Most dental plans trace back to caps set around 1968, when $1,000 of coverage a year was real money – enough to handle meaningful care. Decades later, plenty of plans still cap out in roughly that same range, even though the actual cost of dentistry has climbed far past it.
We don’t participate in insurance networks, and that’s a deliberate choice. The moment we sign onto a plan’s fee schedule, the insurance company gets a seat at the table in every treatment decision – despite bringing the least to it. Chasing “maximize your benefit before it resets” creates a real incentive to over-treat: recommending work based on what’s left in a calendar year, not what your mouth actually needs.
And for the cases that matter most, the cap doesn’t move. Fall and break a front tooth, and an implant and crown might be the right fix – but your plan still pays out to that same $1,000 or so it always has, whether the real cost is $1,000 or $8,000. Insurance was never built to carry real dental work. It just wasn’t designed for it.
Imagine if homeowners insurance worked the same way: your house burns down, and your policy pays out a predetermined $1,000 to $3,000 – but it’ll happily cover a portion of your window cleaning twice a year. That’s dental insurance.
This is the same belief behind everything else here: the right plan is the one built around your case – not the one that maximizes what an insurance company is willing to put on the table.
We’re not big on debt, but we understand not everyone feels that way – some people are used to paying over time, or simply prefer to manage their own cash flow that way. That’s exactly what financing through CareCredit or Cherry is for: not something we push, but an option offered to break down a barrier when cost is what’s standing between you and care you need. You can check your pre-approval before your visit, with no obligation to use it.
Prefer to avoid financing altogether but still spread out the cost? We also offer layaway: once your treatment plan is set, you prepay over a series of months, and we move forward with treatment once it’s paid in full. No lender, no interest – just a plan that works at your pace.
On the other end, if you’d rather pay in full upfront, we make that worth your while too – a 5% discount for paying in full before treatment starts. It’s a genuine win-win: we get to put that money to work right away, and you save 5% for paying ahead.
Prefer to prepay your everyday care instead? Our Optimal Dental Health Program applies the same idea to hygiene visits, exams, and X-rays – prepay for the year and save 10%.