NEW PATIENTS

NEW PATIENTS & SCHEDULING
Arkansas Pediatric Dentistry is happy that you chose our clinic to begin your child’s journey to maintain a healthy smile.

“ A Healthy Smile , A Happy Child”

The recommended time for a child’s first dental visit is when the first tooth breaks through or by your child’s first birthday.
We do our very best to stay on our schedule so you’re not stuck waiting for a long time, and it’s only in emergency cases that we get off track. We only ask the same courtesy of you, so if you can’t make your appointment, please let us know 72 hours in advance if your schedule changes so someone else can have the time slot. If you’re running behind, just let us know. If you are over 15 minutes late, rescheduling may be necessary.

Preparing Your Child for the 1st Visit

When you’re getting ready for the first visit, the worst thing you can do is be nervous. Your child looks to you for support and reassurance, and if you’re nervous, your child will be as well. Use kid terms when answering questions, saying things like the dentist is a person who makes kids’ teeth happy and clean. Don’t tell your child that their teeth could be drilled or pulled, but say happy and positive things so they don’t get scared. We even have a name for our shots, which is “sleepy juice”. Kids generally don’t like shots, and if they are relaxed and distracted, they’ll never know that they have been injected with anything.

Dental Insurance
If we have received all of your insurance information prior to the appointment, we will be happy to file your claim for you. You must be familiar with your insurance benefits, as we will collect from you the estimated amount insurance is not expected to pay. By law your insurance company is required to pay each claim within 30 days of receipt. You are responsible for any balance on your account after 30 days, whether insurance has paid or not. If you have not paid your balance within 90 days the debit will be sent to a collection agency.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND, if we are an “out of network” provider, we file dental insurance as a courtesy to our patients. We do not have a contract with your insurance company, only you do. We are not responsible for how your insurance company handles its claims or for what benefits they pay on a claim. We can only assist you in estimating your portion of the cost of treatment; we at no time guarantee what your insurance will or will not do with each claim. We also can not be responsible for any errors in filing your insurance; once again we file claims as a courtesy to you.

NO INSURANCE PAYS 100% OF ALL PROCEDURES

Dental insurance is meant to be an aid in receiving dental care. Many patients think that their insurance pays 90%-100% of all dental fees. This is not true! Most plans only pay between 50%- 80% of the average total fee. Some pay more, some pay less. The percentage paid is usually determined by how much you or your employer has paid for coverage or the type of contract your employer has set up with the insurance company.
BENEFITS ARE NOT DETERMINED BY OUR OFFICE
  • You may have noticed that sometimes your dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist at a lower rate than the dentist’s actual fee. Frequently, insurance companies state that the reimbursement was reduced because your dentist’s fee has exceeded the usual, customary, or reasonable fee (“UCR”) used by the company.
  • A statement such as this gives the impression that any fee greater than the amount paid by the insurance company is unreasonable or well above what most dentists in the area charge for a certain service. This can be very misleading and simply is not accurate.
  • Insurance companies set their own schedules and each company uses a different set of fees they consider allowable. These allowable fees may vary widely because each company collects fee information from claims it processes. The insurance company then takes this data and arbitrarily chooses a level they call the “allowable” UCR Fee. Frequently this data can be three to five years old and these “allowable” fees are set by the insurance company so they can make a net 20%- 30% profit.
  • Unfortunately, insurance companies imply that your dentist is “overcharging” rather than say that they are “underpaying” or that their benefits are low. In general, the less expensive insurance policy will use a lower usual, customary, or reasonable (UCR) figure.
DEDUCTIBLES & CO-PAYMENTS MUST BE CONSIDERED

  • When estimating dental benefits, deductibles and percentages must be considered. To illustrate, assume the fee for service is $150.00. Assuming that the insurance company allows $150.00 as its usual and customary (UCR) fee, we can figure out what benefits will be paid. First a deductible (paid by you), on average $50, is subtracted, leaving $100.00. The plan then pays 80% for this particular procedure. The insurance company will then pay 80% of $100.00, or $80.00. Out of a $150.00 fee they will pay an estimated $80.00 leaving a remaining portion of $70.00 (to be paid by the patient). Of course, if the UCR is less than $150.00 or your plan pays only at 50% then the insurance benefits will also be significantly less.
  • MOST IMPORTANTLY, please keep us informed of any insurance changes such as policy name, insurance company address, or a change of employment. We will be unaware of any of these changes unless you bring them to our attention.
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