Many patients tend to be like sheep, and select dentists based on some list their insurance company gives them. Unfortuntately, you are selecting for dentists with low ethics when you use insurance lists as a top criterion.
Why? All a dentist has to do to get on these list is agree to charge one group of patients less money than other patients. In my mind, this requires ethical compromise.
Insurance brochures glowing reports that you can save 30% even 50% by using such dentists. This is an outright lie. No one can take a fee cut this large without losing money treating patients.
So what do these “lists dentists” do? Recommend unnecessary treatment to you to make up the difference. I see it all the time. Or they upcode procedures so they will net the same thing.
Many more pitfalls of dental PPOs and HMOs are detailed in an article on my website.
I often ask patients how much money they would save on a $1000 procedure they don’t need if they go to a PPO dentist who discounts 30%. They automatically say “$300!!” I point out if they really did not need the procedure, they wasted money, they did not save it.
Please think about selecting your dentist based on reputation for honest dealings with the public, and competency, NOT on insurance lists. In the end, despite what slick insurance brochures say, you will save money this way.
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