I’ll give you an example of a dental discount plan in action here. Let’s say that you or your spouse need a new upper denture and the cost of getting this taken care of is $1,252.00, which is the national average. In this example I’m going to use zip code 80150, which is the Englewood, Colorado area. There are 405 participating dentists within a 50 mile radius of this zip code, at the time of this writing.

The cost of joining this plan for an individual is only $99.95 per year for an individual or $149.95 per year for an entire family. The cost of your spouses upper denture by using this plan is only $694.00. That’s a savings of $558.00!

Now deduct the cost of the plan from that amount. $558.00 - $149.95 = a savings of $408.05! The other good news is that you’ve only just begun to save money. You have an entire year to get your families dental care taken care of. Anything from cleanings to braces is included.

If you’ve been considering a dental plan for yourself or your family, you really should look into the real possibility that you’ll save a ton of money by using a dental discount plan instead of insurance.

Low Cost Dental Plans

Low cost dental plans, also known as discount dental plans, offer an inexpensive alternative to expensive and restrictive dental insurance. And with discount dental plans there are no waiting periods and no health restrictions as there are with dental insurance plans.

With a discount dental plan you save 10% to 60% on dental procedures, and you can see your local participating dentist immediately.

Dental Plan Benefits

Discount dental plans offer a number of advantages over traditional dental insurance. You don’t have to worry about co-payments or expensive premiums, and you won’t be subject to health restrictions and excessive paperwork.

In addition:

* Discount dental plans offer 10% to 60% savings on dental procedures.

* Premiums start at $79.95 a year - less than $6 a month.

* You can choose from more than 100,000 dentists nationally.

* Discount dental plans offer immediate online enrollment.

* You can see a participating dentist within a day or two of signing up.

* There are no health restrictions or preexisting condition restrictions.

* There are no annual coverage limits.

* Discount dental plans are available to individuals, families, businesses, and groups.

Low Cost Dental Plans

The simplest way to get the least expensive dental plan in your area is to go to a dental plan comparison website. There you can check out the various plans, see how much they cost and what discounts they offer, then choose the one that best suits your needs.

A few comparison sites even offer a toll-free telephone service so you can get answers to your questions from a dental plan specialist. (See link below.)

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/dental-plans.html or click on the following link to get low cost dental plan rates from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more dental plan tips in their Articles section.

Various Plans for Various Needs

There are various dental plans, so you can choose according to your needs and expectations. Knowing the differences are important when selecting a plan and using the benefits. The different plans are as follows:

1. Third Parties

A dental plan usually involves three parties: you, the dentist, and a third party, responsible for funding and administration of the plan. If your plan is funded by your employer, then an administrator would be responsible for processing and payment of claims. There are three types of third parties.

2. Choosing your Dentist

Dental plans where you get to choose a dentist: There are plans which allow you to choose your own dentist, while there are other cheaper plans which may limit your choice. The two plans are called open and closed panel plans.

Open Panel: Here the patient can receive care from any dentist, and also any dentist may accept or refuse to treat patients enrolled in the plan.

Closed Panel: Here the covered patients can receive care only from dentists who have signed a contract of participation with the third party.

3. Paying the Dentist

There are plans where the dentist can be paid in different ways:

Indemnity Plans: Here the insurance carrier charges a monthly premium from the patient and this money gets directly reimbursed to the dentist for his services. The insurance company will pay between 50 percent and 80 percent of the dentist’s fee while the remaining 20 percent to 50 percent is paid by the patient.

Capitation Plans: Here the dentist is paid on a per person basis rather than for actual treatment. A Dental Health Maintenance Organization (DHMO) is a common example of a capitation plan.

Direct Reimbursement Plans: This is a self-funded plan where the employer or a company will pay with its own funds, rather than paying premiums to an insurance carrier or third party. The patient pays the dentist directly, and the employer will reimburse the employee a fixed percentage of the dental care costs, once the receipt showing payment and services received is supplied.

Benefits:

The main difference between medical disease and dental disease is that medical disease can be unpredictable and catastrophic, but fortunately most dental problems are preventable. The key to have healthy teeth is to take preventive care and regular visits to the dentist for checkups and cleanings. This way, the problem can be diagnosed early and fixed, without having to take many tests and also saving on expensive treatments. That keeps the costs of dental care much lower than those of medical care.

Dental plans also cover the patient’s regular checkup, unlike medical insurance which may cover the costs of diagnosing, treating and curing serious illnesses. High quality dental care does not require much of the complex, multiple resources often required by medical care. A thorough checkup by the dentist and a set of x-rays are all it takes to diagnose a problem. As most dental problems can be prevented, dental plans are structured to encourage patients to get their regular checkup which is essential for preventing and diagnosing any serious disease.