Best way to pay out of pocket dental expenses?

[NinaBella]

So DH tooth implant the military did back in 2004 finally completely fell out. His civilian dentist has been telling him to needs to be replaced for several years, but DH hates surgery and spending money. So now we are paying for 2 implants as he needs two now. Its a complicated year long process as the have to move bone, etc. The estimate we were given is over $7k and were were told our insurance may pay $1k. I am hoping they pay more. A couple years ago when I was active duty we had two dental insurances (mine and his) and I told him to take care if this then, but he didn't.

So they offered DH their prefrrred payment opyion with Health Advantage that has 0% interest for 12 months then 13._% Something after. DH left paperwork in his car so I havent seen it.

Just curious if anyone knows of dental/medical credit line that might be better interest? My oldest son had surgery a couple years ago (with no insurance) so I consigned a loan with care credit, but that interest rate was really high... I think 23% (memory fails me at the moment).

Right now our dental insurance is with GEHA.

I have been snowballing to pay off our new a/c by July which was 8k. 9.9% interest so I am now set-back to adding a new bill. The a/c is now under 5k.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Ugh...
headed out the door in Minutes for $5500. Plus $500 for a v-pro
For top only braces!
No dental coverage... and the 1 implant cost appears to be another 4-6k, in a year...
And Praying no surgery needed.

I searched for dental coverage .. it was either Awful for actual coverage or the good drs were Not in the plan!!
Feel ur pain Op.

I'm using a cc for the 2 deposits and then they gave zero interest for monthly payments.. to throw the low monthlies on the cc.
I'll likely pay that off early but atleast get the rewards from my card! I'm not a "loan" person. But zero interest got me and easier monthly output rather paying it all now...
Are u sure "medical" coverage won't pay at all???
Good luck!!

 

[Marionnette]

Care Credit is another "lender" for health, vet, dental and vision expenses. I don't know the details but I've seen the brochures in my dentist's office. Maybe you can visit their website to see if it's a better plan for you?

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

The Citi Simplicity is 0% interest for 21 months. Maybe that would work for you?

 

[Sadie22]

Before thinking about insurance, first you and your DH need to understand why his first implant failed. There may be a medical reason why this is not a good choice for him now, or medical insurance may pay something. It is so important to clean around these and to return for dental maintenance visits. If he is unwilling to do this, implants may not be a good choice for him.

With our insurance, we were required to have the dentist and the oral surgeon who would set the screw send in estimates with x-rays and history to get pre-approval, and then we knew what insurance would pay.

 

[NinaBella]

Before thinking about insurance, first you and your DH need to understand why his first implant failed. There may be a medical reason why this is not a good choice for him now, or medical insurance may pay something. It is so important to clean around these and to return for dental maintenance visits. If he is unwilling to do this, implants may not be a good choice for him.

With our insurance, we were required to have the dentist and the oral surgeon who would set the screw send in estimates with x-rays and history to get pre-approval, and then we knew what insurance would pay.

The bone that was relocated to use for the implant was deteorating. We are told the new implant won't have this issue as the implant technologhy/process has changed ad they are using titanium this time. He doesn't like surgery. The last few visits to the dentist he has been feeling clastrophobic so even for his appointment next week he is choosing to go under anesthesia for the 2nd toooth to be extracted. The first implant I talked him into and was free at the military dental clinic. He wore a flipper for years (before I even knew him). They sent the info into insurance a couple years ago and are now sending it again as our dentist is now partnering with a different oral surgeon. Regardless we will pay a portion. They are putting in TWO implants this time.

 

[tvguy]

Do you have access to a HSA?

 

[NinaBella]

Do you have access to a HSA?

Nope. Our medical is a Tricare Prime. Dental is GEHA. We are not using the military base or VA for this. It's our preferred dentist which is a civilian facility and his preferred oral surgeon.

 

[Hikergirl]

I feel for you OP. I was quoted 8K for an implant and my insurance would cover a tiny portion of that, so I decided not to get it at all. That is 2 years of community college for one of my kids.

