A section from our Office Manual--
Is Dental Insurance a good idea?--Since the 60's, It's been a great benefit to many people for many years. It's helped LOTS of folks enjoy high quality dental care that many feel they couldn't have afforded without that insurance. Over 75% of our clients use some form of dental insurance. The result of many decades of dental insurance availability has been a greatly expanded use of dental care by those who want it ..... at the expense of those who are afraid of it ... and those who effectively prevent their need of it.
The basic problem?--Dental care is 98% OPTIONAL & therefore not an insurable risk. "Insurance" was designed to protect large numbers of folks against catastrophes that a single victim could not survive, for example, the sinking of a ship, the burning of a building or home, the premature death or total disability of a human, etc.. Insurance protects folks from the financial ruin of RARELY occurring mishaps. With modern unhealthful lifestyles, nearly EVERYONE has cavities, gum disease, crowded, misaligned teeth. "Insurance" just doesn't apply. "Dental Insurance" is not really "insurance" at all, it's just another wealth-redistribution scheme, in this case taking dollars from the folks who prevent their need of dental care and from the uneducated who still think dental care is to be feared & giving it to lots of insurance company employees & stockholders & some people who notice that dental care is sorta fun & can be purchased at a discount thru "insurance". Strange, interesting system!
As more folks have found they ENJOY modern dental care, there are fewer uneducated suckers to pay & not use it.
So how are insurance companies surviving? They survive by increasing premiums and decreasing benefits, aided by government inflation. When dental insurance started in the 60's, insurance companies limited their benefits to $1,000-$1,500/year & their clients could optimally restore half a mouth with those funds. TODAY, they STILL limit your benefits to $1,000/year, while raising the premiums ten times & we can optimally restore maybe two teeth per year on those benefits. Your present $1,500 benefits are worth about $125 in 1968 dollars. Probably dental insurance will not survive much past 2,000 AD.
They survive by "requiring" "pre-authorization" of your dental care, then denying &/or delaying your benefits 'til you've lost the interest you have NOW in purchasing dental care, know that 70% of care submitted for "pre-authorization" will never be provided). They hold your money as long as possible, earning billions of dollars of interest on it.
They survive by trying to dictate that their clients receive the cheapest care, using the cheapest materials & techniques, hoping that you'll be insured by some other company by the time the care needs to be redone.
The best dental insurance? California Dental Association's "Direct Reimbursement Plan". Why? No insurance companies, no stockholders, no salesmen, no advertising budgets, no big buildings. YOU get the maximum benefits & YOU decide what dentist you see & what care you want. The company doesn't mandate that you see their "low-bidder" dentist. If you want to bleach the stains of age from your teeth or replace lost ones with implants, you DON'T have to get permission from insurance company or your benevolent government. If your employer wants to provide you with dental benefits, or you want to buy some for YOUR employees, call CDA at (800) 736-7071, Ext 4480. They'll send a beautiful intro package & you can talk with Doug Bush, a very friendly & knowledgeable fellow I've known for several years.
Why can't I get "individual dental insurance"? No one's stupid enough to offer it. Only folks who want/need far more dental care than the cost of the insurance would buy it. So you gotta be part of a group large enough to include lots of ignorant folks who won't use the benefits.
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