Discover the Benefits of Direct Care Dentistry

At Integrity Dental, our number one priority is providing you with nothing less than the best possible oral health. In this post, we'll take a dive into our core practice philosophy and how it allows us to provide the best possible care to our patients. We'll introduce you to the concept of direct care dentistry, explain why it's gaining so much popularity in the dental field, and highlight some of the ways that it's transforming dental care for the better. Hopefully by the end of this post you'll have a better understanding of our overall practice philosophy, how direct care dentistry allows us to provide you with better care and a better experience, and ultimately whether a direct care dentist is right for you.

What exactly is direct care dentistry?

Direct care dentistry is a simplified, patient-centered approach to dental care. Dental services are provided by skilled, quality-focused dental providers directly to patients without the direct involvement of a third-party, like insurance companies. This eliminates the middleman (insurance companies), which allows for a simpler, more transparent and patient-focused dental experience.

In most direct care models, patients pay their dental office directly for the services they receive. This allows offices to collect their full fees for the services they provide, as opposed to the very limited reimbursement rates most insurances pay. Direct care dental offices worry less about losing money to insurance companies, and can instead focus more on providing quality care. Many direct care dental offices, including ours, provide complementary insurance verification and can submit claims to insurance carriers on your behalf to help you get the most from your insurance coverage. Since we help make sure your insurance covers their portion of your care, this typically results in you paying even less out-of-pocket.

How can direct care dentistry benefit you?

1. Enhanced Quality of Care: Without the many constraints and restrictions imposed on dentists and patients by dental insurance carriers, we have the freedom to recommend and provide the best possible treatments tailored to your unique needs and goals.

Would you prefer a white filling instead of a silver one? How about a natural, tooth-colored crown instead of a gold one? Or, what about having your teeth cleaned as often as you and your dental provider think is right in order to maintain your dental health? If you aren't seeing a direct care dental provider, then you may be forced to play by the rules set by your insurance carrier, which exist in order for them to pay as little as possible toward the dental care you need.

However, by receiving direct dental care from an office like ours, you have complete freedom to choose what's best for you. White fillings? You've got it! Tooth-colored crowns? No problem! 4 cleanings per year? Of course! With direct care dentistry, you (not your insurance carrier) are in full control of your dental health! In our humble opinion, this is the way dentistry should be!

What's more? We're able to use the highest quality dental materials and labs, so you can always rest assured that we'll never cut corners or compromise the quality of your dental care.

All of this helps to ensure a higher standard of care and better overall treatment outcome. This means less time returning to the dentist, and more time spent living your best life!

2. Personalized Attention: Direct care dentistry allows our providers to spend more time with you, and be even more attentive to your needs. We're able to take more time to thoroughly discuss your dental health and treatment options, answer all of your questions, and address any concerns you might have. This ensures better communication and an overall more personalized and satisfactory experience.

3. Focus on Preventative Care: Direct care dentistry emphasizes preventative care and long-term wellness. In other words, true healthcare that puts a proactive focus on disease prevention as compared to the traditional sick care model of healthcare whereby doctors and insurance carriers focus on treating disease instead of preventing it in the first place. Without insurance carriers dictating treatment plans and restricting care, we can focus more on helping you maintain optimal oral health, preventing issues before they arise.

4. Transparent Fees for the Treatment You Need and Want: In a direct dental care model, patients always have a clear understanding not only of their treatment needs, but of any potential costs associated with their care. In our office, there are never any hidden fees or unexpected charges.

Your journey with our practice begins with an Initial Visit where we update x-rays if needed and complete a thorough new patient Comprehensive Oral Evaluation. This allows us to carefully and thoroughly evaluate your overall dental health and identify any concerns that may need attention. We can also discuss any goals that you have, and how we can help you to meet them.

Once all of this information has been gathered, we can "put all of the pieces of the puzzle together" and present you with a recommended treatment plan created uniquely for you in order to address your needs and goals. Your treatment plan will be organized in the order in which we recommend addressing your treatment, and each treatment will also have any corresponding fee(s) listed. This allows you to have a general idea of how many visits we expect might be needed in order for us to help you from start to finish, as well as an idea of the cost of each step along the way.

Rest assured, we always consider the worst-case scenarios when creating a treatment plan, so there are hopefully no surprises for you along the way. For example, we almost always treatment plan a "base filling" whenever a crown is needed. A base filling is sometimes needed in order to build a tooth back up to provide a stronger foundation to support a crown. However, a base filling isn't always needed. We never really know until the time of treatment. The great news is, if we do find that a base filling is not needed during a crown prep visit, then we'll remove it from your treatment plan and you won't be charged for that additional service! Again, we always prefer to prepare our patients for the worst-case scenario going into treatment, while hoping that your treatment will actually end up going more smoothly and costing you less in the end.

Are you working with dental insurance? Great! We'll work closely with you to help you get the most out of the insurance coverage you're already paying for. We realize insurance can be very confusing and tricky to navigate, so we provide complementary insurance verification and submit claims to your insurance as a courtesy to you. We also submit "pre-determinations" for most treatment plans. A pre-determination is essentially a copy of your recommended treatment plan being sent to your insurance carrier for review. Typically, your insurance carrier will respond back within a few weeks letting us know how much or how little they expect to cover toward your recommended treatment. We like to be very transparent with all of our patients about the fact that most modern dental insurances act like a coupon - they can often help cover a portion of your dental care, but rarely will they ever cover 100% of the cost of the care you need. Further, they often have certain rules in place governing how much they'll pay toward your treatment within a given timeframe. For example, a dental insurance plan may only cover $1,000 toward a patient's dental care every 12 months. Routine services like x-rays, exams and cleanings are also deducted from this amount. So if, for example, a patient has only $800 remaining in their annual insurance coverage but needs a crown, which can typically cost $1,500 or more, then they should expect that their insurance will not cover their treatment entirely. If you're confused at this point, don't worry! Just know that we're here to help you understand the estimated cost of your treatment before you return for treatment, so you'll always have an idea of what to expect, and will have fewer surprises along the way.

5. Flexibility and Accessibility: As a patient with our practice, you have the freedom and flexibility to choose the treatment and payment options that best suit your needs and budget. We work with most dental insurance carriers as described above, but we also offer many other options that make it easier and more affordable to receive the dental care you need and deserve. This includes our in-house dental wellness plan, Smile Sense, a membership-like plan for those who don't have dental insurance or would prefer an alternative to it. For more information about Smile Sense and to see if it's right for you, please visit the "No Insurance?" page of our website, or call or email us today!

6. Reduced Administrative Burden: We're able to limit our administrative time spent navigating the complexities of insurance. This means more time and resources can be dedicated to improving patient care instead of insurance negotiations, phone calls with long hold times and disconnects, paperwork, etc.

Conclusion

Direct care dentistry might be the right fit for you if you value a personalized, higher quality approach to your dental care that comes with greater transparency and fewer surprises when it comes to the overall cost of your care. It can be especially beneficial if you're looking for more control over your dental care without it being overly complicated or controlled by a third-party insurance company.

At Integrity Dental, our commitment is to our patients, not insurance companies. As part of this commitment, we aim to provide the highest level of care and ensure the smoothest and most positive dental experience possible. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us directly if you have any questions or would like to learn more about our direct care model and if it might be a good fit for you.