3 False Assumptions About Dental Insurance
My dental practice in McHenry, Illinois is built on the foundation of Health-Focused Dentistry, in fact I have it inscribed as part of my company logo. I have always felt we are of better service to our patients if we can provide the information to help you make the best possible decisions for your long-term health. Along with that, the decisions you make have to be consistent with the level of quality and cost that you value. Being health-focused means that I provide you with the information and coaching to help you along the way toward whatever goal you have for your oral health. Once you and I have identified that goal, we can focus our efforts toward reaching that level of health that you have chosen for yourself. My integrative, functional approach to Dentistry is to look beyond the teeth and identify how your oral health can impact your total health and systemic health impact on oral health.
Recently, one of my colleagues shared his opinion about dental insurance and it directly aligns with my thinking, so I wanted to share it. I feel it is important to help educate the public about how to think about and consider dental insurance. Whether you have dental insurance or not, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor as to care for your oral health or not.
Here’s the article; credited to: Paul A. Henny, DDS – Roanoke, Virginia.
What precisely are dental insurance companies selling, and do their customers understand what it is? In the vast majority of cases, dental insurance is little more than a set of false assumptions cleverly promoted:
False Assumption #1: Dental insurance is associated with health promotion, when in fact it’s actually associated with minimal cost of repair promotion.
False Assumption #2: Dental insurance saves people money, when in fact it often promotes focusing on issues-of-the-day and addressing them as inexpensively as possible, along with no reflection on how the approach might negatively influence their long-term health, as a short-term only focus may very well cost the patient significantly more money in the long-run.
False Assumption #3: Only people who have dental insurance can afford dental care, when in actuality many patients are “code mined,” and “up-sold” by practices which have agreed to an insurance company fee structure which is out of alignment with their true operating costs.
And all of this is made possible through propaganda machines that over 90% of the profession supports.
Let’s suppose your employer offered you a car insurance policy that is similar to dental insurance, and it “covers” everything from oil changes to body work and engine repair. It also allows access (with their prior approval of course) to $1500.00 per year in services, but beyond that – you’d financially be on your own.
Now, let’s say that on your way to work, a person pulls out in front of you and significantly damages your recently purchased car. The repair bill comes to $4500.00, and after appraisal, the insurance company wants to tell you what parts will be used as well as where the repairs must be done – a place you’ve never heard of before.
What would you do? Would you repair only $1500.00 per year and then finish the work over a three-year period? And what additional problems might occur over that extended repair time? How might the long-term value of your car be influenced by this approach, and who is responsible for the long-term outcome?
Would you consider this policy to be true “insurance’ or something else?
As a profession, we need to find ways to turn away from similar arrangements, as they can easily turn into lose-lose-win. Health-centered, relationship-based dentistry represents an alternative approach. But it requires a very different philosophy toward helping people with their problems; one that insurance companies will try to undermine at every turn yet represents the only professional future.
With wishes for good health,
Dr. James Hasken
About James A. Hasken, DDS
Since 1987, Dr. James Hasken has been providing HEALTH-FOCUSED DENTISTRY in McHenry. Being Health-Focused means that we provide you with the information and coaching to help you toward your oral health goals. Our approach is INTEGRATIVE DENTAL MEDICINE which is about identifying how the BODY, BREATHING, BACTERIA, and BITE effects total health. This puts you, the patient, at the center with a focus on prevention, fostering the development of healthy behaviors, and skills for effective self-control and care that can be used for a lifetime to attain optimum health. The mouth is a reflection of total body health. We would love the opportunity to help you attain the level of total body health you desire. We serve many patients from McHenry, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Spring Grove, Richmond, Genoa City, Twin Lakes, Wonder Lake, Island Lake, Johnsburg, Ringwood, Volo, Fox Lake, Lakemoor, Holiday Hills, Round Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach, Geneva Lake, and surrounding areas. We invite you to contact us today at 815-385-0777!
