Dental Insurance

Maximizing Your Benefits For a Healthy Smile

Even if you're lucky enough to have dental insurance, it's still understandable to have mixed feelings about it. While it's a great way to help you save big on dental care and prevent oral health problems, it can also be difficult to navigate. Fortunately, you have us on your side! With many years of experience with dental insurance, we can help you get the most from your benefits so you can have the healthy, beautiful smile you deserve. At Virginia Dentistry By Design, we'll not only file your claims for you, we'll also help you understand your plan before you begin treatment so you know exactly what you can expect. Below, you'll find a short guide to dental insurance. But feel free to give us a call if you have any additional questions. Our insurance experts are here to help!

How Dental Insurance Works

The first thing to know about dental insurance is that each plan is different, even plans from the same insurance company. That's why it's so important to take some time to read over your benefits.

One of the most common types of plans is called Preferred Provider, or PPO. These plans are flexible, so you have more freedom of choice when it comes to the dentist you see. With that said, your costs will be lower with an in-network dentist. If you have a PPO plan, check to see what the annual maximum is. This figure is the total amount of money your insurance company will spend on your dental treatment in a calendar year.

As for coverage rates, here's an average percentage that many plans will cover for various services:

• 80%-100% of preventive care like checkups and cleanings
• 70%-80% of minor restorative care like dental fillings
• 50%-60% of major restorative care like dental crowns and bridges

What is the Difference Between Dental & Medical Insurance?

In some ways, dental and medical insurance are similar. For both, you get services at a discounted rate after paying a premium each month. But there's one important distinction: Medical insurance is generally designed to treat unexpected accidents, illnesses, and emergencies after they occur. Dental insurance is geared toward prevention. By covering most or all of the cost of preventive care, many people can avoid cavities, gum disease, and other issues altogether (or greatly minimize them).

In-Network VS Out-of-Network

Regardless of whether your plan is in-network or out-of-network, we're happy to explain your coverage. And we'll always file your claim with your insurance company to make everything as easy as possible for you.

In-Network Coverage

One of the best ways to make the high-quality care we provide more affordable is having a plan that's in-network with us. At Virginia Dentistry By Design, we're in-network with:

• Delta Dental
• Aetna
• MetLife
• GEHA
• Cigna
• United Healthcare

Out of Network

If you have an out-of-network plan, your total costs may be a bit higher. However, in many cases, you'll still have many of the same benefits, so it's a good idea to give us a call so we can take a look at your plan. We see many patients with out-of-network insurance, all of whom come here because of the outstanding care they get (while their plan still makes their treatment a lot more affordable than it would be without insurance).