Financial Policies

We are committed to providing high quality care to our patients.
Our goal is to help you reach the best oral health possible so you can enjoy the benefits of a comfortable, functional, and attractive smile.

Payment for Services

Payment is expected at the time of your services. If you have dental insurance, we will provide an estimate of your co-payment and collect that portion at the time of your appointment. If an over-payment is made, you will receive a refund once all claims are processed. We accept cash, checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. We also offer Care Credit, a healthcare financing program that offers interest-free payment plans upon approval.

A late fee of 1.5% will be assessed monthly to accounts after 60 days. Any unpaid balance over 90 days will be considered delinquent and turned over to a collection agency. Fees may apply. Returned check fee is $25.00

Appointment Policy

We make every effort to value your time and we schedule your appointment time just for you. We are committed to your oral health. Keeping your scheduled appointments allows us to be partners in your dental care. We truly appreciate your courtesy of giving us a 48 hour notice if you have a conflict with your appointment and need to schedule a different day or time.

*Missed appointments or appointments cancelled with less than a 24 hour notice are subject to a $50 charge.

Dental Insurance
It’s important to remember that you insurance coverage is a contract between you and your insurance company. Benefits and coverage vary significantly from plan to plan. Please keep in mind that insurance is not designed to provide 100% benefit, but rather is meant to assist in the cost of dental care. To avoid surprises on your bill, it is important to understand what your insurance will cover, and what portion will be your responsibility. Dental benefits should not be confused with the dental services you need, which are determined by you and our Doctors.
As a courtesy to our patients, we are happy to submit your claims for services. In order for us to do this, you must provide us with accurate and up-to-date insurance information. We will try to verify your coverage and plan before your appointment. With this, we will estimate the insurance portion and your co-payment. This may or may not be what your insurance company will actually pay. Your plan may base its dollar allowance on a usual and customary fee schedule which may not coincide with current fees in our area. We’ll do our best to help you receive maximum benefits. Patients are responsible for all balances incurred for services received.

Our insurance coordinators work to assure payment on all outstanding claims, but if insurance has not paid on your claim after 60 days, we ask that you contact them to help expedite the process. After 90 days you will be asked to pay the balance or your account will be considered delinquent.

Dental Insurance

Understanding your dental benefits is not easy.  There are as many different plans as there are contracts.  Some of you have selected an individual dental insurance plan on your own.  In most cases your employer has selected your plan and is ultimately responsible for how your contract is designed.

Each individual contract specifies what types of procedures are considered for benefits.  Even if a procedure is medically and dentally necessary, it may be excluded from your contract.  This does not mean that you do not need the procedure.  It simply means that your plan will not consider the procedure for payment.

It is a mistake to let benefits be your sole consideration when you determine what you want to do about your dental condition.
Dentistry of Olde Towne is contracted with the following dental insurance plans:

  • Cigna DPPO
  • Delta Dental Premier
  • GRID +
  • United Healthcare

FAQ’s

Unless your dental insurance specifies that you can ONLY see a dentist in your network, such as an HMO, you can be treated at this practice and receive an insurance benefit. Your benefit could possibly be reduced, but you are free to choose the premium quality dentistry that you prefer. We will be happy to file your dental claims and will do our best to help you optimize your insurance benefits.

Dental insurance isn’t really insurance (a payment to cover the cost of a loss) at all. It is actually a money benefit typically provided by an employer to help their employees pay for routine dental treatment. The employer usually buys a plan based on the amount of the benefit and how much the premium costs per month. Most benefit plans are only designed to cover a portion of the total cost.

That 100% is usually what the insurance carrier allows as payment toward the procedure, not what your dentist may actually charge. For example, say your dentist charges $80 for an examination (not counting x-rays). Your carrier may allow $60 as the 100% payment for that examination, leaving $20 for you to pay.

Many carriers refer to their allowed payments as UCR, which stands for usual, customary and reasonable. However, usual, customary and reasonable does not really mean exactly what it seems to mean. UCR is actually a listing of payments for all covered procedures negotiated by your employer and the insurance company. This listing is related to the cost of the premiums and where you are located in your city and state. Your employer has likely selected an allowed payment or UCR payment that corresponds to the premium cost they desire. UCR payments could be more accurately called negotiated payments.

Even a benefit plan that does not cover a large portion of the cost of needed dentistry pays something. Any amount covered reduces what you have to pay out of pocket. It helps!

Remember that what insurance carriers call usual and customary is really just what your employer and the insurance company have negotiated as the amount that will be paid toward your treatment. It is usually less and frequently much less than what a dentist in your area might actually charge for a dental procedure. It does not mean that your dentist is charging too much.

To save money, many dental plans allow a benefit only for the least expensive method of treatment. For example, your dentist may recommend a crown, with your insurance only offering a benefit towards a filling. This does not mean that you have to accept the fillings. The good news is that some benefit will be paid; the bad news is that more of the fee will be your responsibility. Remember that your dentist’s responsibility is to prescribe what is best for you. The insurance carrier’s responsibility is to control payments.

Some plans require that the network dentist observe restrictions to treatment. Many dentists are not comfortable with this.

Because your insurance coverage is between you and your insurance carrier, your dentist does not have the power to make your plan pay. If your insurance doesn’t pay, you are responsible for the total cost of treatment. Consumers (patients) may lodge complaints with the State Insurance Commission.