FAQs: Dental Insurance

One of the most frequent questions we get is “Do you take my dental insurance?”.

While we will file a claim with most any insurance carrier, we are considered “in network providers” for the following companies:
MetLife | Cigna | Anthem | Delta Dental of Virginia | United Concordia | Guardian | Dentamax*

When an office is considered a participating provider or “in network”, we pay the difference between our fees and those set by the insurance company. If you see an out of network provider, you may be responsible for the difference in cost. It is important to understand that your insurance policy is a contract between you or your employer and the insurance company and that our office is not part of that contract. Payment for dental services made by your insurance company will be affected by the options you or your employer selects when enrolling. We will do our best to provide you with accurate estimated co-payment amounts prior to dental work being completed, but these figures are only estimates. All patient co-payments are due at time of service and will be collected at the beginning of your appointment.

If you have any questions regarding this policy, please do not hesitate to ask.We are also members of the Ameriplan Discount Program and participate with BancMarc barter services.Financing options are available through Care Credit. After completing a brief application, you may qualify for interest free payments for up to 18 months. Ask us today, how CareCredit can help you complete your dental treatment quickly and affordably.

*Dentamax provides a fee schedule for over 150 insurance carriers. Because we participate with Dentamax, we are considered “in-network” for all carriers using their particular fee schedule. Your Insurance company or your HR department should be able to tell you if your particular policy follows the Dentamax fee schedule.

Davis Dental Group Limited Warranties

At Davis Dental Group, we focus on prevention of dental decay and education of our patients is a vital part of reaching that goal. Spending just a few minutes every day brushing, flossing, and completing any other recommended home care can go a long way towards preventing cavities from ever forming. The other critical component of prevention is regular dental check-ups and professional cleanings. Please be advised that not following the recommended schedule for your individual dental exams and cleaning will void these valuable warranties. Should your teeth require additional treatment (fillings, crowns, bridges, etc), we are pleased to offer a variety of services to help you restore and maintain excellent dental health. For more information on our services visit our services page. We strive for perfection and total satisfaction and are therefore pleased to be able to offer the following limited warranties for most of our services including, sealants, restorations, and root canals.

Restoration Warranties - Fillings, Crowns, and Bridges

Our office utilizes the most conservative techniques and materials when restoring your teeth. Why are we so careful to help you preserve your natural tooth structure? Simply stated, there are few materials available for restorations that are as strong as natural enamel. We routinely place composite tooth colored fillings which allow our doctors to maintain as much healthy tooth structure as possible, thus increasing the potential longevity of that tooth. We feel that this restorative option is the better treatment for your teeth. Not only do they look better but composite fillings are also bonded to the tooth rather than relying on mechanical retention. Should a composite filling leak, chip, or otherwise fail, we will replace it for one year from the date of the initial service. Please note that this warranty does not cover the entire tooth. Teeth may develop another cavity on areas not associated with original filling. Those areas of new decay are not covered under this warranty. Should you decide to go with an alternative restoration material (silver amalgam), please understand that you are selecting a material that may place your tooth at greater risk for fracture. When we restore your tooth, in addition to removing the cavity, we must also remove additional healthy tooth structure in order for the silver fillings to stay in place. Silver amalgam fillings are held in place strictly by the remaining tooth structure so if the tooth does fracture, it will likely require placement of a new larger filling that will further compromise your tooth. For these reasons, we cannot warranty our silver fillings for we do not feel that they are always in the best interest of your dental health. Regardless of the type of filling, no tooth should be composed of more than 50% restoration material. Even with the bonded strength of composites, there should always be more natural tooth than filling material for support. In order to help shield your teeth from breaking, we recommend that any tooth containing a filling that covers more than 60% of the visible surface, or any tooth that has had root canal therapy be protected by placing a crown or cap. Large fillings and/or root canal therapy result in teeth which are more brittle and thus more likely to break. By placing a crown on the tooth, your tooth is now wrapped in a protective surface that can prevent unwanted fractures, additional pain, and ultimately time and expense. For a period of five years after the placement of a crown, we will replace that crown should the original restoration fail due to breakage, misfit, or decay. Additionally, if a composite filling placed by our office fails within the first year after placement and the new restoration necessitates the placement of a crown based on filling size, we will also credit your original cost for the filling toward the new restoration and crown. Conventional bridges placed by our office are subject to the same conditions and warranties as individual crowns. We will replace a bridge should the original restoration fail due to breakage, misfit, or decay within five years of initial treatment. If the teeth sustaining the original bridge are no longer sufficient support, we will credit your cost for the original bridge toward a new replacement. Acid etch bonded bridges sometimes come loose due to inadequate amounts of enamel present for attachment. If this occurs within five years from initial placement we will credit your cost associated with the bonded bridge toward the price of the regular bridge.

Root Canal Warranty

Do root canals always work? No! A root canal is a therapy not a cure. Though the chances of failure are small they do exist, especially if the tooth is left unprotected after root canal therapy is completed. If your root canal therapy complete with a protective restoration fails within two years of treatment, we will send you for an evaluation with an endodontist, a root canal specialist. Once the specialist has an opportunity to determine the cause of the failure, we may refund your cost for the root canal. In addition, if the tooth cannot be saved, the cost of the protective restoration placed in our office will be credited toward replacing that tooth during the two year period.

Sealant Warranty

Sealants are protective coatings that can be placed over the deep grooves in your back teeth to prevent dental decay. This simple measure is one of the best protective adjuncts dentists can provide. Often, insurance companies will deny this benefit based on age or tooth location. We recommend that all of our patients have sealants placed on appropriate teeth regardless of age or other qualifying factors. Most sealants last a year or more but over time, they can break down or chip off. Should you elect for this very beneficial treatment, we will maintain your sealants indefinitely at no additional cost to you, provided you maintain regular dental check-ups. If you miss your regular 6 month exam, we cannot replace your sealant at no charge. Additionally, should any tooth previously protected by a sealant have developed a cavity and your regular exams were not maintained, we cannot credit the cost of your sealant towards any treatment the tooth may now require.

If you have any questions about the services we provide and the warranties that back them up, feel free to ask us at your next dental appointment. Remember, by you becoming an integral part of the dedicated team caring for your dental health, Davis Dental Group can help you reach your dental health goals and keep that happy smile for years to come!