A dentist tells you what a tooth needs, and then comes the part that decides whether it happens: the number. If you have no insurance, nobody walks you through how people actually pay. So you nod politely, take the paper home and wonder how anyone is supposed to manage it.
Cost is a real question, and Dr. Goh does not wave it away. "Cost is always a real consideration and I never want to dismiss that," he says. This post covers how to pay for dental work when you are paying yourself. It also covers what to ask about each route before you agree to it.
What are the ways to pay for dental work with no insurance?
There are four, and most people use more than one. You can pay visit by visit against a written estimate, or spread the work over several visits in a planned order. You can join a yearly membership with the practice, or you can borrow through a lender.
Each one moves the cost around in a different way, and none of them changes what your teeth need in the first place. The sections below take them in order, because the first two apply wherever you go and the last two depend on the terms.
What should the estimate look like before I agree to anything?
Start here, because you cannot compare ways to pay until you know what you are paying for.
A useful estimate is written down and itemised by procedure and by tooth. "A crown" is one line. "A crown on the upper left molar, with the build-up beneath it and the follow-up visit" is a quote you can plan around. A single round figure hides what sits outside it.
At our office, the written estimate comes at the end of the consultation, and nobody is asked to sign in the chair. Most people take it home and read it, and you can ask any office for the same. Then ask two things of it. What is in each line, and what is billed separately? And what changes the number if the plan changes once the work starts?
Can the work be spread over several visits?
Usually, yes, because a dentist can sort a treatment plan by clinical priority. The problem causing trouble now usually goes first, and work on a tooth that is sound for now can sit later in the order. Paying one visit at a time is the plainest way to pay for dental work with no insurance, because each bill covers only that visit.
Ask which items can wait and what waiting does to each one. That is a clinical question, and it deserves a plain answer from the person recommending the work. Some items can wait and others should not, and only the exam tells you which. A phased plan works best when you know which kind each item is.
What is a yearly membership plan, and is it insurance?
It is not insurance, and the difference is who pays. With insurance, a third company pays part of your bill, up to a yearly maximum. The ADA notes that many plans carry that cap even when your dental costs run past it.
A membership plan works the other way. You pay the practice a yearly fee for a set list of visits and lower fees on certain work. You pay your own bill directly, so no company stands between you and the office.
Plans like this "do not pay dental expenses for you," according to the ADA's page on types of dental plans. That page adds that these plans usually have no deductibles or annual limits. It also says the size of your lower fee varies with the terms spelled out in your plan.
So the terms of the plan matter more than its name, and they are worth reading before you pay the yearly fee. Ask what the yearly fee covers and which treatments get a lower fee. Ask whether it renews on its own, and whether you can cancel.
Our office runs one, and its membership plan page lists what it covers, how renewal works and how to cancel.
The plan is built around regular visits, so it suits some people and not others. Work out which visits you would actually use in a year, and compare that with paying visit by visit before you choose.
What should I know before using financing?
Financing means a lender pays the office and you repay the lender. The thing worth learning first is the difference between two offers that sound the same: no interest, and deferred interest.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explains both in its guide to promotional financing offers. That guide is written about credit cards, so ask any lender whether the same two terms apply to the offer in front of you. With a true zero-interest promotion, you pay interest only on what remains after the promotion ends, and only from that date. Deferred interest works differently. Leave any balance after the end date, and the CFPB says interest "going back to the date of the purchase" is added to what remains.
So with deferred interest, interest ran in the background the whole time, and the promotion only decides whether you pay it. The CFPB also notes that the minimum payment due is usually not enough to clear the balance before the promotion ends.
That gives you four questions to put to any lender before you sign anything. Is this zero interest or deferred interest? On what date must the balance be gone? What monthly payment gets it there? What rate applies after that date?
Read the agreement itself, because the CFPB's advice is to read the terms and conditions before you accept.
The lenders our office works with are listed on the insurance and financing page.
What should I ask any dental office about cost?
Take these questions to any dental office you are considering, ours included, and ask for the answers in writing.
- What is the total, with everything in it, and what is billed separately?
- What would change the number once treatment starts?
- Can the work be phased, and what happens to each part that waits?
- If a membership or a lender is involved, are the terms in writing?
- When will I have the estimate on paper, and do I get time to read it?
The dental costs page is where the practice lists what care costs. Your own number comes in writing after the exam, itemised, and you decide with it in front of you.
If you have no insurance, start on the new patients page or call us at 702-732-3754. We will talk through what you need and the order to do it in.