Each year, your dental insurance policy allows for a specific number of procedures and set dollars to spend on your care. These “allowable” amounts reset every January 1st. If you don’t use them — even though you’re paying into your monthly policy — you lose them for good.
No, Benefits Don’t “Roll Over”
Any unused dental insurance benefits expire at the end of the calendar year. Unfortunately, unused benefits cannot “roll over” or be combined with the benefits of the next calendar year.
For example, if your plan covers two free dental cleanings per year but you only used one, you can’t push the benefits into the next year and have three free cleanings. You’re still only allowed to have two within a 12-month calendar year. You may have paid for the benefit, but you can no longer access it.
Using Your Benefits Before the End of the Year
Untreated dental diseases compound as each day goes by. This factor can lead to more complex dental problems and higher care costs. And the more severe your treatment needs become, the less your insurance policy is likely to cover. Financially, the smartest thing to do is to go ahead and utilize your included coverage while tooth damage is at a minimum. Doing so doesn’t just save you money, it also preserves as much healthy tooth structure as possible.
Come January 1st, any unused balance is no longer accessible. Everything resets.
Using Benefit Resets to Your Advantage
Depending on the type of care your smile needs, we can take advantage of your coverage resetting by utilizing your end-of-year benefits and then continuing the second phase of your treatment once the policy resets on January 1st.
Here’s an example: You need a dental implant. The implant itself will need a few months to integrate before our Mesa dentist can place a final porcelain crown on top of it. If you plan your implant placement in the next month or so (before your end of year insurance benefits run out) your coverage will re-set in January, giving you access to financial coverage on the implant crown once it’s time to have one installed.
Yes, end of year deadlines can work against you. But you can also use them toward your advantage!
How Much Coverage do I Have?
When our Phoenix dental care coordinators sit down to run the specifics on your recommended treatment, we’ll be in close contact with your insurance carrier to break down the numbers when it comes to your unused coverage. That way you can see the math up close and personal, before you actually start the treatment. It’s just one of the ways we help our Phoenix dental patients save money on their long-term oral care needs.
We’re Booking Up Quickly
Year-end appointments at Central Valley Dentistry are quickly filling up. Due to COVID-19 closures, many people had to delay their dental treatments by a few months. Right now is the best time to take advantage of your insurance benefits and minimize out-of-pocket care costs.
Call our Phoenix Dental Office today to request an appointment before they’re all full!
