Why Dental Maintenance?

Over the past decade, employers have looked at many holistic approaches to contain rising health and dental costs. With improved education and prevention, the long-term costs of major dental treatment can be reduced. A traditional defined dental benefit plan, however, sets out what is available, and the employer bears all the cost and the risks. Many employees feel divorced from personal fiscal responsibility. They may not be sufficiently knowledgeable about the impact of their decisions: how often they have their teeth cleaned and checked; the type of treatment they undertake; and the impact of their lifestyle on their oral health. Consequently, traditional dental plans often result in over-treatment, increased utilization and higher costs.

Dental care lends itself well to the maintenance model, because all employees require regular dental exams and most have some form of dental disease or decay. This differs from health care plans (drugs, semi-private hospital, etc.), which primarily protect against acute, high-cost incidents with a low frequency that affect only a small percentage of employees.

Our program marries the interests of the employee and the dentist, by providing sufficient incentive for prevention, which reduces the need for major restorative work later. Therefore, your dental plan should be able to deliver excellent care at a reduced cost.

How a Dental Maintenance Plan Works

You pay Preferred Dental a monthly fee for each employee enrolled in the program, based on a single or family rate. Preferred Dental then sends the relevant information and your fees to a local participating dentist selected by the employee. The employee goes to that dentist for dental work. If your plan covers preventive dental care at 100%, the employee leaves after treatment without any further paperwork. If major dental work is done (and is covered at 50% by your plan), employees pay their share directly to the dentist.

To make a simple transition to our network, we can use your positive enrollment data to seamlessly transfer employees or have them complete a simple application. We then transmit the relevant information to the appropriate dental office and your employees can begin to use the new plan.

Preferred Dental can provide full coverage and plan designs that meet or exceed your needs and current coverage levels. Because our focus is on obtaining and maintaining dental health, we have few limitations and allow for six-month recalls as necessary. There are no pre-existing condition clauses. Exclusions and limitations are either similar or less restrictive than those of a standard dental plan.