Kids dental insurance ?

vlagrl29 · August 2015

DD is 4 and went for her first dental cleaning last week with me. We don't have her on our dental insurance yet because it doesn't financially make sense. With a cleaning and exam from the dentist it came to $136. Upon checking out I asked the billing person on how much everything costs - X-rays, cleaning, dental exam, and fluoride treatments so I can figure out when exactly we should start her on our policy. For those of you that have kids - when exactly do they really need X-rays and when and how often do they need fluoride treatments? I just don't like being insurance poor until it makes sense where the benefits outweigh the cost.

jtmh2012 · August 2015

Our little one is just now getting his first teeth. I called the dentist we plan to use for him and asked them how much a newborn visit would be and then looked at the cost to add him to the insurance. Our plan is to do this each year until we finally add him.

maple2 · August 2015

I'm not a dentist, so I am just sharing our experience. It's possible I have been hoodwinked by the dentist to do too much too soon, but I haven't put in the effort to do independent research. I just follow his recommendations.

X-rays first happened at 6.5. Fluoride has happened at basically every visit (2x per year) since age 3, but we live in an area with unfluorinated water. Around 6 they started advocating for a sealant on the back baby teeth (that should be in the mouth until around age 13), which is relatively expensive and not covered under all insurance packages.

cbee817 · August 2015

Our girls are on my dental plan (plan is through my employer)- I pay a family rate for 2+ people, so I'm not paying extra by adding them. They just went for their visit yesterday and have been going since 18 months. Both had fluoride treatments (every 6 months starting at 3) but no x-rays. They won't be getting those until they have their permanent teeth in and a problem occurs.. I don't think it's necessary to x-ray baby teeth that have no signs of problems or cavities.

kelshaws1311 · August 2015

Our dental insurance starts paying for them at age 3 so our oldest has been on there and going for a year now. They just do a cleaning with him each time. Our dentist uses the fluoride paste in the scrubbing so that is all they have ever done so far.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.

blondie42107 · August 2015

Our dental insurance is through H's employer. Our oldest went to the dentist at age 2 for a cleaning and check. While there the dentist asked how old our second child was (just under a year) and asked if she could take a look. They didn't bill us for that visit since he wasn't on our dental insurance yet. Both have been going every six months since. Our oldest had x-rays at his second appt, he's now 4. Neither have had fluoride treatments.

Both H and I had orthodontic work. I had a narrow palate and needed extra treatment. X-rays help to check for cavities but also are helpful in watching how the permanent teeth are coming in.

My friend's son was just referred to an orthodontist last week because x-rays showed his permanent teeth are too crowded to move correctly. He's six and has to start some treatment and then will need braces in the future (maybe age 10/11). His facial structure is really narrow. He's already had adenoids and tonsils out because of trouble breathing while sleeping so my friend wasn't too surprised by the dental issues.

brij2006 · August 2015

This has gotten me thinking. I'm paying $321 a year for our 6 month old DD's dental insurance. Probably should just cancel that and pay OOP for any appointments. One cleaning/year is still going to be immensly cheaper.

blondie42107 · August 2015

brij2006 said:
This has gotten me thinking. I'm paying $321 a year for our 6 month old DD's dental insurance. Probably should just cancel that and pay OOP for any appointments. One cleaning/year is still going to be immensly cheaper.

It might be worth it. Check to see if they give a discount for paying cash at the time of the visit. It's one less claim that the biller has to send to insurance.

cbee817 · August 2015

vlagrl29 said:

The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.

It's more of a comfort level for us- I don't feel it's necessary for a kid to be exposed to x-rays on baby teeth. DD#1 has already had 2 chest x-rays for viral pneumonia (looking back I should have said no to those as well but she had just had a febrile seizure and we didn't know what was happening) and that's enough exposure for now.

They don't eat any candy/gum, drink soda or juice and we floss once, brush with fluoride toothpaste 2-3 times a day (morning, once at school after lunch, and before bed). Our dentist said their teeth are perfect and that's good enough for me.

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

vlagrl29 said:
The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.

No kids yet, but I pay out of pocket for my own dental work and X-Rays aren't that expensive. A checkup with X-Rays only costs $150 at my practice for a child or an adult.

brij2006 · August 2015

blondie42107 said:

This has gotten me thinking. I'm paying $321 a year for our 6 month old DD's dental insurance. Probably should just cancel that and pay OOP for any appointments. One cleaning/year is still going to be immensly cheaper.
It might be worth it. Check to see if they give a discount for paying cash at the time of the visit. It's one less claim that the biller has to send to insurance.

They said it's $95 for a cleaning, out the door. They only do 1 cleaning/year from age 1-6. Once their permanent teeth come in, then they start doing x-rays. They only do those before permanent teeth if there's a problem.

I think I'm going to cancel the insurance. $95 a year is much cheaper than paying for the insurance.

MommyLiberty5013 · August 2015

vlagrl29 said:

The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.

This is true. If the kids' teeth are close together, they cannot always see in between them, which can be where cavities occur.

Our kids start with the dentist at age 3. No x-rays. But, they do get the fluoride treatment. We take them 2x per year for preventative work, which is what DH's dental policy allows. He has good dental insurance, and we don't pay any co-pay or out of pocket for the kids' 2x per year visits.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

brij2006 said:

This has gotten me thinking. I'm paying $321 a year for our 6 month old DD's dental insurance. Probably should just cancel that and pay OOP for any appointments. One cleaning/year is still going to be immensly cheaper.

that's about how much we would be paying for DD's dental insurance per year. So far if she just gets the cleaning and exam from the dentist it's less than that, but once she gets X-rays and fluoride treatments that's when it gets a bit higher. Our dentist provides a 15% discount when there is no insurance.

vlagrl29 · August 2015

Xstatic3333 said:

The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.
No kids yet, but I pay out of pocket for my own dental work and X-Rays aren't that expensive. A checkup with X-Rays only costs $150 at my practice for a child or an adult.

we would do this for us BUT Dh's teeth easily get cavities so it pays for us to buy a $40 (total) policy for both of us. He also needs to get his wisdom teeth out later this year so that's why we continue to buy it.

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

vlagrl29 said:

Xstatic3333 said:

vlagrl29 said:
The dental assistant told me that sometimes they can't see the cavities unless there are X-rays - not sure how accurate that is. I figured we would put her on our dental insurance once she gets X-rays.
No kids yet, but I pay out of pocket for my own dental work and X-Rays aren't that expensive. A checkup with X-Rays only costs $150 at my practice for a child or an adult.

we would do this for us BUT Dh's teeth easily get cavities so it pays for us to buy a $40 (total) policy for both of us. He also needs to get his wisdom teeth out later this year so that's why we continue to buy it.

$40 total! That's not bad at all.

We actually have a pretty sweet deal through H's union, and get 80% of our dental and vision costs refunded at the end of the year. It works out way better, but man did it sting when H needed a root canal in January!

Kids dental insurance ?

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