5 Ways to Maximize Your Dental Insurance Benefits Before 2022

Dental insurance is a great investment because it can help you save when it comes to your oral healthcare. By looking after your smile, you are contributing to the health of your entire body. However, dental insurance doesn’t work exactly like the medical insurance that you’re used to, so it can be challenging to navigate at first. Here are some tips to help you fully maximize your benefits and get the most out of your plan.

Utilize Your Preventive Coverage

If you aren’t already seeing your dentist every six months for cleanings and checkups, you aren’t even close to fully maximizing your benefits. By attending these regular appointments, you can prevent the development of oral health issues. Your hygienist will thoroughly clean your smile, and your dentist will take a look to ensure that you don’t have existing dental issues that need to be addressed. By catching small issues now, you may be able to avoid costly, more invasive procedures in the future. For instance, if your dentist treats a cavity with a filling now, you might be able to avoid root canal therapy or an extraction later.

Prevent Overall Health Issues

Your oral health and overall health go hand-in-hand. People who have gum disease are more likely to suffer from a variety of other serious conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, respiratory issues, and pregnancy complications. By seeing your dentist for cleanings and checkups, you can prevent gum infections and overall health issues that will require lots of time and money to treat.

Choose an In-Network Dentist

If you have a PPO plan, this gives you the ability to choose any dentist you’d like, even if they aren’t on your list of “in-network” dentists. By choosing an in-network dentist, you will likely benefit from increased coverage of your dental treatments, therefore resulting in lower out-of-pocket costs.

Use Your Flexible Spending Dollars

If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) through your employer, you should use these dollars before the year comes to an end because all of your funds may not carry over. Most of the time, dental expenses are eligible FSA healthcare expenses. FSAs reduce your taxable income by putting aside money for healthcare. When you use tax-free dollars to pay for your dental treatment, you can ultimately save money.

Review Your Benefits Again

The end of the calendar year is coming up, so now is a great time to look over your dental benefits again. By knowing exactly what is covered under your plan and when it will reset, you will be able to better maximize your coverage. For most insurance plans, the benefits reset at the end of the calendar year. This means that you will be responsible for paying your deductible again on January 1st. Any remaining benefits will not carry over to the following year.

If you have not been to the dental office in a while, now is a great time to get back on track. If you need help knowing how to get the most out of your benefits, be sure to talk to your dental team, and they’ll be able to lead you in the right direction.

About the Practice

At Dental Expressions, you have two experienced dentists providing professional, personalized dental care in Freedom, WI. Both Dr. Robert Heil and Dr. Heather Heil earned their dental degrees from the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in Minneapolis and have been practicing for over twenty years. Their practice is in-network with numerous popular dental insurance providers. For more information or to schedule an appointment, visit their website or call (920) 788-6280.