You need to sign up for a dental plan and you’re confused about the process, asking yourself, “What should I look for in a dental plan?”
The first thing that you should consider is seeing if you can join a group plan through your employer. If not, also consider that you can’t just join a plan, whatever kind it is, and immediately have large-scale work done like dental implants or something similar.. There’s a waiting period of up to a year before you can even think about doing that – it’s something the insurers have instituted to prevent precisely those scenarios. If you have a solid understanding of that, then you can go ahead with your research and what to take note of before making your final decision about your plan.
Location Of The Dentist
Ideally, you want to find a dentist that you can go visit without a long commute. Some people wind up liking their dentist so much that they don’t mind having to travel some even if they move to another area. Still, if you join a HMO plan, you will have to pick one that’s within a certain network – the insurer will give you a list of all those who fall within those parameters. A PPO dental savings plan gives you more flexibility – and that’s where the decision about the commute comes in. If you have a choice, check everything carefully before committing to one plan or another.
Your Needs
It really depends on what you need. Are you young and the chances of your needing serious dental work in the near future very slim? Then you might want to see about discount plans for the time being, since you’ll want to be saving as much as you can for the time that you do anticipate having to require something like a bridge or dentures or a dental implant. Then the cost will be cushioned from the money that you saved.
Price
Here’s also where you factor in several things like your marital status, any dependents that you have and, as mentioned before, if your job has its own plan that you might want to consider. It’s all about what you can afford, after all, since you need to have it fit within your budget. Also, be very diligent with your research if you’re planning on getting orthodontic work or cosmetic work done – insurance companies often don’t cover those so you had better have money set aside for that.
There are also discount plans where participating dentists will offer lower prices for certain procedures. Not all dentists do this, so be diligent in your research and be doubly sure before committing to something like that. After you’ve weighed everything, you can comfortably make your decision.
Ivory Dental would be an option for many people in the Jacksonville area who are in a PPO plan – though they do also offer financing through CareCredit where you can pay over the course of many months. They offer a wide array of procedures and are very open to treating entire families.