Dental Benefits - Which Are Most Important
Which dental benefit is more important to your oral health?
All new patients to our office have a personal one-on-one consultation with me which generally lasts about 20 -30
minutes. This is probably the most low tech activity we engage in, but it is by far the most beneficial. We utilize this
valuable time to find out as much as we can about our new patients as unique individuals with specific needs, wants
and perceptions of what you believe to be the optimal patient-dentist relationship. We ask many probing questions and
listen carefully to the responses as we build an understanding of the impact of your past dental experiences. This
communication session also helps us to identify your expectations for our practice, gauge your priorities for your dental
care, and document important details regarding your overall health history.
The next step is the complete exam. We utilize digital X-ray that offers so many advantages to traditional X-rays,
including 90 percent less radiation, no film, no chemicals, no darkroom—and the feedback is instant. It's quicker and it
allows us show you the areas of concern in a larger format which is easier for you to view and understand. The intraoral
video camera allows us to show you clear evidence of the changes in your mouth, in color and at 40 times
magnification. This helps you visualize the treatment plan we will recommend.
For most people, the incontrovertible evidence displayed on the flat screen monitor through the real time video of every
nook and cranny of their mouth, helps them decide to make the investment in achieving optimal dental health.
However, for some people, this is not the case. And more often than not the reason why they don’t move ahead with
the treatment is because their dental insurance will not fully cover the cost. In the current economic climate, it is
understandable that everyone is concerned about expenses, but in this case is it a good decision to choose not to
follow treatment because it’s not covered?
Consider for a moment what dental insurance actually provides. It’s great to have this as a benefit, and we are glad
that you do, but it is no way comparable to health insurance coverage. Companies that offer dental insurance to their
employees are generally offering a benefit with a value of around $1000. This amount has been consistent since the
1970’s! And certainly, no other expense involved in dentistry has stayed at the level they were 40 years ago. So when
you make a decision to delay treatment because it isn’t covered by your dental insurance, you are making a decision to
allow a condition to worsen, and potentially, end up costing you more due to the need for a more complicated
treatment plan later. And you may experience significant discomfort due to the increased severity of the condition.
That’s why we encourage you to think about whether making an important decision about your oral health should be
dependent upon the amount of your dental insurance benefit, or upon the benefit you will enjoy by keeping your healthy
teeth for a lifetime.
Our team recently met with Rich Schlentz from "Extraordinary,INC" who
led us through a brainstorming session celebrating our successes in customer service, And challenging us to raise our
game "one percent" in everything we do.
