Porcelain veneers are often used in order to fix cosmetic complaints such as tooth Discoloration, small chips and gaps. However because porcelain veneers are often used for cosmetic purposes many dental insurance plans do not offer coverage’s on dental veneers. That said if you are thinking about having porcelain veneers check with your dental insurance plan ahead of time to confirm if you will receive any benefits. If you do not you may want to look into getting a dental discount plan which will normally reduce the cost of porcelain veneers by at least 20 percent.

For many women oral and dental health can be effected by their many changes in life.  Such as in puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, lactation and menopause.  Women are also more likely to be diagnosed with TMJ, myofascial pain, eating disorders and Sjögren’s syndrome.

Porcelain veneers help to improve the appearance of teeth by correcting cosmetic complaints such as tooth discoloration, chips and gaps. Porcelain veneers are thin facades of a special dental ceramic that can be attached to the front of teeth. They generally, replace the entire tooth front and sometimes they even go up over the top of the tooth as well. Because porcelain veneers are fitted only to the front of your teeth, they are not able to completely protect your teeth. They are not suitable for placing on a tooth that has received significant structural damage from decay, cracking, or previous fillings. In order to protect these teeth, you would need a dental crown.

After you buy a dental insurance plan of your choice, the best advise is to use it. However here are some tips that you may want to make note of.

1) Know where you got your dental insurance. With many of dental insurance plans being sold on line it is important to remember where you bough your dental insurance plan.

2) Know the contact number of the agent/website that you bough your dental plan though. In many cases if you have questions about your dental insurance plan you need to be able to contact the place you bought the plan from.

3) If you receive dental benefits though your employer, make sure to know the member service number for your dental insurance plan. If you do not have that talk to the person that handles you employee benefits to get it. Having the correct member service numbers for your dental insurance plan from the start will make things easier for you when and if you ever need to call about your dental insurance plan. So make sure you put this information somewhere you can easily access it.

Research done in a study of over 1,000 post-menopausal women forecasted that over one in four post-menopausal women have a higher risk to suffer from tooth loss over a five year period.  This risk increases to nearly 90 per cent if other risk factors are present, especially diabetes and if they smoke. Having proper dental care and maintaining good oral hygiene reduces  the risk factors.

Think about your dental needs before buying dental insurance.

All to often people do not buy dental insurance until they have larger dental needs that need to be address right away. It is not a good idea to put off buying dental insurance until a larger dental need arises. However, since many people do it is important that you understand your current dental needs in order to buy a plan that will best fit your needs.

By putting off buying a dental insurance plan you may have to give up a few things in order to receive the dental treatment that is needed. To give you an example of this: Say you have a dentist you like to go to, however that dentist only accepts PPO dental insurance plans. Now your problem is that since you do not have a current dental PPO plan in force, you may have to change dental providers in order to get the needed dental care treatment.

Reason for this: Many PPO plans come with long term waiting periods that will effect the benefits received and what is and what is not covered at the effective date of the plan. Lets say you do not want to change dental providers, then you are either having to pay the total out of pocket cost for your dental care or wait until the plan waiting periods are up.

If choosing to delay dental care treatment talk to your dentist and make sure that is a good idea. Many times it is not sound advise to defer dental care when needed since it only helps to creates larger dental care needs. Yet this can be avoided when buying dental insurance before larger dental care issues are needed. In fact by having dental insurance in force you are more likely to see the dentist for regular dental checkups and cleaning thus preventing the need for larger dental care issues.

When shopping for dental insurance it is important to understand the benefits that are available for any specialist. Plans such as HMO plans will normally provide around 20 – 30 percent saving off of their plan specialist after having a referral from the general dentist you are assigned to. Under PPO plans their coverage’s are normally based off of percentage covered up to UCR based on general dentist cost. This important to understand because you have a greater likelihood of having UCR fees when going to a specialist.

Teenagers are putting their teeth and oral health at risk.

Many dentist are worried that teenagers may be putting their teeth and oral health at risk by trying dangerous do it yourself teeth whitening techniques found on the on line.   Too many teenagers uses  online tips of do it yourself teeth whitening since money and access to proper dental whitening care may not be in their reach.

However Children who are mixing  up quantities of different chemical and applying them for long periods of time are at risk of eroding their tooth enamel and damaging their gums. In turn increasing their risk of oral infection. The best course of action is to talk to your dentist about safely whiting your teeth or what over the counter product they my suggest to be use.

In several prior posts we talk about the good and the bad of teeth whitening treatment. If you have a teen that want to use teeth whitening kits or at home remedies, have them talk to their dentist first and if they are going to use a kit make sure they are doing so correctly.

Generally when someone buys auto insurance they do not think that just because they did not get into and accident that year, the money spent into having auto insurance was wasted. Yet for some reason for many people that is how they see dental insurance. Yes it is important to take cost into account and make sure you are buying the right dental insurance plan that best fits your needs.

