Costs and payment options
We go over the cost of treatment, and the ways it can be paid for, with you before treatment begins. Nothing has to be decided at the appointment, and you're welcome to take the figures home and think them over.
What applies to you depends on the treatment and on whether you carry dental benefits. Give us a call at (559) 683-4694 and ask what your options are.
Knowing the cost before you decide
Cost is part of every treatment discussion here. Before any treatment begins, ask what it involves, what it costs, what the alternatives are, and what usually happens if the work is postponed. We're glad to answer all four.
Those answers usually give you what you need to decide. If a figure changes because we find something during treatment that the images didn't show, we'll talk it through with you before the work continues.
How a dental fee is determined
What a treatment costs depends on the condition of the individual tooth. What a molar needs depends on how much sound structure remains, the load your bite places on it, and whether the nerve is involved, so the same procedure name can mean quite different amounts of work.
A figure becomes meaningful once we've examined the tooth. Ask about cost when the treatment is proposed, and ask again if the plan changes.
If you carry dental benefits, your plan can be asked in advance what it expects to pay toward larger work. How dental benefits work explains what those estimates can tell you, and their limits.
Paying for treatment over time
Some people pay for dental treatment with a healthcare credit account. These are credit products issued and administered by finance companies rather than by dental offices, so the account is an agreement between you and the lender.
Applications are subject to credit approval, and minimum monthly payments are required. If you're approved, the lender pays the practice and you repay the lender under the terms of your agreement with them. Those terms, including any promotional period and what happens when it ends, are set by the lender and written into the agreement you sign. Review the agreement before signing it, as with any other credit contract.
If you're wondering whether an arrangement like this could work for your treatment, call us at (559) 683-4694 and ask.
Paying a practice directly compared with using credit
Dental treatment is generally paid for in one of two ways. Neither is inherently better, and each carries different obligations, so it helps to know which one you are agreeing to.
| Consideration | Paying the practice directly | Using a healthcare credit account |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are paying | Us, directly. | A finance company. They pay us, and you repay them. |
| What it takes to arrange | Nothing to arrange with anyone else. | An application, subject to credit approval. The decision rests with the lender. |
| Ongoing obligation | None once the balance is paid. | Minimum monthly payments until the balance is paid in full. |
| Who sets the terms | We review the cost with you before treatment begins. | The lender sets the rates, any promotional period and any fees, all written into your agreement. |
| Where your information goes | It stays with us, under our Notice of Privacy Practices. | To the finance company, under its own privacy practices. |
| If a question comes up later | Give us a call. | Billing and account questions go to the finance company. |
Questions to ask any lender
These consumer points apply to any healthcare credit account, whoever the issuer is.
- A healthcare credit account is credit. Approval, the credit line and the terms are decided by the lender based on your circumstances.
- Ask what happens at the end of any promotional period, and how interest is treated if a balance remains after it ends.
- Know the minimum payment and the date it is due, and how the lender applies a payment that arrives late.
- Borrow only for the treatment you have agreed to. Ask what the treatment involves and what it costs first, then decide how much needs to be financed.
- Ask about sequencing before financing anything. Spreading the work over a longer period is sometimes the better option.
Sequencing a large plan
A long plan of treatment doesn't have to happen all at once. We generally order the work by urgency: infection and pain first, then active decay, then the structural work that keeps teeth functional, then anything elective.
The consequences of waiting depend on the tooth. An area of early decay under observation can often be reviewed in six months, while a cracked molar under a heavy bite, or an infection, should be treated sooner. Dental emergencies covers the problems that shouldn't wait.
If a plan is larger than you want to take on at once, please say so during the treatment discussion. Ask what order the work should be done in, what can reasonably wait, and what the risks of waiting are.
Statements, balances and where to send a payment
When a balance remains after a visit, for example after a plan pays less than its own estimate suggested, a statement shows what was billed, what was paid and what is left.
Payments by mail go to PO Box 2407, Oakhurst, CA 93644-2407. The office itself is at 49414 Road 426, Oakhurst, CA 93644, so use the PO Box for anything you send by mail. If a statement raises a question, give us a call at (559) 683-4694 and we can go through the account with you.
If cost has delayed dental care
Cost is a common reason for postponing dental treatment. Dental problems can become more involved the longer they are left, and a repair that is small now can become a larger one later.
If it has been a while, you're welcome here. An examination establishes the current condition of your teeth, and there's no obligation to schedule treatment at that visit. What the first visit involves walks you through it, and common questions covers much of what people ask before they call.