Looked on the Delta Dental website and registered but still did not find any information pertaining to this subject. I'm probably not looking hard enough.
Sometimes it's a pain in the ass to find out on your own. It might be easier to just call the customer service # and ask them to mail you a brochure or to walk you through the website.
Just a couple of updates and answers to questions I've seen. Mrs. B-Bob has worked with this (excellent) dentist for 20 years already, so she didn't think to shop around. He's always been reasonable before but this is her first major anything other than cleanings. What she found out yesterday (after 1.5 hours on hold with Delta Dental) is that they didn't think the crown should be porcelain. Gold is cheaper and they paid the "gangsta" price only! Hilarious. If your crown is "in the smile line" (no, I don't know how they define that), they will cover porcelain (white) crowns, otherwise, you have to add to your gold grill. Luckily, I won my work NCAA pool, so the extra $200 is covered. Easy come, easy go. The crown is gorgeous though, as those things go. Mrs B-Bob didn't know she had the gangsta option; dentist should have mentioned that.
I'm surprised he didn't... Last time I had major work done, my dentist explained all the options, what was covered, how much was covered, etc. at my evaluation visit. He knew everything pretty much off the top of his head. In the end, the cost to me was only $60 bucks over what he originally quoted me (out of several thousand dollars worth of work).
LOL! Noooo. Over the span of a few visits - A few teeth pulled, a few cavities filled, a crown or two, and a few cleanings. See kids? This is what happens when you don't go to the dentist on a regular basis (ooorrrrr for 6 years)!
I had the exact same issue come up. Did they pay what they would have paid for gold at least? That's the solution I got in the end. (For me, the difference wasn't TOO huge...paying 20% of gold vs. 20% of porcelain.) But anyway, before that, they tried to tell me that "we don't cover porcelain..therefore, you're only covered for the price of a filling (which is nothing)". I had to argue it to get them to cover me up to the price of gold and then let me foot the rest of it.
Haha, thats interesting. Im assuming your wife got the crown on a molar tooth? I think by "smile line" they are talking about your anterior teeth and your premolars. In other words, your teeth in the back (molars) do not show when you talk, smile, etc...its an esthetics issue. However, gold is far superior to porcelain as a restorative material. Therefore, if an individual doesnt mind having a gold tooth in the back there, then gold is the way to go. It should last much longer than porcelain. Lil Pun, to answer your question about dental school. Its getting very competitive to get in. The number of applications are rising at a rapid rate, while the number of seats is remaining relatively constant. I go to Boston University. I applied with a 3.2 and 97th percentile on my DAT. My DAT is basically what got me in...the average GPA for my class was around a 3.4-3.5. I got into NYU as well and got wait listed at UT-Houston
All they are really doing is making the dentist look like the greedy SOB instead of the insurance company. This is approximately the same phenomenon that goes on in medical insurance. There it is called UCR (Usual Customary and Reasonable). This is a value determination labeled by the insurance company about what the charge "should" be based on some kind of average.
Actually, medical insurance has negotiated rates through several PPO networks. If a doctor is in the PPO plan, he cannot charge the insured more than the negotiated rate. If he does, the Insurance company will reimburse the insured.
