We have always welcomed calls from our patients asking us questions regarding a new dental plan being offered by their employer. The situation usually starts with the employer being offered a lower cost plan by an insurance company. The cost of the plan is reduced because the fees that the plan pays for all of the procedures have been reduced. This leaves the patient and the dentist with two options. The first is that the patient can either decide to go to a dentist who participates with the plan or not. The second is that if they go outside the “network” they have to pay the difference between what the plan pays and what the dentist charges. The dentist has to decide if he wants to join the “network” or not. If the dentist does join the network he must accept the reduced payment, if he does not join the plan he can accept payment and charge the patient the difference.

The most recent plan we received is a good example. The plan is from ADN and is replacing a policy that was provided by Gaurdian. The fees that ADN has for dentists that choose to participate are in some cases 40% less than what we charge. It is important to note that we have always tried to keep our fees as reasonable as we can. A report that was issued within the past two months shows that almost all of our fees fall at the 50th percentile for the geographic region we are in. There is no way that a dental office could have all the innovative technical advances, equipment, materials, staff and use a quality laboratory (not China) and have a fee structure that takes us back to the 1980′s.

We have always been at the forefront in dentistry by being one of the first offices to have bonded ceramic fillings, cosmetic veneers, digital radiographs and more. The most recent innovation we have purchased is the CEREC unit that allows us to make a crown at the initial visit. Currently less than 5% of dentists nation wide have this equipment. We would hope that you would take all this information into account before deciding on a new dental plan. If you have any questions about any of the material I have covered feel free to contact our office and we can help guide you through the insurance maze.

Original Article Posted on oaklandtownship.patch.com, 2/25/2011

This Dental Experience is a Mom, Kid Pleaser
University Dental Associates in Rochester treats Oakland Township family with kindness and respect.

My kids actually count down the days until they get to go to the dentist. We just went the other day and once again they were delighted with the whole experience. Of course, the fact that they haven’t experienced cavities yet certainly helps, but mostly I think it’s because we are lucky to have an extremely kid-friendly dental office.

We go to University Dental Associates in downtown Rochester. They’ve been in Rochester a long time. The office is friendly, clean and comfortable and we’ve never had to wait long, which is especially nice for a mom with several kids in tow.

We go to Dr. Tyler, who is very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Sometimes we see Dr. Kennedy as well, who also does a great job for us. Both dentists have an easy, friendly manner with kids, which I appreciate.

One nice thing about University Dental is that it will schedule me and all my kids within the same 60-90 minutes, putting us in separate but close rooms so we don’t have to spend most of an afternoon at the dentist. In fact, I happen to know of a family with six kids who goes to University Dental and is given the simultaneous use of nearly every room in the place.

From a mom’s perspective, the team of dental hygienists is one of the best reasons for going to University Dental. What a friendly group of ladies they are! They completely understand what it’s like to be a mom, they are wonderful with my kids and they bend over backward to give us a positive, convenient experience.

I have lain in the dentist’s chair with a new baby on my chest while they dealt with my teeth without disturbing the baby and I’ve had them pull out toys to keep my busy toddlers distracted while I was having my teeth cleaned. They remember me and my kids and are unfailingly kind.

They chat with my kids, putting the kids at ease and explaining what they are doing as they clean my kids’ teeth and teach my kids how to brush and floss. And they hand out prizes from the prize basket at the end of the session.

When we leave the office, the kids want to go back again.

I feel good, because I think my kids are starting off as well as they possibly can in the world of dental care.