The first plan is the Standard Plan A or Plan B is their primary plans. They adjust their deductibles and coverages depending on how you feel your budget is. Plan A has $1000 year max, $50 deductible, and a one year waiting period for major services.

Review of the Stonebridge Dental Plan (cont).

One hundred percent paid for preventative and 50% for basic and majors services. Plan B has $850 year maximum benefit, $50 deductible same waiting periods as plan A but all coverages paid out at a 50% rate. You can see how Plan B would be less expensive but also has lower coverages.

The next Encore plan would be there 1-2-3 Insurance plan which features no waiting periods. Great for people that have basic and major needs now. They call it 1-2-3 because their coverage under the plan gets better each year you continue to maintain the plan. Therefore as an example the maximum limit starts the first year at $500, second year $750, third year $1200.

The Longer You Stay the Better it Gets

Their coverages progressively increases as well. A benefit of a plan like this is that they not only address your current needs but is designed to address your long term needs by increasing the coverage and maximum the longer you have the plan.

Lastly, they have the Supplemental Insurance Plan. It is designed to do just what the name states.
It is a plan that help eliminate the out of pocket expenses you may typically have to pay. It’s features would be only a six months waiting period on majors, 50% coverages for services, $50 deductible, and the annual year maximum is $1250.

The Supplemental Plan

This plan is designed to work with your primary insurance which will be a coordination of benefits helping to ensure you get the maximum amount of coverage allowed without duplicate payments. In short if you are wanting dental insurance and not a discount plan. Or you want to be able to stay with your dentist then all the plans stated above will aloud you to do so.

Pro and Cons of the Encore Dental Plan

Main pros about the Encore plans: You can use their plans for dental care at your own personal dentist, or you are free to choice from any of their 80,000 network dentist. If you use their network dentist you are guarantee the pre-negotiated prices. Therefore using the plan providers will avoid having any claims form hassles.

Main Cons: If you go to a dentist not in their network you do not have any guarantee about what the dentist will charge for their service therefore you may run into an Usual, Customary, Reasonable (UCR) issue.

A Final Note on Encore

When you use a dentist who is not in the network, you may have to pay the full amount at the time of service and submit a covered claim to Encore. Encore will then send you a check for the amount your plan covers. This is something to keep in mind when planing out your dental needs.

Another con is that they are not in every state. The the states I was able to find them in was: CA, TX, OH, WS, MI, MO,IL and IN. Thus, as long as you bought the plan in a state Encore sells their plan in you can move to a different state and they will still maintain your plan.

If you would like more information about PPO’s then please visit InsuranceCompany.com

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I live in California and had to move upstate because of  a job change.   For me to stay with my original dentist,  I would need to drive at least three hours one way.  I  was not keen on having to find a new dentist but I felt I had no choice.   A few days ago I went in to see the new dentist for a check up and cleaning that I was due for.  After the X-rays were taken he then tells me that I have four cavities.  Three small ones and one that should be taken care of as soon a possible.

My previous dentist never saw any cavities in fact I have not had a cavity since my baby teeth.  I take care of my teeth by brushing and flossing the required amount.  I saw my previous dentist about 8 months ago.  I was running a little late on my 6 month check up because of the move. I  do not believe I could go from having no cavities,  to having four in 8 months when nothing changed other then the dentist.  At this point I have not had anything done.

Can anyone advise me if they see this as a scam too, or give me advise on why this may be possible.

I have heard that  smokers have a higher risk of developing different dental health problems. I know  smoking can stains your teeth and  causes bad breath.  What I am wondering is how does smoking cause cavities and gum disease? What may be other dental health side effect from smoking ?

Please I only want to know about the dental side of this issue.  I have a friend that I care for who is a smoker.  She knows the health risks but does not care.  She does care about her teeth but does not think smoking is bad for them since she able to keep the white with whiting strips.

My son’s teeth have been in braces for almost five months, without  him having teeth pain problems.  Four days ago  his braces got adjusted with new add ons’.   Now he is saying his mouth is really sore.  I looked in side his mouth and saw his top lip is cut up a little by the braces. He says that the Advile is not working and the dental wax is not helping.  I called the dental office and was told there is nothing that can be done.  Given time he will adjust.  Okay,  but in the mean time my son is in pain.  Anyone with suggestions on what I can do for him?

