Monday
Apr092007
WP Affair: Dentists & Dental Plans
Monday, April 9, 2007 at 01:04PM
From my time away on Wordpress.com:
Along the lines of one of the World's Worst To Do Items that has languished on my TD List for months, even years...
I've been trying to find a new dentist in Midtown Atlanta.
We have no dental insurance, 2 adults and 3 children.
It's been at least a year for the kids; could be two, possibly even three years since the adults have opened wide and had to bite down on those horrid little pieces of cardboard...
1) I've discovered DentalPlans.com, which offers dozens of different group programs for discounted dental services, as long as you go to a participating dentist.
Benefit: I like the Dental Plans because you at least know up front how much it will cost, from the Discounted Fee Schedules.
Problem: Finding a reputable dentist near you who participates in one of the plans (GE Wellness, Aetna Dental Access, DenteMax, etc.), and then finding reliable information or recommendations for that dentist.
2) I emailed my Neighborhood Parent's Group to ask for recommendations, and received tremendous response from people I know and trust in my immediate neighborhood.
Benefit: Personal referrals.
Problem: None of the recommended dentists participate in any of the Dental Plans.
3) Through exhaustive research and several drive-bys (if the office is located in a dirty, scary building, I'm not even going to call), I found a dentist who participates in a good plan (Aetna Dental Access), just up the street from my building (in a really nice building, right on Peachtree Street).
Benefit: I even found positive reviews for the dentist on Kudzu.com -- but who are these people, really?! Are they just friends or employees who put up good reviews to help the dentist? Is it the dentist, using a bunch of alias email accounts? I don't know. There are ten great reviews and two not-good reviews, but the dentist actually responded, thoughtfully and reassuringly, to the not-good reviews, which I think is good.
Problem: Still, this is all frightening.
4) I did it. I called the office and arranged an appointment for myself. I'll be the Scout for the family and check it out before I subject DH and kids...scary, scary, scary, but the receptionist was very nice (very reassuring) on the phone. I couldn't get in until May 22. I'll let you know how it goes...
Along the lines of one of the World's Worst To Do Items that has languished on my TD List for months, even years...
I've been trying to find a new dentist in Midtown Atlanta.
We have no dental insurance, 2 adults and 3 children.
It's been at least a year for the kids; could be two, possibly even three years since the adults have opened wide and had to bite down on those horrid little pieces of cardboard...
1) I've discovered DentalPlans.com, which offers dozens of different group programs for discounted dental services, as long as you go to a participating dentist.
Benefit: I like the Dental Plans because you at least know up front how much it will cost, from the Discounted Fee Schedules.
Problem: Finding a reputable dentist near you who participates in one of the plans (GE Wellness, Aetna Dental Access, DenteMax, etc.), and then finding reliable information or recommendations for that dentist.
2) I emailed my Neighborhood Parent's Group to ask for recommendations, and received tremendous response from people I know and trust in my immediate neighborhood.
Benefit: Personal referrals.
Problem: None of the recommended dentists participate in any of the Dental Plans.
3) Through exhaustive research and several drive-bys (if the office is located in a dirty, scary building, I'm not even going to call), I found a dentist who participates in a good plan (Aetna Dental Access), just up the street from my building (in a really nice building, right on Peachtree Street).
Benefit: I even found positive reviews for the dentist on Kudzu.com -- but who are these people, really?! Are they just friends or employees who put up good reviews to help the dentist? Is it the dentist, using a bunch of alias email accounts? I don't know. There are ten great reviews and two not-good reviews, but the dentist actually responded, thoughtfully and reassuringly, to the not-good reviews, which I think is good.
Problem: Still, this is all frightening.
4) I did it. I called the office and arranged an appointment for myself. I'll be the Scout for the family and check it out before I subject DH and kids...scary, scary, scary, but the receptionist was very nice (very reassuring) on the phone. I couldn't get in until May 22. I'll let you know how it goes...
Reader Comments (1)
I'm kind of in the same boat as you re: joining dentalplans.com. In my case, I called up my current dentist's office to inquire what plans my dentist would accept. Additionally, I went as far as investigating which plan covers major dental work like root canals and implants, etc. From talking to dentalplans.com, it seems in my area, NYC, there are only two plans that covers the most complex procedure--Patriot plan and Qualident Reduced Fee Dental Plan.
Additionally, to save money I researched for their online coupons which saved me 25% on the plan I bought plus a reward coupon of extending my plan for an additional 3 months.
Hopefully, this will help make the cost of my dental care more manageable.
On a separate note, there is another Web site to research dentists. I don't know how many dentists are listed but mine in particular was and he had good ratings. And I agree with his ratings.
Here are three prominent patient review sites that I researched that seem to provide the opportunity to easily post and research ratings and candid reviews: DoctorOogle.com, Yelp.com (Search "Dentist" or "Dentist Review"), CompleteDentist.com.
Best regards,
AJ
P.S. I'd be interested to hear how the dental visit went, please make a post or refer me top the post. Thanks!