it’s always something
I honestly thought that I was winning when I made a downgrade to our health insurance last year while squirreling the money that I was saving every month through cheaper premiums into a separate account for emergency bills and our ridiculously high coinsurance responsibilities. The initial plunge was nerve wracking, but even with my Month Of Doctors, MRIs and procedures in May, I still pulled out way ahead and learned a lot about how health insurance works in the process, including the fact that sometimes you won’t ever get billed for the charges outlined in your Explanation of Benefits as your responsibility. But you know what? I never thought about dental. And why would I? We went for routine cleanings every 8 or so months, paid out of pocket for everything ourselves and that was that. In our particular situation, dental insurance didn’t really make much sense. But then of course, a situation developed and I was sent through the rabbit hole of researching dental plans, drawing up comparative spread sheets, and coming up with the worst case what if scenarios.
My personal dental history is quite extensive and complex. Trips to the dentist was never pleasant and the majority of the cavities that I had filled in my childhood (and there were many) were done without novocaine. It’s not just by happenstance that we’re diligent about restricting sugar for the kids; there’s a reason for that. I won’t lie when I say that the lack of dental insurance is a prime motivating factor in making sure that we have good checkups. I didn’t really come from a culture where dental health was considered important and neither my parents had access to regular dental care growing up. In contrast to my problematic early dental history, the girls have excellent teeth and aside from one small cavity between them, have had stellar dental visits. But now we’re facing a situation where recent orthodontic consultations have recommended that we do all kinds of invasive and potentially expensive things to deal with an issue that has arisen. I handed over 100 dollars in cash for a 15 minute consultation today alone. Throw in inevitable braces starting in 2 years for both kids and now I’m looking at bills that I hadn’t really anticipated. Sometimes it feels like we’ll never get ahead. I never considered dental to be such a financial gamble, but I was wrong and I should have known better. I was once reduced to tears when I forked up over 5 grand of my own money – all the money that I had saved in the world during my last few months of grad school because I had to replace most of my old fillings and have a couple of teeth crowned.
So…friends…tell me. Do you have dental insurance? What does it pay for? Does it cover partial expenses for braces? Enlighten me!
Update: Thank you so much for your comments and insights so far!
ps. i’m not suggesting you get ten different consultations. just trying to make the point that there are different means to an end
oh yes, all late teethers here. the teen started going to ortho appts from age 10 but didn’t lose all his teeth till over 14. he’s 15 now and just had the bottom braces on (the top ones went on when all his top adult teeth were through). before the braces he wore an expander. what we did was pay installments over 4 years — we’ve finished paying for them now even though the braces will still be on for about a another year. but we’re in Sydney so I’m sure the dental insurance situ is quite different. good luck Jenna! it’s a tough one.
p.s just clarifying that all his adult teeth did not erupt until 14-15 years old. it was never recommended to us that that he should have surgery to help them — we just waited until they came in.
no real advice, but i feel your pain. this was my own situation when i lived in nyc and since moving to RI have dental. I just wanted to share that frontline had an excellent documentary about the lack of dental care in the US and how the mouth is part of the body and should be included in healthcare, worth checking out. Your girls have beautiful smiles and your posts give me so much nostalgia for my years spent in Park Slope. Thanks for sharing
Hi Jenna, a few months ago you gave me and my husband, Bryce, advice on which area to stay in NYC with our two year old daughter. You were so kind about sharing your opinion, I feel l must write you and share mine about this topic. My husband and I are dentists. We practice in southern California so it may be a little different than New York. Yes, dental care and ortho can be very expensive. I DO NOT recommend getting dental insurance on your own. It is usually only beneficial if you are getting it through a company. Waiting periods and limitations are ridiculous and the amount they will cover does not add up compared to what you pay out of pocket. Also, quality of care. Unfortunately there are many dishonest dentists and poor quality like any other profession, but it sickens me how bad it can be. I don’t know about NY, but there are financing options, like Care Credit that are much better. You do have to apply, but you can make interest free payments, in our office for 12 months and up to 5 years with low interest. This way you are paying only for the work you are getting. Dental “insurance” is a misnomer. It is really just a small monetary benefit. Don’t get me started on insurance companies. The maximum benefit allowance hasn’t changed much since the 60′s and as you well know, fees have gone up a lot. I am a small business owner, and I completely agree with you about medical insurance. I pay a small fortune for my insurance and it is good ppo. But even with that, when my daughter was born almost 3 years ago, between the both of us, I paid OUT OF POCKET, almost $20,000! It was painful. Anyway, talk to your orthodontist too to see if there are any in-house financing options. I just wouldn’t waste any more time researching a dental insurance plan because in the 11 years I have practiced, I have yet to hear of an individual plan that makes financial sense for the patient. I hope this helped a little. Please message me if you have any other questions. Also, thank you for keeping up such a wonderful blog.
