Focus on Prevention

Dental care focuses on prevention because it’s proven to reduce your long-term oral health expenses by keeping your teeth and gums healthy. Research shows every $1 spent on prevention can save as much as $50 on restorative care. Your dental insurance makes it easy to get the routine services you need.

By paying your monthly premiums, you have access to a comprehensive policy that includes 100% preventive coverage. You can benefit from 1-2 preventive appointments per year to keep your smile healthy.

Treat Dental Issues Quickly

Even with the best prevention, a complication can arise. You don’t need to worry about a large dental bill. After reaching your deductible, your policy can cover 50% to 80% of the cost until hitting your yearly limit. You can use your policy to help offset the expense of many common treatments, like fillings, extractions, and root canals. You can reinstate your oral health without draining your wallet.

Choose the Right Dentist

To make the most of your policy, your dental insurance will recommend you choose an in-network dentist because they have pre-negotiated rates. You can still visit any dentist who accepts your coverage, even if they are out-of-network; however, you’ll need to pay the difference between the office’s fees and your insurance’s allowable amounts. You’ll have the freedom to choose the best dentist for your specific needs to enjoy personalized plans to reach your oral health goals.

Don’t Let Your Benefits Expire

Your dental insurance is a monthly investment. At the end of the calendar year, your dental policy will expire. You won’t be reimbursed for your premiums or deductible if you don’t use all your benefits. In addition, nothing will carry over into the new year. Anything you haven’t used will be lost for good.

Invest in a Healthy Smile

Your dental insurance is there to keep your teeth and gums healthy to achieve lasting oral health. If you have any questions about your policy, don’t hesitate to contact your dentist for clarification. They will work on your behalf with your insurance carrier to file the necessary claim forms for reimbursement.

About Dr. David Earnest

Dr. Earnest earned his degree at the University of Texas. He is a member of various dental organizations, including the American Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry, and the Academy of Osseointegration. He works with many insurance plans to keep his services affordable. If you have benefits that you’re about to lose, contact our office today to schedule an appointment.

A single missing tooth might be enough for you to cover your mouth while you speak, but multiple missing teeth may have you seeking the confines of your home and avoiding social gatherings altogether. It’s not just your aesthetics that is negatively affected but also your oral health. The more vacated sockets in your smile, the greater your risk for bone and tooth loss. If you are seeking a way to replace your missing teeth, it might be time to consider dental implants. But before you move forward with treatment, it’s important to learn why certain cases are a bit more complex than others.

Everyone wants a bright white smile, even if you have dentures. However, even the brightest sets of dentures can become stained over time. Fortunately, there are ways that you can whiten your false teeth and avoid staining in the future. Continue reading to learn more from your dentist about the do’s and don’ts of whitening your dentures as well as ways that you can keep them white in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed some unusual challenges. For starters, as the availability of testing becomes greater, the infection numbers continue to rise around the country. That doesn’t stop the other mishaps of life from happening, like dental emergencies. If you find yourself dealing with one, it’s important that you seek care from a local emergency dentist, first, but why? Read on to find out!

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If your dental insurance is based on the calendar year, pretty soon your plan will reset, and you’ll lose any benefits that you haven’t utilized yet. For many Americans, this could mean losing hundreds of dollars that could have been used to protect their pearly whites. Do you want to save money on your dental care? Read on to learn more about the importance of using your dental benefits and seeing the dentist before January.

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After years of suffering from a misaligned and crooked smile, you finally get the chance to straighten it without the hassle of brackets and wires using ClearCorrect aligners. This modern orthodontic treatment comes with a variety of benefits that you can’t get with traditional braces, making it worth the week-long adjustment period.  As with any oral appliance, your mouth will have to get used to it, so to make the process easier on yourself, read on for six tips to help you get through the first week. (more…)

Flossing is an important part of keeping your teeth healthy. If you floss daily, you can help prevent multiple health problems such as cavities and gum disease. But did you know that there is actually more than one way to floss? A dentist talks about the differences between traditional flossing and water flossing, and which one could be right for you.

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Studies show that more than 40 million Americans are missing all or almost all of their teeth. Dental medicine has developed a number of ways to address this problem. The two most common options are traditional adhesive dentures and dental implants. Both have their advantages as well as considerations. But which is right for you? We’ll explore that question in this post.

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March is National Nutrition Month, and while you may be tempted to reach for a bag of chips instead of that bright, yellow banana, you might want to think twice. While it may seem harmless to eat a small bag of your favorite Cheetos, you will be surprised to know how all that starch, carbs, and don’t forget all that orange coloring, can affect your oral health. To learn more about how your food choices and oral health are connected, a dentist in New Braunfels explains. (more…)