Breaking up with insurance companies.

So, put your seat belts on folks, because this is gonna be a post you want to sit down for... There is the common misconception that dentist and insurance companies are friends. Why? Well, because the first thing almost all parents ask is...do you take my insurance? The answer is: "We are not in-network, but we work with all insurances."

So, what does it mean to be "in-network"? 
To be an in-network dentist means that you sign up with a variety of dental insurances to accept discounts to your fees (sometimes very large ones - 50% off!) in order to be part of that insurance. In order to make up for these discounted fees, generally in-network dentists need to see a lot more patients to make up for these severely discounted fees, and they can sometimes force dentists to cut corners which it comes to dentistry. 

FUN FACT: 
Did you know that employers spend $95 billion on dental insurance premiums annually, but only 60% goes to dental care? 

Why are you an "out-of-network" dentist?

• I have decided to be "out-of-network" because I want to offer my patients a more individualized approach and more time per patient. I used to take my children to a very large pediatrician office. They saw a different nurse every time we went and it was difficult to be scheduled with the same pediatrician. While it was incredibly convenient, I really felt they weren't getting the attention that they needed, and thus I switched them to a smaller office. I felt so strongly that I wanted them to see the same person every single time, and I believe that many parents enjoy that continuity of care and find it important. 
• Insurances are NOT dentists, yet they dictate treatment, and I want to be the one making the best decision for your child (irregardless of what coverage your insurance has!) Also, as a small practice, we would need to hire a service in order to help with verifying insurance and eligibility (which a lot of large dental practices do), but we simply don't want to do that because that would actually increase our fees. We want to keep our costs low by keeping things simpler. 

Isn't an "out-of-network" dentist more expensive?

• Yes, it is true that your insurance may cover less of a percentage of the dental work coming to see us. However, a lot of the preventative coverage is covered at similar percentages. Also, dental work is an investment, and if poor work is done by an in-network dentist (who often times is running around with a schedule of a ton of patients), your child may need to get dental work done more than once, which means that while the dentistry seemed cheaper at the start, it can end up more expensive if work needs to be re-done. 
• I offer specific treatments that many other pediatric dentists do not offer in the area - pulpectomies (baby teeth root canals), and zirconia (white) crowns, and I pride myself on successful dental treatment so that we don't have to keep re-doing dental work over, and over again. I have been treating kids since 2013, and been out of pediatric residency since 2017, so I have the experience and the knowledge to treat your children at the highest level. 

What if I don't have insurance?

• We offer a membership plan through a company called Kleer. Plans start at $25/month and is our way of offering an affordable way of receiving top-notch dental care. We want to simplify this process versus going through a 3rd party like a dental insurance company. Please visit our INSURANCE page to learn more.