As a referral based specialty dental office, we must adhere to a specific, common financial policy for all of our patients. We do accept insurance plans, and even participate as a preferred provider for several companies. However, because each individual dental insurance plan has it's own fee reimbursement schedule, there is going to be some payment that is required at the time of service. In addition to paying by cash or check, you may use Visa, MasterCard or Discover.
Patients with dental benefits/insurance:
If you have dental insurance, please bring all of the necessary information with you to your dental appointment. We cannot bill your insurance unless you have provided us with the insurance information. (Note that we accept and will bill all dental insurances, but we are not contracted with all insurances and will be out of network for those that we are not contracted with. Currently, we are providers for Moda Health, Delta Dental, ODS, and Cigna, but always check prior to your appointment for possible changes.)
Dental insurance is a contract between the insurance company and the patient. A common misconception is that dental insurance will pay for all of the dental treatment provided. However, dental insurance rarely pays for 100% of cost of the dental treatment. The insurance company uses each members specific dental plan and contract to determine how much they will pay the healthcare provider. At the time of service, the insurance company only provides us with an estimate of the amount they will pay towards the patient's dental care. Because this is only an estimate, the insurance company sometimes changes the amounts that they will pay when the final invoice is submitted by our office. Therefore, it is the patient who is financially responsible for the dental treatment not the insurance company, regardless of insurance coverage.
Dealing with the specific dental insurance company policies and plans can often be confusing and time consuming. So, as a service to you, our office will submit charges for your dental treatment to your insurance company on your behalf. However, because this is only based on the estimate that the insurance company provides to us, the patient's estimated out of pocket payment is required at the time of service to pay for the estimated portion of the service not covered by your insurance plan. Once the insurance company sends final payment to our office and it is applied to your account, we will provide you with an updated invoice for final payment or send you refund. If you have any questions, please ask. We are here to help as best as we can.
Patients without dental benefits:
Full payment is required at the time of service. If you require assistance with payment we do partiicipate in and accept Care Credit. This is a third party finance company that will finance the treatment similar to a credit card account, independent of our office. When financing is accepted by Care Credit, payment plans can often be offered with deferred interest for up to 6 months. You can apply for an account at home at www.carecredit.com or we can assist you with this process in our office. Feel free to call our office with any questions about this program.