Selecting a dentist according to your program

Dental plans, like health plans, come in many shapes and forms: traditional fee-for-service, PPOs and prepaid dental plans. It is important you select a dentist according to the plan you have in order to minimize your out of pocket expenses.

DeltaPremier - Delta's traditional fee-for-service program

With this traditional fee-for-service dental plan, you are free to go to any dentist you want, but remember to carefully review the terms of your dental coverage. Most dental plans pay only a percentage of the average fee for a treatment procedure, regardless of what your dentist charges, and the patient pays the rest. Find a DeltaPremier dentist.

DeltaPreferred Option - Delta's dental PPO program

Preferred provider organizations, in which your out-of-pocket costs are minimized when you select a participating dentist, are becoming increasingly common. Dental PPOs are based on specific fee arrangements between a dental carrier and its participating dentists. Although you are free to go to any dentist, you often have higher copayments when you visit a non-participating dentist.

PPO dentists are no different than other dentists in terms of the quality of care they offer. They are selected on the basis of their credentials and previous record under other programs administered by the carrier, and are required to sign contracts that sometimes contain specific quality assurance monitoring and enforcement provisions. This allows many PPO dental carriers to pay even more attention to the quality of care available from participating PPO dental locations. Dentists join PPOs for a variety of reasons, the most common being to reduce their marketing costs and bring in more patients. Find a DeltaPreferred Option dentist.

DeltaCare - Delta's prepaid dental plan

Choosing a non-participating dentist is not an option when you are enrolled in a dental health maintenance organization. To use a prepaid dental plan, you must select a dentist under contract with the dental carrier. If necessary, that dentist will refer you to a specialist also under contract with the same prepaid dental plan.

In summary, visiting a dentist for preventive care, knowing the benefit structure of your dental plan and carefully selecting your dentist are all important steps toward preserving healthy teeth with minimal out-of-pocket cost for your family. However, no dental plan, even when used optimally, pays for everything. Dental insurance is built on the concept of patient cost-sharing, which works to help make you a better consumer of dental care, and keeps dental plan premiums affordable. Find a DeltaCare dentist.