I have never done the math on dental insurance but it seems like costs are high even with insurance once you need anything besides yearly x-rays and cleaning. Anyway, I bookmarked this site to compare dental costs but haven’t tried it yet and don’t know how comprehensive it is. hope it helps. https://www.healthinreach.com/search/
gah, sorry for the error but i meant to write that our dental savings plan runs just under $100 for the year.
Teeth: I had late teeth—my front ones on top. The dentist pulled my baby teeth and a strange pair of “middle” teeth when I was 8. Then I had missing front teeth for 4 years (during which they tried two more surgeries to “open the gum.”) All was fine in the end. The bizarre thing was my daughter is adopted and she also had middle front teeth–but no delays. Her baby teeth were missing enamel though and the first dentist said I should have 8 of her baby teeth crowned, under general anesthesia. The second dentist said we could probably wait until she was three to do it. The third dentist said if I never let her have juice or candy, etc, and was devout about toothbrushing she could probably make it without crowns or fillings. She is now 15 and still goes to that third dentist….and has beautiful teeth and never needed those crowns. I’m glad I got that third opinion! My dental insurance covers all of her expenses…but my dentist dropped out of the plan so I pay a lot to stay with the one I like…4 crowns and 3 root canals. So check what dentists you will be able to use for full coverage. It would pay 1/2 for braces–which are only about $4000 total where I live.
Hi Jenna, I am in agreement with Jenny a few posts up. If her molars take too long to come up they will probably force them to with surgery.
My teeth and jaw are jacked up: I have a tooth that grew inside a tooth- it was supposed to be on the other side where there was none, and a baby tooth that never came down and started to decay inside my gum and become an abscess, my jaw was deformed slightly and I had braces for five years and I had to get them taken off before my treatment was done because I didn’t have the money to continue. At that time I was nearly 21- I didn’t get my braces until I was almost 16.
Be diligent in getting her the right treatment while you can afford it and be honest with the doc about affordability. My ortho was great and worked with my mom about payments, and by the end since my treatment was taking so long he started working for free because my braces were paid off but my treatment wasn’t finished.
Good luck!
Hey Jenna,
I understand why some people would think surgery is unnecessary bc teeth eventually grow in on their own, even if it’s into the mid teens of someone’s life. however, amanda’s case is a good example of what could happen if a tooth never erupts. abscess (infection) around the tooth is not only painful but could be quite dangerous. i don’t disagree with waiting some time to see if the tooth would come out on its own, however, if you’re considering braces for Mia, you want to be sure there are no unerupted teeth that can affect Mia’s teeth once she gets braces put on. See what the ortho says….
I was raised by small business owners, and we NEVER had insurance. EVER. I had horrible teeth and often joke that I have a Mercedes in my mouth (including full blown braces at age 7).
I grew up in a small town, but have you thought about dental schools at universities? If there’s one thing I learned about having no insurance is that everything’s negotiable.