Oral Health Impacts Overall Health
According to the American Academy of Periodontology, losing teeth is not a result of aging, and according to the Academy of General Dentistry, bad breath is also not a result of aging! The US Department of Health and Human Services Report of the Surgeon General states that oral health may be related to your overall health. Dental coverage is an important part of a personal health plan—to ensure family dental care, protect against unforeseen dental costs, and help develop good oral hygiene habits.
What should you look for in a dental benefits plan? First, you may want to look for a group plan with group rates, which can help lower out of pocket costs. Secondly, your plan should offer you freedom of choice so you can select your dentist from a wide national dentist network.
You should also be able to give input into how your paperwork will be handled: does your dentist submit claims, provide you with pretreatment estimates, and check your coverage, claim status or history? The more flexible and easy to use, the more convenient and cost-effective your dental coverage will be. Lastly, your dental benefits plan should offer you and your dentist access to the latest dental research, developments and trends so you and your dentist can make informed treatment choices for you and your family.
A good dental benefits plan can be an important part of good oral health. Your AIA Membership offers you access to a flexible dental benefits plan —so you and your family can receive the dental care you need, with benefits & features you deserve. These include:
1. ATTRACTIVE GROUP RATES, LOWER OUT OF POCKET COSTS. The MetLife Preferred Dentist Program (PDP) offers you plan benefits based on negotiated fees that typically range from 10% to 35% less than the average fees for the same or similar services charged by dentists in the same geographic area. All PDP dentists have agreed to MetLife’s negotiated fees for in-network services—these negotiated fees may even extend to those services not covered by your plan and those provided after you’ve exceeded your annual benefit maximum.
(Savings from enrolling in a dental benefits plan will depend on various factors, including how often participants visit the dentist and the cost of services covered. Negotiated fees for non-covered services may not apply in all states.)
2. FREEDOM OF CHOICE. You have the option to visit any dentist, whether they’re in our network or not. With MetLife, you can go to the dentist you’re most comfortable with, even if he or she isn’t in our network. With more than 133,000 in-network dentist locations, there’s a good chance your dentist is part of the MetLife PDP network. If you need to find a dentist, you can easily find one in our national network. You’ll be assured they’ve passed a rigorous selection process. To find out if your dentist participates in the PDP, call 1-800-942-0854 or log on to www.metlife.com to use the dentist locator tool.
MetLife’s negotiated fees apply to non-covered services such as cosmetic and adult orthodontia, or services provided after the annual benefit maximum is exceeded.
You have two AIA benefit options to choose from: Option 1 covers preventive and basic dental treatment such as cleanings, X-rays and fillings. Option 2 covers some of the major, more expensive procedures such as crowns and dentures in addition to preventive and basic services.
3. EDUCATIONAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES. Dental care can be an important part of good overall health. MetLife’s Quality Initiative Program provides dentists with access to materials relevant to the latest dental research, developments and trends in patient care, so you and your dentist can make informed choices when it comes to your oral health.
4. LITTLE PAPERWORK, LESS WORRIES AND EXCELLENT SERVICE. With MetLife, there’s little paperwork if your dentist submits your claims for you. You can request pre-treatment estimates while you’re at the dentist. Anytime you want to check coverage, claim status or history, or get an estimate, you or your dentist can get a quick answer by phone, fax or online, so you can request the information you want, when you want it.
(Transactions are in real-time except when systems are undergoing scheduled or unscheduled maintenance or interruption.)
When you consider how dental problems can affect people of all ages—and how costly they can be to treat—you may want to carefully consider whether you have adequate dental coverage. MetLife provides the expertise necessary to help ensure things go right when you need them the most, and the tools and resources you need to make the right decisions about your oral health.
Like most group benefit programs, benefit programs offered by MetLife and its affiliates contain certain exclusions, exceptions, reductions, limitations, waiting periods and terms for keeping them in force. Please visit the AIA Trust website for more details.