Dental Insurance Plans

I have a dental emergency, what can I do?

Relieve your Dental Pain Without Breaking the Bank

Need to have a dental procedure now? Don’t want to pay full price out-of-pocket to have it done? If the “wait and hope it goes away” option isn’t panning out, don't worry you have plenty of options. From going to a free clinic to purchasing dental insurance there are multiple ways to cover a dental emergency.
Payment Plan through your Dentist
On more occasions than not, your local dentist will allow you to set up a payment plan to have your bill paid off over time. This can be beneficial if you can’t pay all of it that day but still need the treatment. If you can pay the full amount before the procedure, some dentists will give you a discount for paying up front, some up to 5%. Also, some will use a sliding scale according to your income to save you money. The main benefit is you can go to a dentist you trust and is local. Some negatives to this approach could be that your dentist does not offer these options and even with these options you are still paying close to the usual price.
Free Clinic
The second option patients could explore is going to a free clinic or health center around you. These usually provide dental services at little to no cost and are made available by nonprofit organizations. The main benefit is the low to nonexistent price. The cons to this are you will commonly have meet an eligibility based upon your income and there isn’t a local location for most.
Dental School
The third option is similar to the second and involves going to a nearby dental school. Dental Schools will usually offer a discounted rate so the students have patients to practice on. The discounted rates typically are around 30% off depending on the place. Have no worries about the quality of the service since these students are always under the supervision of a professional. Some negatives to this option are the limited places to go, payments must be paid in full at the time of treatment, wait times can be lengthy for urgent care, and they are only open on certain days at certain times. Overall you have to weigh these negatives and decide if the discounted price is worth it.
Dental Insurance
The last option is to purchase a dental insurance plan. Many plans offer no waiting periods and can be purchased for under a dollar a day. Knowing that a portion or all of your procedure can be paid can reduce the stress of finding treatment; many plans will even let you keep your own dentist. Most plans will even pay for parts of the most expensive procedures. Free checkups are usually included in insurance plans and can stop problems from starting in the first place; consequently, this is the best way to keep dental costs down. The downsides are limited but include having to pay a monthly fee and a waiting period may be placed on major services. If you are interested in exploring this option, here on dentalinsuranceshop.com you can compare plans from many of the top companies with an instant online quote.