Financing Your Child’s Dental Care!

At Athens Area Pediatric Dentistry, we focus on what is best for your individual child’s needs, and on providing a pleasant experience and proper care that will last.

While our office does work with some insurance programs, we are not in-network with most insurance companies. We choose to not be in network with these companies because they place restrictions on optimal care choices for your child. Many insurance plans do not cover pediatric-specific procedures.

If your insurance does not cover your child’s treatment, or only partially covers it, we work with CareCredit to offer 0% financing. Your child’s health is very important to us, and we seek to make his or her care as affordable as possible.

What Is Dental Insurance?

Dental insurance is a contract between you and your employer and a dental insurance company. The benefits that you receive are based on the terms of the contract — not our dental office. The goal of most dental insurance policies is based on the cost of the policy and the negotiated coverage your employer made with the dental insurance company.

Dental insurance is a complicated issue that creates confusion for many patients. The complexities of dental insurance and the lack of sufficient information provided by some insurance companies make it very difficult for many patients to understand the benefits. Even more confusing is figuring out how to properly work with your dental insurance company to obtain all the benefits to which you are entitled. Our goal is to help you understand your insurance benefits and make getting the most out of them as simple as possible.

Many insurance companies try to control the amount of dentistry you receive by requiring authorization for procedures in advance. Our office will do everything possible to help you maximize the insurance benefits to which you are entitled. We recognize that the authorization process is often time-consuming and frustrating.

Most elective procedures — including cosmetic dentistry, implant surgery, occlusion or bite realignment, to name a few — are typically not covered by dental insurance companies. We hope this won’t discourage you from moving forward with treatment that can greatly enhance your child’s quality of life. We believe everyone deserves a great smile and we offer a variety of flexible payment options to make elective treatment more affordable for our patients.

You should familiarize yourself with the benefits of your policy, as dental insurance companies rarely cover 100% of any dental fee. For some services, dental insurance policies cover less than 50%, or nothing at all.

What Does “In-Network” Mean?

If a physician is in your health plan’s network, it means that your physician has contracted with your insurance company to accept discounted rates. It is more economical for you to see an in-network physician, because you will pay less out of pocket for needed services. If your physician is out of your health plan’s network, you will not receive a discounted rate.

Our Payment Policy

Your treatment plan will include a breakdown of all applicable fees, and we will inform you of all costs before treatment is administered. Charges are payable at the time of treatment. Any co-pays or non-covered expenses are due at the time of service.

Please ask a member of our staff for guidance on how to best accommodate your financial needs. If special arrangements are needed, we request that you bring it to our attention before services are rendered. If you are out of network, we accept several other payment options, such as Care Credit.

We gladly work with many insurance companies and file claims on your behalf. We will work with you to achieve the maximum reimbursement to which you are entitled. If all fees are not covered by your dental insurance, we will notify you promptly.

Questions About Financing or Becoming A New Patient?

Our office remains dedicated to providing optimal care for every patient and working with you to achieve that goal. We pride ourselves in helping you in every way possible to provide the quality of care to which you have become accustomed.