So peeps, this is how much I've learned to value some of your opinions on topics other than toys. I am having a very difficult time trying to figure out a carrier to choose for private dental insurance. In the past, it has basically been chosen for me, but now I am alone at sea and don't know where to turn. I've read a number of different "how to" articles, so I have the basic "strategy to choose" down. However, upon searching for providers via the internet, any search brings up endless pages of sites. Any personal suggestions out there? (Basically looking for single-person, and I would like 2 cleanings/year, including x-rays, and some coverage for procedures.)

I would recommend that you just have all of your teeth pulled and get dentures. They have recently made a lot of advances with both the dentures and the adhesives. At night, just take 'em out and forget about them! Plus, with all of your teeth removed, you will have a lot less problems with rheumatism, ague, night sweats, amebic dysentery, balanitis gangrenosa, etc.




Sorry, hopefully someone has some useful information for you.

Willamette Dental and ODS and the two I get to choose from. I once had ODS and it was great - you can pretty much choose who you want to go to. I now have Willamette, and it's okay. Very basic (I chose it because it was the cheapest option). Actually, the coverage was just as good as ODS, but you don't get to choose your dentist. Basically you go to a dental warehouse and someone x-rays you, someone cleans you, and at the end a dentist comes in to look at your teeth/films. They have several locations throughout Portland - I'm going to the one by Lloyd Center next Friday. My first visit was at their West-side location and it went smoothly. I HATE the dentist, but it was a fairly pain-free visit.
http://www.denkor.com/en_US/index.php
http://www.odscompanies.com/

thanks fellas! (Geo, i seriously contemplated that option after my last trip to the dentist...which i paid for out-of-pocket entirely. i was like, "i don't need my teeth THAT much, do i?")

Ahh, the NHS. Oh wait.

LOL! I have a feeling even if the USA passes national health care, it might not include dental. And dental bills are H-U-G-E. Don't these people understand I need to buy toys? LOL!!!

my girl is a dental assistant, i asked her to read this. she wrote what follows, hope it helps...


With dental insurance you get what you pay for. The more you pay- the better your coverage is going to be. However I do not recommend paying much more than your max for that plan. For example most plans allow 1,000 max or 1,500 maximums which means they will only pay up to that amount. (This is not the amount billed it is the amount paid) So if a dentist charges 800 for a crown and the insurance company pays 400 of that only 400 goes towards your maximum...but the other 400 is generally out of your pocket.
When a company advertises coverage as 100% of prophys (cleanings) exams and x-rays , 80% of basic (fillings, sometimes root canals) and 50% of major (crowns, sometimes root canals, post, onlays, partials etc) this does not mean they are going to pay that % of the doctors fees. What this really means is that they will pay that % of what they say the fee should be. (100 for a cleaning but they say 75- they only pay $75 - 100% of their fee. , 800 for a crown and they say it should cost 300 they will only pay 50% of 300) So watch out for that when choosing an insurance plan that lets you see any doctor. If you can choose a plan that gives you a specific doctor to see you may still have to deal with this situation but on a smaller scale of out of pocket where the doctor has to write off the discrepancy in price and you only pay the remaining % of the insurance's fee.
I usually deal with plans from employers like Delta, Aetna , Metlife, Horizon BC/BS etc...all plans are NEVER created equally. One person may have Delta who works at Publix and another may have Delta who works at a mental hospital and their plans will differ greatly (the mental hospital employee having much better benefits). If you are considering any plans from Horizon BC/BS stay far far away...they never pay on anything. I'm not sure if you can even get coverage from larger companies like this on your own but if you are able to Delta and Aetna are the better ones. But like I said before- you get what you pay for. It's a tricky process.

Thanks Killer...tell your gf thanks as well. Just as I suspected, everyone is trying to figure this out.

I have had good luck getting work done at an accredited dental school, if one exists near you.
There were two near where I used to live, at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
The regular dentist office was staffed by established dentists, and was less expensive than most
private dentists, plus the care was great. There was also the dental school; which came in handy if you needed something expensive like a crown. the work is preformed by a student about to graduate; and your crown is their final exam. It will be the bestone you ever get. I had one that lasted over 20 years. Plus the work is either free (fillings and such), and they just charge cost of material for crowns. Of course you have to time the crown work in spring or summer; when the students are about to graduate.

Thanks! I did hear that dental schools are a good option. I have to check if there is one in Portland.

Wait until you are in agony. These guys are hurting under the economy, and their is a glut of dentists.. Oversupply of dentists, with an under supply of customers... I am thinking of going to Mexico and getting those groovy gold outlines...

American dentists could find a cavity where there is not one. IMHO speaking from painful experience. Don't fix it if it ain't broke! (that was my old skool family dentist's motto.) He gave me a filling for $60 that a franchise dental center wanted $1000.00 to crown. Totally unnecessary treatment and they prey on your ignorance....

SO true! Back in February, I went in for a teeth cleaning, and told the folks I was paying out of pocket. My cleaning turned into a $280 billing, and an "estimate" of future work "or else my teeth are going to fall out". Said estimate was well over $1300, and they said I needed a special debridement cleaning...the next week..for an additional $250. I was like, shit, if someone doesn't have dental insurance, they might as well get false teeth (the joke Geo made earlier in thread)!!!

It's the only way to fly . . .

OHSU has a dental school.