However, dental insurance is one type of insurance that you should be using to the fullest. Unlike auto insurance where you use it when you get into and accident, dental insurance provides benefits for you to use in order to avoid having larger future needs. As well as still being there for you when larger dental care is needed.

In short if you feel the cost of insurance is a waste of money then you are probably not using your plan to it fullest. Make sure to have your preventive dental care twice a year under most dental insurance plans preventive dental services are free. Normally preventive dental care includes office visits, oral evaluations, X-rays and basic cleanings. Without out insurance for an individual these services can cost around $250.00. Times that by two for your twice a year checkup and you are at $500.00. If you have a family of four you are talking over $2000.00 in dental care cost a year and that just for preventive services.

Since we have talked about in prior post how a Dental PPO and Indemnity plans work and their limitation, when shopping for a dental insurance plan try asking yourself a few basic questions. By doing this it will help you determent which plan is designed right for you.

* Do you need any major dental work right away: In prior posted we talked about plan waiting periods. Therefore dental plans with waiting periods of six months for basic services and 12 months for major services may not be best advise if you need immediate dental care.

* How much dental work is needed: With many plans having annual maximum it is important to fully understand your own dental care needs. If you need to have multiple major procedures that will may push you over your annual max limit you either need to buy a dental plan with a higher max limitation or make sure to have services render as to not exceed your limitation without you knowing it.

* Are you trying to say with a dental provider: One of the major positives about dental PPO’s and Indemnity plans is that you are able to normally choose your own dentist without having to only pick from a limited provider pool within the plan network. Yet if this is not important to you, you may want to review HMO plans with are normally lower in cost with fewer limitations.

Many plans such as PPO’s and Indemnity dental insurance plans have waiting periods. Even some HMO plans come with limited waiting periods. However what are waiting periods how how do they effect you? A waiting period is the number of months a plan member must be enrolled in the plan before certain procedures are covered by the insurance company.

Typically, PPO and Indemnity plans will have a 6 month waiting period before basic services are covered and a 12 month waiting period before major services are covered. Although waiting periods will very depending on each plan. When buying plans with waiting periods it is important to understand that there will not be coverage’s for dental services that fall into the waiting periods until you have had that plan for the stated time period. Therefore buying this type of dental insurance when you have a toothache may not be the best fit and you may want to review HMO plans that do not have waiting periods or dental discount plans.

It hard to believe that many children and adult still do not take simple measure that have been proven to be effective in the fight against oral diseases and another dental care issues. By making these changes you are not only preventing oral diseases but reducing your dental care costs. Brush your teeth at least twice a day for at least two minutes. Brush your teeth in small circles and not up and down or back and forth. Make sure you are brushing all your teeth including the back ones. (Watch kids as they are learning to brush, since they tend to only brush the front teeth)

Using toothpaste with fluoride as it is good way to prevent tooth decay and is cost-effective. With young children however make sure you keep the toothpaste out of their reach. Use only a pee size amount of toothpaste or less if younger. Otherwise do not use fluoride toothpaste until they learn to spit and not swallow. Flossing daily is very important in your oral health care. Brushing is only half the job. You can brush all you want but if you are not flossing you are running a high risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Flossing only takes a few minutes out of your day and is a very low cost way of maintaining your oral health. Floss your children teeth until they can learn how to floss correctly on their own.

Another safe and effective way to prevent cavities in kids are buy having dental sealants. Dental sealants is a plastic coating which is applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth, where decay mostly occurs.  A dentist would be able to put on dental sealants in order to help protect your children teeth.  Many dental insurance plans do offer coverage’s for dental sealants for children.

However even knowing this only about one-third of children ages 6 – 19 have sealants. Cost can be a factor and is why having a dental insurance  in place will help out many people and their families.

You should see a dentist at least twice a year for oral check ups. More when advise by your dentist to do so. Check ups, X-rays and Basic cleanings normally fall under preventive dental services. It is important to have preventive dental services done regularly so any dental problems can be detected early on. Under most dental insurance plans preventive dental care is either very low in cost or is offer for free.

By just taking care of your teeth as a child to an adult you can avoid many oral health issues. These are simple ways to help keep healthy teeth and gums for a very low cost. But if they are not done, not only will your oral heath suffer but so will your wallet.

When buy a PPO or an Indemnity (Free choice of provider) plan it is important to understand what an annual maximum limitation is and how it effects you. Let’s say you go to your dentist for your cleaning and check up. After some X-rays they discover you have a tooth with bad dental decay and you will need a crown.

If you go to an expensive dentist in order to get your crown you may run into what is called an annual maximum limitation.  To understand what this is,  a maximum limitation is the cap on what your dental insurance plan is willing to pay out for covered services provided each year per person. A $1000 dollar annual maximum for an individual plan is common but they can range between $1000 – 2000. With that in mind, before buying this type of dental insurance plan you should think of both your current and possible future needs in order to not exceed your annual maximum limitation.