Finding a Dental Plan in California

For this review I will be addressing not just one company or plan but a website that sells dental insurance like PPO’s , HMO’s and Indemnity. As well as dental discount plans. californiadentalinsurance.com is a web site dedicated to offering all different types of dental insurance and plans for Californians.

Do not be surprised if you are like many people that are trying to find dental insurance or a dental plan online, and it all starts to get a little over whelming. If you are looking for dental insurance for just California you do not want to keep getting websites that sells plans for all the other 49 states. Or how many times have you type in your search, that you are looking for dental insurance and get websites that only offer a dental discount plans. This does not only become frustrating but time consuming.

Here is a Site to Consider

Well I have found just the site for Californians to use and get a broad rage of plans for your review. At http://www.californiadentalinsurance.com all you need to do is enter you zip code for a instance quote with all their available plans. No having to give out personal information like your name and address or e-mail address. Like some websites require just to give you the plan cost.

Californiadentalinsurance.com has HMO’s with well know companies like PacifiCare, Golden West and Dental Dental. They offer PPO’s and Indemnities plans though Dental Dental and Standard Life. And yes they do offer dental discount plans with Careington and Aetna both companies that have been in the business for well over 20 plus years.

By offering a broad rage of plan types helps the consumers choose what they feel would be best for them. A course if you have any questions about the plans they have, it nice to know that real people answer the phones. They are friendly and helpful in explaining their plans or any questions you may have.

Another nice feature about their website is that they also offer articles concerning dental related questions, that I have found helpful. They seem to always be striving to offer more plans and dental options as they grew as a company. So in short if you are a Californian looking for dental insurance or just a dental discount plan stop by http://www.californiadentalinsurance.com and check out what they have to offer you and or your family.

This will be a review of Encore dental insurance plan, which is underwritten by Stonebridge Life Insurance Company. Encore dental is a Preferred provider organization (PPO) insurance. First let me address what a PPO is.

Encore Dental Insurance Plan Summary

A PPO plan allows a particular group of patients to receive dental care from a specific panel of dentists. The participating dentist agrees to charge less than usual fees providing savings to you the patient. If the patient chooses to see a dentist who is not designated as a “preferred provider”, that patient may be required to pay a greater share of the fee-for-service.

How the PPO Works

A group of dentists agrees to provide services at a deeply discounted rate, giving you substantial savings — as long as you stay in their network. Unlike the more restrictive Dental Health Maintenance Organizations (DHMO), you can go outside of network and still receive reduced dental benefits. Some typical features of these plans would be an annual dollar cap, deductibles, waiting periods, and claim forms.

About Stonebridge Life Insurance Company

Stonebridge Life insurance company, an AEGON company, is part of one of the world’s largest insurance organizations. Stonebridge offers a tradition of quality and value by striving to provide a high level of customer claims services. For over 40 years Stonebridge has been serving millions of satisfied customers.

Stonebridge Life is currently A+ rated company as of 6/18/2008 (Superior 2nd of 16) for financial strength by A.M. Best Company, which is one of the most respected independent analysts of the insurance industry.

About the Encore Plans

Stonebridge has three Encore plan choices. All three of which let you choose your own dentist or pick one of their dental plan providers. Depending on which plan you select an annual maximum benefit or waiting period may apply.

I will post an additional review of this plan shortly. In the meantime find the dental plan that is right for you at InsuranceCompany.com

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DentaChoice Plus Review

In this dental review I will be talking about the DentaChoice Plus Aetna Dental Access offer though Dental4Less.com. Some may recognize Aetna as a highly popular name in the health care industry, for such products as medical, pharmaceutical, long-term care, group-life and dental plans. Although Aetna is an insurance company, I will be only discussing their dental discount plan for this review.

A dental discount plan is a managing organization which has negotiated with local dental offices to establish a set price for particular dental procedures and offer deep discounts off the regular ADA pricing codes.

