Exceptional Care Within Your Budget

Dental Plan Overview - Discount Plans

Although there may be some discount plans that we may accept, we generally don't accept them, and we recommend against signing up for most discount plans because they don't legitimately help patients. To make things more difficult, some of the worst discount plans come from some the same dental insurance companies that also sell true and legitimate dental insurance. We started off giving these plans the benefit of the doubt and accepting them just like most people, but the truth became clear in a very short time. Most discount plans, DMOs, etc. are simply marketing gimmicks that don't end up saving patients money at all.

We treat everyone like family, and we wouldn't want our families to sign up for these plans, and therefore, we do not accept them. If you've had a DMO and found that a fee-for-service office nearby ended up quoting you LESS than your assigned DMO office and you're wondering WHY, this section will shed light on some of the reasons.

• Nowhere to run - After being assigned to a given office, most patients don't have the patience to reassign their office if they're not happy. Because of this, DMO offices usually don't need to worry too much about treating their patients the way they deserve to be treated.
• Sorry, there are no openings - DMOs give an assigned office a couple bucks a month for each patient assigned to them. Although it's the insurance company keeps most of the premium, here's the worst part of the arrangement - the office gets the few bucks whether the patient is seen or not.
• Batteries not included - Hidden costs are the biggest deception regarding these plans. Before you read the fine print, it looks like procedures are affordable. Unfortunately, though, the extra fees for typically included parts of the procedures like rinses, white fillings instead of silver, etc. quite often end up making the procedure cost more, instead of less. They even have terminology for this practice, and they have an entire department that encourages offices to deceive their patients. "Unbundling", "upgrades", and "extras" are just a few names for it, and if you try calling the discount plan company, you'll find one of those departments eager to separate you from your wallet.

We will add links here for more information from outside sources, but for now, feel free to try the following outside sources if you want more information before asking your HR department to switch you to PPO:

• Google search for DHMO. If you check the official insurance company websites, you'll find the word "insurance" is never shown.
• Google search for dental hmo scam. There are quite a few helpful links you'll find there, from patients to fed-up caring doctors.
• Find commonly-known Mass-DHMO offices and check their internet reviews.

Our Alternative - The Calm Dental Discount Plan

We understand that not everybody can afford dental insurance, especially if it's not employer-sponsored. For many, the concept behind a discount plan makes sense. If you don't have dental insurance, our in-office discount plan may help give you great savings. Rest assured that our in-office discount plan lacks the above setbacks. What you see is what you get - no hidden fees, and no second-class-citizen status. Our staff will be glad to explain the benefits to you when you call to make an appointment.