{"id":1009,"date":"2019-08-12T12:15:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T12:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=1009"},"modified":"2019-08-12T12:15:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T12:15:50","slug":"the-state-of-dental-insurance-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/the-state-of-dental-insurance-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"THE STATE OF DENTAL INSURANCE: PART 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the last couple of columns I discussed the state of dental insurance\nin 2019. If you missed them you can read them at www.thetowncommon.com<\/a> or my blog. The\nbasic gist was that the dental insurance industry has not changed significantly\nin 40 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s great if you get dental insurance from your employer for regular\ndental hygiene visits and have relatively small amounts of dental work to do.\nHowever, there are only a few reasons to purchase dental insurance on your own,\neven if you need a significant amount of dentistry. In this column, I will\ndiscuss the best strategies to get the dental care you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing is certain; most dental problems do not go away, and almost\nalways get worse over time. Although pain is a good indicator that there is a\nproblem, pain is also not a good indicator that there is not a problem. Many,\nif not most, dental problems do not cause pain. Cavities, gum disease, wear or\nerosion of the teeth, often do not cause pain until there is a significant problem,\nwhich then requires extensive and expensive treatment to solve. Therefore, the\nfirst and most important strategy is regular dental visits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All too often I see people who have not been seeing a dentist on a\nregular basis and then have a problem that brings them to the dental office.\nThe most reported reasons for having not been to a dentist are lack of\ninsurance or lack of concern because \u201ceverything has felt fine up until now\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in most things in life, we have to make choices about what to do with\nour time and our money. Dentistry is no different. It is a mindset and a\nbudgeting issue. If you value your health and overall self-care, regular\nmaintenance visits to your dentist are the best thing you can do for yourself.\nIf you have any type of dental insurance, at least you have some coverage for\nthis. If you do not have dental insurance, budgeting the average $30 per month\nit costs over a year to have your teeth cleaned, x-rayed and examined is a\nsmart move, and doable for most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After you have made the decision to budget for maintenance, regardless of\nhow much other dentistry you need, or think you need, the second key is to be\nin a dental office that you are comfortable with. It is vital for there to be a\nmutual level of trust and respect. It is imperative for the dental office to\nunderstand you, the patient; where you are in your life, and how to get the\nmost important thing out of your decision to seek care \u2013 to keep your teeth\nhealthy for your lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no disputing that dentistry costs money, regardless of whether\nyou have any coverage or not. Dental insurance is not intended to cover 100% of\ndental needs.  There are so many options\nout there for people who require more extensive care. However, the key is \u2013\nwhat is suitable for you? Patients need to be guided into care and not sold a\ncommodity. There are many reasons that individuals choose a specific provider,\nbut the most important factor is if you feel good about where you are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you go to buy a house, does the real estate agent show everyone the\nsame house? No. They show them what fits into their life at that particular\ntime. Dentistry should be approached the same way. It may not be the right time\nin your life to have the four bedroom house and the three car garage. But,\nhaving a good solid roof over your head that is comfortable is important to\neveryone. This is regular dental maintenance. You can always upgrade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair maintains\na private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to health-centered\nfamily dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to see written about\nor questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last couple of columns I discussed the state of dental insurance in 2019. If you missed them you can read them at www.thetowncommon.com or my blog. The basic gist was that the dental insurance industry has not changed significantly in 40 years.   It\u2019s great if you get dental insurance from your employer for regular dental hygiene visits and have relatively small amounts of dental work to do. However, there are only a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1009"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1014,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1009\/revisions\/1014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}