About Aetna Insurance Company

Aetna as been in business since 1850 first selling life insurance. Building on their 156 – year history. Aetna strives to be the leader in the insurance industry. Their values are to put their customers that use their services first. Some of the ways they go about that is by having quality service and accountability.

About DentaChoice Plus Aetna Dental Access

The DentaChoice plan is a dental discount plan that is a fairly new program for Aetna and has been out now for over two years. Although new in the discount plan market, Aetna gives this program the same quality of service that it has been giving to all of their other programs. Aetna has a vast provider data base network for the DentaChoice program. This was done by having many of the same dentist who have been providers of Aenta dental insurance for years.

Pros and Cons the DentaChoise Plus Plan

If you feel a discount plan may be the way for you then the DentaChoice Plus plan through Aetna is worth reviewing. Like most discounts plans, it has no waiting periods, deductibles, maximum limitations or claim forms. Depending on who is selling the plan, it can have an effective date as soon as the next business day from enrollment.  Even though this is a dental discount plan it is managed by an insurance company for well over a hundred years.

Some of the cons would be that it is an in-network plan only. So if you are trying to stay with your dentist, the dental office or dentist must be a provider of the plan for you to use it. With any provider plan I aways suggest one should call and confirm with the dentist that is listed to confirm they are taking the plan. This is very important when thinking about buying the DentaChoice Plus plan.

At times there may be some confushion in confirming with the dentist just what plan you may be asking about. The mistake made is some people will call the dentist asking if they still accept the Aetna plan, when Aetna is also insurance. So make sure you are clear with the dentist when calling about the DentaChoice Plus Aetna Access plan. Saying just Aetna may lead to a miss understanding for the dentist and a costly expense for you. For more information see Dental4Less.com.

When one is searching the Internet trying to find a plan that will help them with their ever increasing dental cost, you will come across many different dental plans and dental insurance. This will be the first of one in many reviews, that you will be able to find on DentalOpinions.com.

I will writing these reviews in hopes that they may help people in deciding what may or may not be the best plan for them. I will not be stating that one plan is better then the other, I will be only giving you some company information and how the plans works as well as pro and cons as I see them.

Careington Discount Dental Plans

The Careington Dental plan is one of the dental discount plans you will come across. Careington Dental plan is not insurance but a popular dental discount plan. First off you may need to know what is a dental discount plan is. A discount plan is not insurance. Nor do you have to be a licensed insurance agent to sell a dental discount plan.

The managing organizations have negotiated with local dental offices to establish a set price for a particular dental procedure and offer deep discounts (some up to 60%) off the regular ADA pricing code. I short think of it sort of like your local Sam Club or Costco. You pay for membership in order to get the reduce or discounted saving they offer. Now that you have some idea of what a discount plan is let talk about Careington.

Careington Providers

Careington partners with more than 40 leading companies and provider networks to deliver substantial discounts on a wide array of health care and lifestyle services. The company’s health and wellness discount plans, which include pre-negotiated discounts on dental and vision care, doctor and hospital visits, prescription drugs, legal and tax advice, identity theft protection and more, are used by more than seven million members nationwide. Careington as been in business for over 20 years now. There long standing in the business as made them a top contender in the dental discount plan market.

Careington Dental Marketing

Careington is in Frisco TX however, their plans are available in every state with thousands of agents selling it. Carington member services is top notch. One does not have to stay on hold for very long to get though and most questions and concerns can d be solve over the phone.

Pros about buy a dental discount plan: Dental discount plans have several advantages over traditional dental insurance plans, namely, there are no exclusions for pre-existing conditions. Depending on who is selling the plan they normally will start with in a week or two some times even with in the next business day from ordering. This allows a patient to receive immediate coverage for work without meeting any waiting period or enrollment effective dates. That is great for the person who may have a toothache today.

Careington Dental Plan Advantages

Also a great advantage of a discount plan is that you will get a discount even for the services that some insurance company may not cover for. Such as whiting, cosmetic services, and specialist. There is no claim form hassles. Cons of a dental discount plan. My only real con about the dental discounts plans are with the providers. Sometimes there is confusion in what the discount price is that the provider will charge you for. To help avoid that confusion I suggest that you know the ADA codes the provider is charging your for so that you can compare that to the the plans list.

