One Dental Discount Card is Actually Worth Something

Recently a bit of a scandal broke out regarding some dental discount cards that were just scams. This article is not about those cards. The purpose of this article is to relate my own personal experience with one discount card that actually worked the way that I hoped it would.

I buy into a dental discount program for just $12 a month. It is the Vital Savings plan from Aetna. I believe I got into this through my membership in AARP, but because I have held this card for well over a year before using it, I cannot recall for sure how it is that I found out about it.

Anyway, for $12 a month, it has paid back its costs very quickly.

I recently had to play catchup on my dental needs; I needed an infected tooth removed, and a root canal on another one. I needed a deep cleaning for the whole mouth because I had skipped the twice-yearly routine cleaning. (Yes, my bad.)

The card from Aetna clearly says "This is not insurance." There is no excuse for any customer to not realize that this is different from their usual dental insurance coverage.

The normal charge for a tooth extraction at my provider was $168. The dental card took $100 off that fee.

The normal charge for a root canal was $706; the discount was $351. The normal charge for a core buildup for that same tooth was $265; the discount was $137.

The normal charge for a periodontal scaling service (ie deep cleaning), per quadrant, was $240; times four comes to a total of $960. The discount per quadrant was $100, for a total charge of $560.

Various replacement fillings are scheduled at fees from $177 to $247; discounts range from $100 to $149.

The normal charge for an oral exam was $88; the discount was $53. The normal charge for a set of x-rays was $122; the discount was $57.

So you see that at least in my experience, the dental card has been a real lifesaver and has lived up to its promise. My savings for the treatment program (so far) amount to about $1500, and that assumes that I do not even have another routine cleaning this year.

Aetna also remedies the most common problem with many discount cards, and that is finding a provider who accepts the card in your area. Because Aetna is such a large insurance carrier, you should be able to find several providers in your zip code.

Feel free to go online to www.vitalsavings.com to see if this program might work for you. You may also call with your questions to 1-877-698-4825. The card provides a discount on pharmacy and vision services, too.

I am also grateful to the staff of the dental provider for signing me up for the CareCredit program to help me pay for the balance of my bill. CareCredit is similar to a credit card but it may only be used for medical/dental services. The charges on the account are interest-free as long as you pay the installments on time -- so in some ways it is similar to a layaway or installment plan at a major department store. CareCredit is a company based in Costa Mesa, CA and is a division of GE Money Bank.

Do not be late or miss a payment because then you are assessed an annual interest rate (finance charges) of nearly 30 percent. While I realize that GE Money may not be the ideal kind of carrier for this type of credit, at least you do have the opportunity to space out your payments and do so on an interest-free basis.

[The author has worked in the insurance field in several roles for a decade, and now chooses to make information available to consumers. Stay tuned for articles detailing your consumer rights.]