 

[NinaBella]

I found GEHA will pay $2500 annually for implants. We have the high family plan. I looked at their 2017 info to find this.


I could probably find a cheaper dentist, but also feel you get what you pay for. DH is anxious enough and really doesn't have the time to "shop" oral surgeons. This oral surgeon is highly recomended in this area.

So maybe I should go with their plan, snowball, then get a 0% credit card to payoff balance at end of their 0%.

 

[SharonZ]

Unfortunately, a lot of dental plans max out at $1,000 worth of coverage per year.

 

[mistysue]

Since you have insurance, is that the discounted rate?
Just asking because we went to a tier 2 dentist for something and they took our insurance but wouldn't discount what they didn't cover. We saved a few thousand by joining one of those dental discount plans for some silly amount like $20/year or whatever.

 

[wilkeliza]

I use CareCredit. The dentist could have a deal with them where you get 0% interest as long as you pay it back in an agreed upon time or a discounted interest if it is longer. Of course that is only for things over 200 dollars. I got approved and paid it off but also use it for things like the Vet, Dentist, Glasses, etc. I try not to use it but also 1K a pop for the dentist that requires payment up front and my insurance reimburses me makes it easier to do.

 

[Sadie22]

I received an implant of a titanium screw in 2002. The explanation of why the implant failed may not make sense. Please investigate this further.

 

[Lvsdisney]

I'm not sure if you have talked to the dentist about this or not, but our dentist was SUPER understanding when DH had tons of work done 2 years ago. He let us make monthly payments and didn't charge us interest. He actually let US pay what we could. We paid anywhere from $200-$500 depending on our cash flow for the month. They would send us monthly statements showing the balance. Maybe you can works something out with your dentist?

 

[PatMcDuck]

I needed 3 root canals and a crown, and a filling. Ugh. And I always went to the dentist; lost insurance 6-7 years ago, when union dropped it. It was over $5-6000. I signed up for one of the reduced payment plans. Dentalplans.com Mine is a Patriot Plan. Saved me $2000. Hey, it is something!

Mine is on my Disney CC. Not ideal, been paying it down steadily but may stick the rest on a no interest CC. I need one more crown, too. It is nuts.

 

[danygirl]

If you have flex spending it is like an interest free loan because the full amount of your contributions will be available day one of the plan year.

 

[LadyD]

I would ask the dentist if they accept Care Credit and what financing they offer based on the amount you would have to pay. They offer various "promotional" financing options when you spend over $200 that allow you to pay off the balance within a set time frame at 0% interest. The catch is you have to pay it back within that time frame, or you get charged the entire amount of interest you would have been had you not used the promotional offer, and that is usually well over 20%. If you know you can pay it within the promotional offer time frame your dentist says you'll be eligible for, it is a great way to disperse the payments over time. I do believe that they have up to 24 month 0% interest promotional financing depending on how large the bill would be.

We have one for our pets, but I unexpectedly needed a re-root canal and crown placed after my previous root canal/overlay failed (after only 2 years ) a few years ago and I was able to use my Care Credit. Since it was over $200, I was able to get 12 months with 0% interest since I paid it all off within the promotional period.

 

[ceecee]

I would see if your dental office offers CareCredit, interest free for 6-36 mos depending on how they set it up and the amount. GEHA should cover 50% of the implant cost if they cover implants at all. We use CC for a lot of our patients, the only downside is if you skip a payment they hit you with 24.9% or some outrageous amount. If it's a single tooth, it may be cheaper to get a bridge. Also ask for the success rate for replacing an implant there may not be enough bone structure to hold it, then you get into bone graph, etc. and lots of $$$$$$.

 

[NinaBella]

I would see if your dental office offers CareCredit, interest free for 6-36 mos depending on how they set it up and the amount. GEHA should cover 50% of the implant cost if they cover implants at all. We use CC for a lot of our patients, the only downside is if you skip a payment they hit you with 24.9% or some outrageous amount. If it's a single tooth, it may be cheaper to get a bridge. Also ask for the success rate for replacing an implant there may not be enough bone structure to hold it, then you get into bone graph, etc. and lots of $$$$$$.

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