There is not an outside network, you have to chose a dentist that takes the plan. In some areas you may not have any providers. Or sometime providers stop taking the plan without notify the company. Therefor I always advise to call the listed providers before buying the plan to confirm that they are still in fact accepting the plan. A discount plan is just that. It is not Insurance. Depending on the website sometimes this is hard to tell.

Careington – Is it the Right Choice for You?

Make sure that if you are buying a dental discount plan like Careington, that you know it is not insurance or to be confused with insurance. In the end I feel if you decide that a discount plan is the right choice for you, then Careington is a good plan to take the time to review. Careington’s compliance and licensing department identifies ongoing regulatory requirements for all states to ensure that the company’s discount plans are compliant with the most current legislation.

Compare Careington Dental Plans

Careington has certificates of authority and is registered as a Discount Medical Provider Organization in all states where required. The company has also filed PPO registrations where required to ensure that Careington’s proprietary dental network is in compliance with the most current regulations. For more information about Careington or other dental plans please visit http://www.insurancecompany.com

I not clear on whats the difference between the two cleaning.  I only know that one is much more expensive. Which a course is the one that the dentist seems to always want to do.   Okay so I only go to the dentist  once a year for a cleaning unlike the suggest two times.  I feel I take really good care of my teeth and do not want to spend the money for going twice when it can be used on paying my bills.  

When I do go to the dentist, He tell me that I really need a deep cleaning now.  Having a deep cleaning done would cost me $95.00 a quad totaling out to $380.00 compared to $75.00 for a cleaning.  When I tell him no just give me a cleaning, he kinda makes me feel bad and says that to think about having the deep cleaning because it is what I really need.  I do not know I feel that they are just trying to get more money from me.  So anyone know why I should spend all this money for a deep cleaning?

My daughter has already has two cavities.  I am not sure why, I have her brush her teeth after breakfast and dinner.  Although they are just her baby teeth I do not want her to continue to get cavities. Not sure what I should do about this.  The dentist says to get her to floss more.  The truth is right now she does not floss.   Getting her to brush is hard enough.  Anyone advise or how to get her to floss?  Or many any other suggestions.

I have a small gap between my two top front teeth.  My mom is being really lazy about getting me to a dentist. She does not think it is a big deal since other wise  my teeth are perfect. However I tell her it is a big  deal to me  and that  it’s just a small gap that can be easily fixed.

Any way she just will not listen to me so.  I did some research on the Internet and I saw that you can use dental rubber band to tie around the two front teeth and depending on the width of the gap, it will close in about a week or two.  I can not afford to get those either but was thinking that I have a friend that has braces with those little rubber. I could get one from him and try using that instead.  It is the same concept  a so any rubber band that was small enough should work right?

I just went to the dentist to have two filling and they numbed my whole mouth.   I have no problems with the filling that were done, but I am wondering when will the numbness wear off.  I do not want to eat anything until it is gone.  I also can not speak correctly why my mouth is numb.  If  I had a idea of the time frame then I can plan out my day.

I am new to getting braces so I am not sure.  Do you brush your teeth every day when you have braces?  I right now I brush twice a day but does having braces change how many times you are to brush?  Is  it bad to brush to much?  Can you brush your braces off?  If you do not brush how do you clean them?  Any info would be good.  I hate to ask to many questions at the dentist have have him think I am slow.

I love my morning coffee as well and my after diner coffee.  I know that coffee can stain your teeth but I do not want to stop drinking coffee.  What is the best toothpaste that a coffee drinker like myself  can use.  I  can not afford to get my teeth whiten.  Beside they would only get stain again since as I said I am not stopping my coffee drink ways.  I am just looking for a tooth paste product that may help keep them from getting to bad.

I just hate going to the dentist.  Every time I have to go I try and put it off.  When I do go I have a bad attitude I know it is wrong but I just hate being there. Without fail I wine up sitting in the waiting room each time for over 30 minutes even though I get to my appointment on time.   I start to think why is it they have to call me the day before my appointment to make sure that I get there on time and ask me not to be late.  I should be the one to call the day before telling them to be on time.  Is not my time important?  This puts me off even more.

