Brushing and flossing can help us keep our teeth clean and gums healthy. But due to continuous usage, accident or genetic disorder every one of us will eventually have decayed tooth or worse lose our teeth entirely. But decayed or lost tooth is not the real problem since we can have them treated and replaced.
What we have to think about is whether we can afford a visit to the dentist to get our teeth treated or replaced, because even though dental health is an important part of our overall health it is also very expensive even with the help of dental insurance.
In the United States dental insurance companies offer 3 different types of dental insurance: Dental PPO Plans, Dental HMO or Prepaid Plans and Fee-for-Service Plans.
Dental PPO Plans or Preferred Provider Organization plans offer a network feature and a balance between lower costs and dentist choice. When visiting a PPO dentist you will be asked to pay a certain percentage of the discounted dental treatment rate and the plan pays the rest; plan covers 80 per cent of preventive services and about 50 per cent for crowns and bridges. Furthermore, this type of plan usually requires a patient to meet a deductible and it has an annual maximum amount of coverage.
With Dental HMO or Prepaid Plans a patient is required to choose one dentist or dental facility to dovetail his or her oral health needs. Also, unlike Dental PPO Plans, a Dental HMO Plan does not have deductibles or maximum but rather asks the patient to take care of a fixed dollar amount for the treatment he or she needs to undergo. The good thing about this plan is that diagnostic and preventive dental services are usually free if done within the network; take note though that if the services are done by a dental provider outside the network, you may be responsible to foot the entire bill.
Fee-for-Service Plans are very much like PPO Plans that plan holders are asked to pay a certain percentage for
each dental service done and the plan takes care of the rest of the bill. The patient is also required to meet a deductible and it has an annual maximum amount of coverage. The only difference between the two plans is that dentists are not paid the same amount or that patients will pay more with Fee-for-Service Plans.
each dental service done and the plan takes care of the rest of the bill. The patient is also required to meet a deductible and it has an annual maximum amount of coverage. The only difference between the two plans is that dentists are not paid the same amount or that patients will pay more with Fee-for-Service Plans.
However, even with dental insurance the amount for dental treatments patients have to take care of is still exorbitant; in USA and Canada a simple White Filling costs around $200, Porcelain Crown and Veneers are at $1700, Teeth Whitening at $700 and Dental Implants starts at $3000. Furthermore, elective treatments and procedures like dental implants are not covered by insurance plans since they are considered unnecessary.
This may all sound depressing but we can go abroad to get dental care combined with a perfect vacation for only a fraction of the cost we have to shoulder in the US or Canada. In Costa Rica for example, White Filling will cost you $75, Porcelain Crown and Veneer is just around $350 while Dental Implant starts at $550. Even if we factor in round trip airfare, which starts at $236 and may go up to $562 depending on which state you are in, the overall cost we have to take care of is still less compared to having the dental treatment we need done in the US or Canada.