Dental Treatment Financing

by Delia Cox - Community Health Care Worker
(Spokane, Washington)

What I am about to share with you is about Dental Treatment Financing because this is what I needed to fully realize the benefits of my dental insurance plan. The dental services covered by my indemnity insurance are only the basic and major dental procedures. Despite the regular dental treatments I get, I am still not happy with my smile because my teeth had wide gaps which could not be corrected by the crowns.

According to my dentist, the only way to correct them is to replace the crowns with a dental bridge which will work to close in the gap. The dental bridge is actually made up of dental crowns wherein a false tooth is placed strategically in between, to fill in whatever gap there is that remains. The only problem is, not only is the dental bridge not covered by insurance but the cost was to steep to shoulder. It would take me long to save up for it and I doubt if I ever I can. Dental financing was the next best thing for me.

Now my dentist told to me to ask my dental insurance provider about dental financing and I was really glad they helped me work it out. They referred me to CareCredit Patient Financing, which was specifically for health care expenses that required more expensive treatment procedures.

I could not believe how lucky I was to have people around me who gave me enough guidance to arrive at the right solution for my dental problem. It seems that alone was reason enough to smile, albeit gap toothed. Once my dental financing got the approval from CareCredit, dental treatments began and pretty soon I was already sporting a different smile.

How did I go about applying for Dental Financing?

1. First I asked my dentist an estimate and I was given an estimated cost of around $10,000 to $12,000.

2. CreditCare website had a calculator to compute the monthly payments I had to pay and I had the following choices:

The least monthly payment for a No Interest Payment Plans was to pay for the dental bridge procedure amounting to $10,000 for a period of 18 months which is equivalent to $556 a month.

The shortest term under the Extended Payment Plans was to pay for the dental bridge procedure amounting to $10,000 for a period of 24 months which is equivalent to $480 a month and had an input interest at the rate of 13.90%. The 60-month term which had the least monthly payment was too long although the monthly payment due was as low as $232 also with 13.90%. .

3. I opted for the 18 monthly installment of $556 a month, free of interest charges. This means I can be out of debt in one and a half-years time of budget tightening and adjustments. In fact, there are no additional costs in terms of interests.

4. I arranged with my dental insurance provider to endorse me to CreditCare for their Dental Financing Plan.

5. Since my dentist does not practice Cosmetic Dentistry, I searched the CreditCare website for their most reliable cosmetic dentist.

6. I signed all necessary documents regarding my application for the dental financing. As soon as it was approved, I called up the dentists office for an appointment. The teeth cleaning, x - ray and the basic dental procedures were still part of my dental insurance plan while the dental bridge treatment was paid for under dental financing provided by CreditCare.

It has been a year now since I had this new smile, which made me more confident and in fact made my life more enjoyable. I am now down to my last monthly payment, although it was not as easy as I had thought. For more than a year, I had to cut down on several expenses including clothes, shoes, cell phones, DVD rentals, movies and occasional food binges. It was all worth it anyway. CareCredit and its Dental Treatment Financing plan really helped me realize my dream of improving my looks.

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