Payment / Financing Options

Many patients are annoyed when they learn that the dental procedures they desire are not covered by their dental insurance program. They are especially troubled when they learn that their insurance always has a co-pay and a maximum annual benefit of $1,000. As explained in the Dental Insurance section elsewhere on this website, dental insurance programs do not cover 100 percent of the basic dental care recommended by the American Dental Association.

When it comes to dental insurance, the truthful answer to a patient's question of “What's covered?” would probably have to be “Not much.” Here, in a nutshell, is the coverage patients can expect from their dental insurance:

  • An allowance for basic care for specific dental services. Nothing more. No dental insurance policy will pay for all the dental services you receive. The insurance carrier picks up a percentage, and you pay the rest.  
  • "Bare Bones" coverage based upon the lowest cost dental services and materials available in your designated area. Anything above this lowest common denominator will be denied by the insurance carrier as exceeding "usual and customary" charges.
  • Basic benefits that have been negotiated as part of your dental plan. The services covered in your plan have little or nothing to do with your own particular dental needs or with established ADA standards of dental care. They are just the services covered by your insurance plan. Period.

    • As a dentist, my job is to help people stave off oral disease while improving their physical appearance and, hopefully, enhancing their self-image. To do this, I combine my 27 years of experience and advanced studies with the most progressive, state-of-the-art dental technology available today. I have no interest in compromising my patients’ dental care because of unrealistic rules and restraints imposed by dental insurance companies. Therefore, my policy regarding payment for the services I provide is as follows:

    • Full payment in the form of cash, check, credit card or financing at the time of the patient’s Preparation Appointment.
    • We provide all forms, documentation and x-rays required for patients to seek insurance reimbursement, but patients are personally responsible for obtaining payment from their dental insurance company.
    • Cash payment in full receives an immediate 5 percent discount.
    • Major credit cards are gladly accepted.
    • We offer a variety of flexible, convenient payment options

    Because I understand the need of some patients to finance their dental care over an extended period of time, and because I believe cost should not be a barrier to professional dental care, my office has made arrangements to offer the following convenient financing options:

    • Bank Program A program established through Wells Fargo Bank offers "six months same as cash" for financed amounts up to $2,000. If all monthly payments are made on time, no interest is charged. The brief application is completed in our office and faxed to Wells Fargo. In most instances, the bank responds within 30 minutes.
    • Care Credit Program For amounts over $2,000, we help patients call and apply for financing through the Care Credit Program. This program provides interest free loans for up to one year, depending on the amount borrowed.
    • Personal Loan Program A program established with Dental Fee Plan offers financing assistance to patients with good credit ratings, and another program established with Unicorn provides assistance for those with less than perfect credit ratings. The application forms are completed in our office, and in most instances, the response from the credit institution is received within ten minutes. We will be happy to assist you in the process.

      These well established financing options are made available to those patients who wish to receive their dental treatment without delay, and would otherwise not be able to do so.

  • Ron VanWechel, DDS

     

    (return to top)

    		•