Navigating your family’s dental insurance can feel like a minefield at times. What services are covered? What can I expect to pay out-of-pocket? Which dentists in my area take my coverage? Here in Bryan, TX, we’re happy to let you know that Safari Dental is an in-network provider of virtually all PPO insurance plans! Better yet, our resident insurance expert Randi can guide you through your specific coverage and help you determine the best plan of action for you and your loved ones that are both affordable and satisfying. Don’t hesitate to contact us today for more information!

What is the Difference Between Dental Insurance and Medical Insurance?

It’s actually pretty simple. Dental benefits are mainly focused on the power of preventive care. By stopping the dental damage before it even gets the chance to begin, these plans can keep patients healthier and happier over the years as long as they bring themselves and their children in for regular exams, cleanings, fluoride treatments, dental sealants, and more. Here at Safari Dental, our team follows this principle too, and we work closely with patients of all ages in order to help them maintain excellent oral hygiene routines at home.

Alternatively, medical insurance focuses less on prevention and puts more of its resources towards covering the overwhelming cost patients will incur if they suffer from a serious injury or illness. This is why medical coverage is typically more expensive than dental coverage.

What Does Dental Insurance Typically Cover?

Every dental plan is different – in fact, even coverage from the same provider can be split up into separate tiers! Generally, though, most insurance plans will cover preventive and diagnostic care at 100% and provide partial benefits for necessary restorative services, such as crowns, bridges, fillings, and root canals. These benefits can range from 80% to 50%.

Also, it’s important to remember that most plans also have caps on their coverage. Usually, these caps fall around $1500 each year, although paying a higher premium may result in a larger amount.

In-Network VS Out of Network Insurance Coverage

We offer in-network dental insurance coverage for our Bryan dentistry patients at Safari Dental & Orthodontics. As in-network providers, we work regularly with a wide range of dental benefit plans to offer patients the highest amount of coverage for all necessary preventive and restorative dentistry services. We process and file dental insurance claims for these providers on a daily basis, so we are able to ensure maximum coverage for your treatment. Additionally, because we are in-network with these providers, we agree to charge the insurer’s fair and average pricing for services, which means you will only need to pay for the out of pocket percentage of your treatment cost and no more. Out of network providers can charge higher fees, but you will be responsible for the difference in pricing as well as the out of pocket costs.

What Dental Insurance Plans Do You Accept?

As already stated above, Safari Dental is happy to take virtually all PPO insurance plans. The major providers we work with include:

• MetLife – MetLife benefit plans are designed to help people and their families maintain wonderful oral health while successfully managing any out-of-pocket expenses. They offer a wide variety of plans, including insurance at a group rate through an employer or flexible insurance that can stick with patients even if they need to change jobs.
• Guardian – Guardian has been a trusted name in insurance coverage for well over 100 years, and they help patients save an average of 36% on their dental procedures. With over 7 million members and 114,000 in-network dentists, it’s clear they hold themselves to high standards.
• Delta Dental – Delta Dental is the largest dental plan system in the United States and actually covers more Americans than any other benefits provider. Since 1954, they’ve been working to help people of all ages improve their oral health by providing accessible and affordable coverage to individuals, groups, and employers.

Your Medicaid Benefits

If you use Medicaid for your dental insurance coverage, our Bryan dentists and team would be happy to help you make the most of your benefits. Medicaid coverage, like other dental insurance plans, offers coverage for a percentage of your necessary preventive and restorative dentistry services with the goal of helping patients keep their smiles whole and healthy for a lifetime. If you have questions about your Medicaid plan, please do not hesitate to ask our team for help. We have years of experience working with these intricate plans to help patients maximize their Medicaid dental insurance coverage for all of their treatments.

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