Brickell Periodontics accepts and participates in most dental insurance plans. We will provide an estimate of your insurance benefit and expect patient co-payments to be made at the time of service. We accept all types of payments: cash, checks and all major credit cards.
1. How does my dental insurance work?
A dental insurance plan covers a portion of the services provided by a dental professional.
2. What are the types of dental coverage?
There are 3 types of dental coverage: Preventative, Basic and Major, and the percentage covered by your insurance company varies.
Preventative mostly covers routine cleanings and consultations, and sometimes can include x-rays. Most insurance companies cover Preventative services between 80% to 100% of the cost.
Basic dental procedures include simple dental extractions, scaling and root planing and some periodontal procedures. The coverage ranges from 50% to 80%.
Major dental procedures may include periodontal surgery, oral plastic surgery, bone replacements and dental implants. However, not all insurance companies cover these type of procedures. When included in dental insurance plan, they are usually covered at 50% of the cost.
3. What is a yearly maximum?
A yearly maximum, as it names suggests, it the maximum amount of dollars allowed that your insurance plan will cover for any dental treatments or procedures within a year. Once the yearly maximum has been consumed, it is the patient's responsibility to cover the remaining cost of the dental procedures.
4. Why I am being charged if I have a dental insurance plan?
There are several reasons why you might be charged a portion or total cost of your dental procedure:
- Your dental insurance plan paid only a percentage of the fee charged by your periodontist.
- You have already used some or all of the yearly allowance of your dental plan
- The treatment you needed was not covered by your specific insurance plan. Your employer selects what procedures he wants coverage on.
- You still have not yet met your yearly deductible
- You have a waiting period on your dental plan, and you are currently not eligible for coverage of a particular procedure.
5. Why isn't the recommended treatment a covered my insurance?
All employers selects the type of procedures they want to cover on a particular dental insurance plan; and exclude certain ones as a way to reduce costs. While the majority of insurance plans cover most preventative, basic services and periodontal surgeries, some of the specialized treatments recommended, like dental implants, might not be eligible for coverage. As of now, most insurance will not provide full coverage for dental implants and cosmetic treatments.
Periodontal treatments are dictated by the patient's needs based on their diagnosis, and not by what might be covered or not by his dental insurance plan.