jj said:
I have not seen many posts (if any) on the subject of dental insurance. Do most people not bother once in ER? What do you do?
Peter said:
I can only relate my own experience on this. I had dental insurance for a couple of years, but found that it wasn't worthwhile. By the time I added up the cost of premiums and co-payments I might just as well have paid the dentist directly.
Yup. Even the govt-sponsored plan is far more expensive than paying the dentist(s) directly for two people of two visits/year each.
Some people (like my spouse) never get cavities. I'm told that it's a mouth/bacteria genetic inheritance. I've had several cavities but none in the last decade (ever since I learned how to floss properly). Both our mothers had severe periodontia but our fathers never had any problems, even cavities.
When we told our pediatric dentist that we were uninsured, his office staff let out a "Whoopee!" and whacked 20% off the bill.
Our dental "insurance" plans had heavy deductibles for orthodontia. Even with full insurance they'd only pay about $1500 of the total cost, so we would have forked over $3000 (at a minimum) of the full retail price with its monthly payment plan. We negotiated with the orthodontist and managed to get five boat payments 10% off the bill by paying the two-year plan up front. Paying that with a rebate credit card saved another month of dental-insurance premiums.
Spouse gets her dental care through the Navy Reserve, but they never do more than an annual cleaning. So far in ER my uninsured dental care has cost $120. Our kid has chewed through (so to speak) $900 at the pediatric dentist and another $4260 at the orthodontist. Dental insurance for us would have cost $65/month in mid-2002 and went up to $73/month last May. So far we've avoided $2850 in premiums and, even including all orthodontia expenses and assuming our insurance premiums remain flat, at our present rate of treatment we'll be permanently ahead of the game in another three years.
jj said:
Are there any horror stories out there of very expensive dental procedures which have to be done?
I've been told that many people's mouths slow their decay activity in their 40s. I don't know if the bacteria give up or if their body chemistry is more effective at stopping decay, but there's much less dental activity after that third decade is over. Your mileage may vary but it's held true for me. I got a clean bill of health at my last active-duty exam (age 41) and didn't go to a dentist for two years. He didn't find anything, either, so I'll go again at the next two-year point (in a couple months).
I'm a big believer in flossing, especially since it took dentists several tries to teach me how to do it right. I've had zero cavities since I started flossing 3-4x/week and using a fluoride rinse (Hawaii does not fluoridate the water supply). My biggest problem was a sensitive filling for about a week after I stopped a hook kick with my chin. Otherwise no horror stories here.
My mother claimed her periodontia came from years of poor dental cleanings (and no flossing). She was also a heavy smoker & drinker (like everyone else in the 1950s/60s). My father had so few dental problems (and knew so little about dentists) that he was talked into having all four of his wisdom teeth removed in one visit, which of course he paid for dearly during recovery. My mother-in-law appears to have lost the genetic lottery but as far as we can tell the bad genes weren't passed on. My father-in-law has never had a cavity and just stops by the dentist every couple of years for a checkup. I don't think he even gets a cleaning.
I've known a couple shipmates who religiously avoided all dentists. They paid for it at their retirement physicals when they started having root canals. One of them had one per week for six weeks and might as well have been on retirement leave with all his recovery time, but no one envied him. But they were lifetime smokers, tobacco chewers, coffee drinkers (with sugar) and didn't brush very often, let alone floss...
jj said:
Is dental insurance worth it if not heavily subsidized by the corporate world?
Unless you have a mouth full of periodontia problems or crowns/root canals, I'm thinking "no". I bet even corporations lose money at their group rate, since our govt TRICARE dental premiums were pretty much equivalent to a year's worth of checkups & cleanings.