If you are wanting to save money on your dental care needs, the first step in doing that is at home. Brushing and flossing every day can save a considerable amount of money. Taking good care of your teeth can prevent costly dental procedures.  In addition an affordable dental insurance policy will give you peace of mind. If something happens and you need major dental work, you have an affordable plan to fit your needs.

Dental plans are discount dental plans and are not insurance policies.  A typical dental plan will offer a discount for dental services. You pay a fee and get a card that entitles you to discounted services from the dentist that are providers of the plan.

A discount covers part of the cost, for example, if your discount is 60% and the dental work you need costs $600.00, you would only pay $240.00. Dental insurance HMO, PPO and Indemnity will very in how they work but they are filed insurance products. Depending on the plan type you choose you may have waiting periods, deductibles, maximum limitations or you may have to choose a provider with in the plan network. Please note our prior post about these types of plan and what they have to offer.

There are dental clinics throughout the country that offers low to free dental care to low income households. In addition, Dentistry From The Heart has hundreds of events each year, during which free dental care is made available to communities across the country.

One way to save off the cost of dental care treatment is by going to a dental school. A dental schools provides good dental treatment normally at a much lower cost, where students are trained under the supervision of a licensed professional. For a list of schools, check out the American Dental Association’s website.

If you can not afford dental insurance a dental discount plan may be a good alternative. Dental discount plans are not insurance, however they offer saving by as much as 10% to 60% on a range of dental procedures provided by participating dentists. This website provides both dental insurance as well as dental discount plans for your review.

A little shopping/homework can help save you some money on your dental care needs. You should never assume the asking price for a particular service is the final amount your dental provider will accept.

First: Do some shopping, check to find the average cost of the procedure you need in your area. Call a few local providers to find out your average cost in your area. You can also visit Fairhealthconsumer.org and by entering your zip code and the dental procedure it will provide you with the UCR in your area for that service.

Second: Once you know what the going rate is, ask your dentist to accept the rate you find (if his/hers is higher) or negotiate for an even lower price. In addition many dental offices will provide a cash discount if you are paying in full for your dental care at the time the service is render.

It is important to keep in mind regardless of whether or not you have dental insurance your dentist will not normally have your insurance and or budget in mind when providing a treatment plan. Your dentist main concern is what he/she feels is the best coarse of treatment. So tip number one talk to your dentist.

Discuss alternatives: One good way to save on dental care cost is by simply letting your dentist know that cost is an issue he or she may be able to suggest alternative treatments that are less expensive but just as effective.

The number one primary reason people delay dental visits?

According to a 2012 Consumer Reports survey, is the cost of care. Buying dental insurance is one sure way to help save money in the cost of your dental care in addition, people with dental insurance were more likely than those without coverage to regularly visit the dentist. But roughly 130 million Americans still do not have dental insurance.

A consumers may have a difficult time figuring out if their dentist is in-network or out-of-network. Some dental plans have multiple networks, and their dentists may participate in all or only some of them. With a dental HMO insurance plan, members must visit their selected network dentist for treatment. If they visit another dentist, even if that dentist participates in the network in most cases the member will not be covered unless they switch to select that dentist as primary.

With a PPO plan, patients gain the flexibility to visit any licensed dentist, but can save the most money and extend their coverage by going to one of the plan’s select PPO network dentists.

Diagnostic and preventive services are most frequently used services, and can help patients avoid more costly dental care resulting from advanced dental disease. HMO dental plans usually cover preventive services for little to no cost. PPO plans often cover between 80% and 100%, with the patient paying the remainder plus any deductible if the plan dose not waive it on preventive care services. For diagnostic and preventive services as well as other types of procedures, the insurer will specify any frequency limitations and exclusions that apply to the coverage.