Tooth decay is the destruction of the outer surface of a tooth from acid forming bacteria that is produced by food containing carbohydrates (sugars and starches).

Tooth Decay Prevention: Brush your teeth twice a day with a tooth paste that contains fluoride. Preferably, brush after each meal and before bedtime to help reduce the bacteria from staying on your teeth for a certain length of time.

You may wish to consider these helpful tips as well:  Floss your teeth daily to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.  Check with your dentist regarding the use of a supplemental fluoride which strengthens your teeth and helps prevents tooth decay. Consider dental sealants which is a plastic like substance placed on the top of molars to protect the teeth from decay.

Use mouth wash with fluoride. Many of them kill 50% or more of the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Chewing gum with the ingredient Xylitol © may also kill some of the bacteria which causes tooth decay.

 
Question: I am 26 and although I have dental insurance though work I really still do not like going to the dentist.  So I try and make sure that I never have any real dental issues.  I only go for my free twice a year cleaning and even that makes me a nervous wreak.

Reply: If you wish to keep your teeth healthy and have good oral health then seeing a dentist is part of what you must do to achive that goal.  However seeing a dentist dose not have to be scary.  In the past we posted how to reduce your dental fears. Here are a few short tips that may help you.

1) Get to know your dentist:  Talk to your dentist explain about your dental fear and worries so that the dentist can take the added time nessary to make you more relax and less stressful

2) Full understand the dental services you are having: Knowing what is going on will help to reduce your dental fears. Fears come from the unknow there by knowing will help to reduce your fears.

3) Try relaxing by listing to your favorite music: Bring you play list and relax. The dentist can tap on you shoulder if he/she needs your attention for something. Your music will help you to relax there by easing your fears.

When buying a dental PPO insurance plan understanding how it helps to reduce your dental care cost is important in buying the correct dental insurance plan for you and or your family. PPO Dental insurance plans are based on a cost sharing concept. That is where both you and your insurer pay a certain percentage of the cost for the dental procedure you receive. There are three main categories of procedures and they will normally have different cost sharing breakdowns.

1) Diagnostic/Preventative Services: Under this category it will normally include oral exam, some x-rays and your basic cleaning. Cost sharing coverages will very depending on the plan but typically the insurer pays 80 to 100 percent for these types of procedures and you pay 20 to 0 percent.

2) Basic (Restorative) Services: Under this category it will normally include silver (some limited resin) fillings for cavities, Simple tooth extractions and re-cementing of existing crowns and bridges. Cost sharing coverages will very depending on the plan but typically the insurer pays 80 percent for these types of procedures where as you pay the remaining 20 percent.

3) Major Restorative Services: Under this category it will normally include, crowns, partial and complete dentures, as well Endodontics (Pulpal therapy and root canals), Periodontics (Treatment of diseases of the gums), and Oral Surgery (Extractions and other oral surgery including pre and postoperative care) Cost sharing coverages will very depending on the plan but typically the insurer pays 50 percent for these types of procedures and you pay the other 50 percent.

Some PPO plans may offer a fourth category Called Corrective Services: This generally includes orthodontia (braces). Cost sharing will very and can be limited in coverages. It is important to know that some PPO cost sharing is can also be based on a first second and third year bases where as each year the company increases their coverages to pay out more until the third year where it then stays the same for as long as you may continue to have the plan.

For a lower cost dental insurance plan option you may want to review dental HMO insurance plans. As these types of plans are normally more more affordable then PPO or free choice of dental provider plans. Most HMO plans provide their benefits based on a predetermined fee schedule. This is also helpful to people living within a fixed income since cost for dental services are shown prior to buying the plan.

The cost of seeing a dentist keeps going up, making it harder and harder to see a dentist regularly. However, you can help control the rising cost of seeing a dentist just by having dental insurance in place. Depending on your dental needs and preference, there are different dental insurance plan types available to help you. Do not put of buying dental insurance until major dental care is needed since some dental insurance plan may have waiting periods. Think of your current as well as any future dental needs in order to buy a plan that can best fit both.

Question: I just got some dental bonding on five teeth.  However I forgot to ask if it was okay for me to eat anything.   Or if I needed to wait.  If so for how long to I need to waiting after having bonding done? I need to know.

Reply: You can eat, however, you should avoid consuming tea, coffee, red wine, and other beverages and foods that might stain your teeth for at least 48 hours after your procedure. You should also avoid eating especially hard foods for a day, since bonding material needs some time to “set.”

One of the cheapest and easiest ways to help whiten your teeth is toothpaste with whitening. Toothpaste with whitening is really no more costly then toothpaste without whitening. Since you are having to brush your teeth twice a day any way, if you are wanting to brighten up your smile this may be one good affordable way to do so.

Toothpaste with whitening is not consider a bleaching product. Whitening toothpastes focus more on mild abrasion, working on the discolored surface each time you brush your teeth. Results can be noticeable, however it can take much longer period for that to happen compare to other whitening products.