Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About
Dental Discount Plans
Dental discount plans come from the same companies that provide dental and other types of insurance. So why are dental insurance companies offering discount plans? Because they want your business and they understand that dental insurance may not be affordable (or the best choice) for people who don’t get dental coverage from their employer.
Wondering why we say, for example, that you’ll “save between 15%-60%”? That’s because the discount you get varies by the plan that you choose, and the dental treatments that you get. For example, our discount might be 50% for a crown, or 20% off the cost of braces, etc. If we just said “you’ll save up to 50%,” we wouldn’t be telling you the whole story. You can find the discounted rate for each treatment by looking at a plan’s sample savings.
It’s a list of the discounted rates that a plan member pays for dental care. You can check out each plan’s sample fee schedules on our home page just by clicking on “View Plan.” After joining a plan, you’ll have access to the full fee schedule in the Member’s Area, our online customer care portal.
Your dentist will love you! Here’s the deal: just like dental insurance, a dentist agrees to accept lower rates from plan members. But with a dental discount plan, you’re paying that reduced rate directly to your dentist, right after you get care, so they don’t have to fuss around filing insurance claims, waiting for reimbursements, etc. Win-win.
Kudos to your dentist for providing affordable dental care. But unless your dentist offers a set discount, that you can count on getting every time you need care, you should still look at the LMDB plans’ Fee Schedules. With a dental discount plan, you always know what your discounted rate for a specific treatment will be. Knowledge is power.
You can see which dentists accept the plan you’re considering joining in the plan details pages. But the best way to know for sure is to call your dentist and confirm. We update our dentist information regularly, but it’s always best to check with your dentist. And if you don’t already have a dentist, we’ll help you find one.
Nope, but we’re working on it. And some dentists only accept specific plans. You can use our “Find A Dentist” search tool to locate dentists (and find out what plans they accept) in your area. Or you can call us and we’ll help you located qualified dentists near you. We do suggest that you call the dentist first and confirm that he or she currently accepts the plan you’re considering joining. While we do our very best to keep our dentist database current, there is always a possibility that a dentist has recently stopped accepting a particular plan. If you’ve purchased a plan, and your dentist decides not to continue accepting that plan, we can switch you to a new plan.
Call us. Our customer care experts are always happy to help you.
We ask ourselves this question all the time! But seriously, if your employer provides you with free dental insurance, great – use it. But if you’re buying your own, do the math and you’ll find that a dental discount plan provides the best bang for your buck.
Bookmark this site anyway. You may still want a dental discount plan to supplement your dental insurance coverage. Dental discount plans activate quickly, making them a great option for those unexpected dental disasters that exceed your insurance plan’s maximum annual spending limit —typically $1000-$1500. Or give us a call to discuss how a dental discount plan can help you save money at the dentist, even if you do have insurance. Whenever you need us, we’ll be here!