Such as twice a year cleaning (one every six months) and one set of X-rays a year. These limitations and exclusions are designed to prevent fraud and abuse, and protect patients against over-treatment. Be sure to review your plan booklet to learn about these guidelines and what your estimated share of costs will be. If you are not certain about any aspect of your coverage, insurers usually offer easy to understand benefit summaries online, or you can contact your carrier’s customer service department. Your dental plan should be able to provide you with clarification on any of its policies or payment protocols.

Children ages two though six should use only a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. You should always supervise kids younger than six years of age while brushing, as they are more likely to swallow toothpaste. Children should brush their teeth at least twice a day for two minutes

You will want to begin flossing your child’s teeth once your child’s teeth touch.

You will want to limit the amount of fruit juices, sports drinks, fruit snacks, and sticky candies which all pose serious threats to your child’s dental health. You will want to give your kids calcium-rich snacks like cheese or low-sugar yogurt. If you do want to have a candy option – a chocolate bar is preferable to gummy or sticky sweets that can get lodged in between the teeth, even after brushing.

When it comes to your child dental health it is suggested that you will want to avoid sugary drinks and stick to good old-fashioned water. Drinking water helps to rinse away any sugar or particles that can lead to cavities. Also many municipal water sources also contain fluoride, which is recommended by the ADA and U.S. Surgeons General, as an efficient way to prevent tooth decay.

When shopping for dental insurance, it is important to not only look for  affordability in a plan, but that also provides quality coverage/benefits that will fit your dental care needs the best.   

A lower cost dental insurance plan may at first fit your budget, but not if the plan benefits does not cover you dental care needs. Many lower cost plans may not provide benefits to see a specialist or the co payments may too high for the dental service you may need.  

Like wise a more costly plan does not always mean better benefits. It is important to review each plan terms and conditions to make sure you getting the most out of what you are paying regardless of the price of the dental plan.

A few of our dental insurance plan options will also come with vision insurance benefits. Those plans would be Delta Dental, and AmFirst. However we also provide a stand alone vision insurance and vision plan options as well on our vision website BestVisionPlans.com. Like our dental website DentalInsuranceKids.com just enter your zip code in the quote box provide in order to review the available vision plan options.

At DentalInsuranceKids.com we offer over 45 different dental insurance plans for individuals and their family.  We do this because we under that that there is no one dental insurance plan that can fit everyone dental needs. 

Our dental plans range from lower cost dental insurance plans such as HMOs to PPO and Free choice of provider plans such as Indemnity dental plans. We even provide dental discount plans for a lower cost dental plan option. We will continue to provide as many dental plan options as they come available to us.  We believe the more choices you have, the higher your changes are in finding the best plan for you and your dental care needs. 

California Indemnity dental insurance plans normally offer a broader selection of dental care providers than managed-care plans. With an indemnity plan, the carrier (the insurance company) pays for covered services only after it receives a bill from either the dental office or the insured (you). Which in many cases means that you may have to pay up front for the dental services render by the dentist and then obtain reimbursement from your insurance carrier later on.

California dental insurance works in much the same way that medical insurance works. For a specific monthly rate, you are entitled to certain dental benefits/coverage’s.

Normally providing regular check ups, cleaning’s, x-rays, and other preventive services required to promote overall all good general dental health for free to little cost. Some plans will provide broader coverage than others and some will require a greater financial contribution on your part when services are rendered.

Some plans may also provide coverage for certain types of oral surgery, dental implants, or orthodontia. However it is important to know that each dental insurance plan offer has their own terms and conditions on what the plan has to offer, therefore reading the plans limitation is key in buying the best dental insurance plan that best fits your needs.

By shopping on line for your dental insurance needs, it has made comparing California dental insurance plans that are designed to meet both your dental care needs and budge easier.

Here on DentalInsuranceKids.com we provide over 40 different dental insurance plans and dental plans options in California. We brake down our insurance plan options on a brief comparison chart with each plan option proving a link for more plan details. Making comparing cost and benefits easy. However we also provide a member service line (310-534-3444) that you can call if you do feel you need further help and or information about any of our plan options. We are always happy to help