For many people, going to the dentist is a painful experience. Now, I’m not talking about your actual dentist inflicting pain. I’m talking about the pain that accompanies the bill you receive for the dentist’s services. Ouch!
Bi-annual cleanings and x-rays can be expensive enough. Then, add to that cost the charges for fillings or braces. Before you receive too many of these invoices, you may feel that you need to get a part-time job just to pay these bills. Will you ever be able to get them under control?
Yes, you will. As painful as dental bills can be, there are some really easy ways to keep them low. I’ve found that a combination of these ideas work wonders on my family’s dental expenses.
Brush and floss regularly. This is easily the cheapest, but most powerful, thing you can do to keep dental costs down. If your family’s teeth are healthy, you won’t have to spend money on treatments. Be sure to shop around and use coupons as you buy your toothpaste and floss, too. You can get them for next to nothing if you pay attention to sales.
Stick to professional cleaning schedules. I know that it’s tempting to skip your regular dental visits if you think that everyone has healthy teeth. However, caring for a cavity that has grown unchecked while you skipped a visit or two can be much more expensive than routine visits. Trust me; you don’t want to be chintzy on dental maintenance.
Enroll in a dental insurance plan, if it’s available. My husband’s employer pays for his dental coverage, but we have to pay to have the rest of the family added to the policy. It’s worth every penny, though. For under $100/month each of us can visit the dentist twice a year without paying a penny. We only have to start making payments if he actually finds something.
Take advantage of any flex-spending accounts you have access to. Again, my husband’s employer came to our rescue here. We were able to anticipate a large dental expense (my hubby had to have two crowns replaced) and put pre-tax dollars into an account to pay for our part of the expense. Although the check we wrote to our dentist didn’t change, we didn’t owe the IRS as much that year as we normally would have.
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Another good way to save money on dental care is to go to a local dental care. They take a lot longer but the cost is about the same as what I would pay if I had insurance.
We recently moved to SE Europe, and there are a number of dental practices with excellent dentists who are set up to do expensive procedures for Western clients at significantly reduced rates. For my wife to get a filling in Maine was going to cost several hundred dollars, while she can get it done here (with top-of-the-line everything) for less than $40 US. That is FAR less than our insurance co-pay for the treatment in the States! It isn’t for everyone, sure, but it can sure lead to savings.
Jerry
Check out local colleges. The small town where I live has a small local college with a very good dental hygeine program. I recently had a full set of x-rays and cleaning for $10.00. This also included them forwarding my xrays to the local dentist. It takes ALOT longer since they are students but hey money is money. I also found out you can get a massage for $10.00 as well.