Dental Insurance Bethel Park
Making High-Quality Orthodontic Care Affordable
Dental insurance in Bethel Park is a precious resource. Not only can it help you enjoy high-quality preventive and restorative care from your general dentist, but you may also be able to use it for orthodontic care. At Smiles by Palmer, our team are “insurance experts” and can help you better understand your benefits to make high-quality orthodontic care easy and affordable. We’re here to help, so if you have any questions about your plan, don’t hesitate to contact us!
How Dental Insurance Works
Dental insurance plans and benefits vary quite a bit, so start by spending some time looking at your individual plan guidelines. Even the same insurance company offers different plans, some of which cover braces and some that don’t. If your plan doesn’t include orthodontic benefits, you may have the option of supplementing it to get coverage for you and your family members.
One common type of plan is called PPO (Preferred Provider) which is flexible and allows you to choose an orthodontist. However, you’ll pay less out-of-pocket costs with an in-network orthodontist than one who’s out of network. PPO plans that cover orthodontia tend to have a lifetime maximum, which is the highest amount they will pay out for orthodontic services during a patient’s lifetime.
Typically, orthodontic coverage will cover around 50% of the cost of the following services:
- Examinations
- Orthodontic treatment
- Retainers
- Pre- and post-orthodontic treatment
If you’re ever confused about your orthodontic coverage, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re happy to help and can assist you in figuring out what your policy covers so there aren’t any surprises later on.
What is the Difference Between Dental & Medical Insurance?
There are some fundamental differences between dental and medical insurance. Dental insurance is often focused on prevention and offers more coverage for procedures that maintain oral health, including the correction of bite and alignment issues, to minimize problems later on.
Medical insurance is more generalized. It is typically geared more toward coverage for emergencies and treatment of serious health conditions. In some cases, this is a bit of overlap between medical and dental insurance, but that is rarely true when it comes to orthodontic treatment.
In-Network vs. Out-of-Network
Whether we are in your plan’s network or outside of it, you may be able to use your benefits in our practice. Simply let us know which policy you have, and we will guide you on how best to use it.
In-Network
If an orthodontic care provider is “in-network” with an insurance company, it simply means there is a contract in place to control pricing and ensure that both the insurer and patients can save money. We are proud to be in-network with a number of insurance plans, including:
- United Concordia
- MetLife
- Delta Dental
- DenteMax
- Guardian
- Cigna
- Aetna
- UPMC
- UnitedHealthcare
Out-of-Network
Since PPO plans allow their policyholders to visit any care provider, you are welcome to come to us even if we are not in your policy’s network. We will still help you navigate your benefits, file your claims, and enjoy reduced out-of-pocket fees for the services we offer.