Payment is expected at the time services are rendered, unless other arrangements have been made. If you have dental benefits, we certainly encourage you to obtain your benefits for the services we provide. We will assist you by preparing pre-treatment estimates for you in order that you may be aware of your benefits. We will prepare your benefit claims and file them as a courtesy to you. We do this so that you can have the assurance that your claims have been filed.
We do not accept assignment for our services and do not work for any insurance company. Our services are provided for individual patients according to their special needs.
We accept cash, checks, Master Card, VISA, Discover, and offer special low-interest-rate financing through Dental Fee Plans, Inc.
We feel that the great majority of our patients definitely want to know the facts regarding the investment in dentistry. To communicate these facts is one purpose of the consultation appointment.
We also anticipate that patients might like to know how our fees are calculated, and what expenses these fees cover. In order to illustrate the various factors involved with a dental fee, we will explain the fee in portions, as these portions relate to establishing a fee.
A portion of the fee for any type of reconstructive dentistry would involve dental laboratory procedures. This fee is much like the fee a patient would pay a medical laboratory, but in this case, we pay it for him/her.
A second portion would involve the variable expenses of maintaining a dental office such as ours, including such things as dental supplies, equipment maintenance and salaries for top-flight personnel who help make planned dental visits pleasant and productive.
Still, another part of the total fee is allocated to research and development which includes those things that help us become better, more effective practitioners (post-graduate courses, seminars, clinics, better dentistry meetings, etc.). To be effective, a dentist must spend many days each year learning about new concepts and new ideas. Dentistry has advanced 100 years in the last ten years. This forward movement has created many demands on the dentist.
The fourth portion of the fee in an indirect way reflects the care, skill, and judgment on my part for restoring the mouth and teaching the patient how to prevent the causes and unnecessary recurrence of dental disease. In other words, it reflects my concern for you in rendering highly adequate care and teaching you about those things which we know to be important.
We feel this is fair.
A Memo about Managed Care by Dr. Edwards
A Letter To the Editor of the Greenville News regarding Managed Care
