is tied to an increased risk of developing meningioma, the most common type of primary brain tumor in the United States.  Talk to your child dentist and asked them about limiting the amount of times X-rays are done.

Studies on Oral bacteria show that bacteria that escape into the bloodstream are able to cause blood clots and trigger life-threatening endocarditis. Further research could lead to new drugs to tackle infective heart disease, say scientists presenting their work at the Society for General Microbiology’s Spring Conference in Dublin.

Studies on Dental Hygiene in Congenital Heart Disease Patients, show that poor dental hygiene behaviors in patients with congenital heart disease are increasing their risk of endocarditis. Teens with congenital heart disease floss, brush and visit the dentist less than their peers. But they have healthier behaviors when it comes to alcohol, cigarettes and illicit drugs.

Tooth decay in children is an occurring health condition.  Due to dental issue children miss 52 million hours from school every year. If dental problems are left untreated children will develop further health problems.  30% to 50% of children between 4 and 5 years old already struggle with tooth decay.

There are many reason for this problem but a few are due to the fact that dental benefits are not provided though the parents employer.  Some parents fail to acknowledge the important of early dental care for kids. Children of low income families are more predisposed to developing tooth decay and Dental care cost is too expensive for children.