By the time I get sited in the lovely looking dental chair, I get that one dental assistant that seems to like playing with it.  Also why is it that they got that sucking thing so that you do  not drown in your own saliva, yet they wait until you are drooling down your chin or until  the dentist tells them to suck. Then when they do suck up your saliva they suck so much that they almost always get your tongue or the inside of your cheek.

Just when I think I am done, I have to listen to how I do not floss good enough.  Why they say this all the time when I have no cavities or gum issues I do not know.  It bugs me though, it like they are talking to a five year old.  What is even worst is when they want to show me how to floss.   It almost like they are just trying to make me mad.

Do not miss understand me I do not hate dentist, just the whole experience of going.  I am not now nor ever been scared of the  dentist.  But they can use help on the process.

I am current going to a dental assisting school and I really enjoy it.  My worry is  that my teeth aren’t completely straight.  This makes me self conscience because all the other students have perfect teeth.   When we practice on each other in class, I get worried that they are looking at my not so straight teeth.

I will be getting my teeth fixed once I get good medical insurance, but right now I just can not afford to get them fixed.   Am I over thinking this or should I have some concerns that people will be looking at my teeth and look down on me because it is the field I will be in.

I go to my dentist around every 6 months or so.  Each time I go he has a different staff working there.   This bothers me since I feel that I just get to know someone and they are not there the next time I go.  I do not have any problems with my dentist is fact he is a very good dentist and I like his work.  That is why I do keep going back to him.

However, I can not help but wonder why his staff member keep quitting on him.  Is he a bad person?  His he not nice to his staff  ? Am I seeing a dentist that just is not a good person?  He does not seem like he is so hard to get along with but then I do not work for him.  Maybe I should re-think going to a dentist that can not keep his staffing.

I  had a cleaning done by my dental office about two weeks ago.  I am not really sure the did a good job at cleaning my teeth and feel a little riped off.  The reason is the dentist I use to go to before this one would have their  assistant floss then polish my teeth.  This place did not floss my teeth.  I always got my teeth flossed before.  

Is this office just being lazy or cheap?  I though when you get a cleaning flossing was part of the process.  So I was surprised that they did not floss my teeth.  The dentist seem to be working hard with scrapping my teeth so I think the dentist was okay, but the assistant did not finish the job

If  you went to a dentist to have a dental  cleaning,  and while you are there you notice that the dentist has bad teeth would you trust that dentist to do a good job?  I asking because this happen to me.  I went for a cleaning and the dentist teeth were like all yellow.   I was like how can he clean my teeth if his is yellow.  Doesn’t that show he is not taking care of his own teeth.  Yuck…  I just left without doing the work.   I told him I had a text that came in and that I needed to leave.    What would you do?

I am really upset and just lost as to what to do.  I am in new in my area just moved from a different state.  So I picked a local dentist that was in my area and on my dental HMO insurance plan.   I was just going in for a check up and a cleaning.  I knew my teeth were in a good shape since I was in the dentist just about six months ago.

I get to my appointment on time but had to wait over an hour before I was even seen.  They took the X-rays and then sat me down. The dentist comes and looks at my teeth for all of two seconds.  He says that although I do not have any cavities and my gums are okay, my teeth are dirty and yellow. That I need to have them whiten in order for them to look better and not dirty.   I know my teeth are not as white as they could be but they do not look bad.

He was really rude when he was talking to me so I just said that I only want what is covered under my plan which just the cleaning.  He got really mad and said that it is a shame when he gets patients that think that a cleaning is all they need because they are to  cheap to take care of their teeth. I was so taken back when he said that to me I just did not know what to do at the time.  He does the cleaning so fast it only took him like five minutes.  Not only was it fast but he had hurt me many  times before he gets done.  Once he is done he just walks away from me.

The dental assistance finished up with my teeth.  She even seem upset by the way the dentist treated me and tried  to say she was sorry for him.  At check out I tried to say how upset I was about the whole experience.  When I  was rudely told that my insurance fully covered the services I had so why am I complaining,  since I did not have to pay for anything. I told my husband what I went though and he was livid.  He was upset for me too and now I just feel bad about not doing anything at the time.   What can I do now ?  I want to do something about this just do not know what?