What is Denplan

thebyp

Evening

This is going to sound really daft, but what is Denplan?

I had thought it was an insurance policy, but am I right in thinking its actually a payment plan to cover the cost of your dental work?

Or is it something else entirely?

Thanks

Ben

welshdent

There are 2 main types. Denplan essentials (2 check ups and 2 scale and polishes a year, travel cover and a few other things) you pay for necessary treatment in addition to the monthly fee. Some practices may do a discount for essentials patients, Denplan CARE is different to this.
It is a maintenance plan. That means that you must be dentally fit before joining. It is only an agreement between you and the dentist you see as opposed to an insurance policy that would be redeemable anywhere. You enter an agreement with the dentist and denplan handle the fees in exchange for a cut of your payments. They provide a certain level of insurance such as for accidental damage and travel cover. I think they will also arrange emergency care for you if you are not able to get to your own dentist (IIRC)
The dentist would have 5 bands that correspond to a pricing plan.
Basically when you are dentally fit your dentist would score your mouth based on existing dental work i.e. fillings, root fillings, crowns, materials used etc. The number of points you score would put you in to a specific category. Unless things are exempted from it i.e. a tooth that everyone knows needs a filling but you a refusing to have done ... you pay a monthly fee to denplan accoding to your category. As a guide the practice I used to work in that converted had IIRC 4 bands ... £10, £15, £20, £32 or something like that .. I may be wrong as it has been a while since I worked with it.

That entitles you to have all future necessary clinical work paid for. You are basically paying your dentist to maintain your mouth for you. So if you needed a filling then there would be nothing extra to pay. Having work done however may push you up a band. For example if you are in the £10 band but end up having a root filling and a crown done there would be a good chance you would then fall in to the £15 band.

What is NOT covered is cosmetic work and lab fees.

SO tooth whitening would not be covered. If you needed a crown of a bridge they would you still have to cover the lab fees charged to the dentist by the technician making it. That does mean that you can have a top end crown for significantly less than you would be paying as a fully fee per item patient. If the crown would normally be £400 and the lab fee is £100 ... then £300 of it would be cancelled out by the denplan and you would pay to get it made. There are also cheaper options so you would be able to pick and choose more I guess.

thebyp

So for somebody like me who hasn't been to the dentist since 1997 (:)), I'm guessing Denplan is only any good for me after dental work has been done?

Toothsmith

You need to be 'Dentally fit' to join.

So you would go and see a dentist, pay for anything that needs fixing, and once it's fixed, you could join Denplan (Assuming it's a dentist doing Denplan that you see - not all do by any means).

The monthly payment would then cover any future necessary work.

But - with the fact that you've already paid, you'll be much more likely to go back for your regular check-ups, see the hygienist when necessary and get things sorted out early rather than when youhave a screaming toothache!

Meadows

thebyp wrote: »

Evening This is going to sound really daft, but what is Denplan? I had thought it was an insurance policy, but am I right in thinking its actually a payment plan to cover the cost of your dental work? Or is it something else entirely? Thanks Ben

My Dentist insist all new patients pay Denplan. They used to do National Health but when my daughter & I joined some nine years ago we had to be private patients. When my husband wanted to join about five years ago he could only join by being in the Denplan scheme.
We pay about £18 - £19 twice a year for check ups, he has to pay £16.17 per month Denplan,that covers his check ups and hygienist (all he ever has done).

Bronnie

I find this so confusing .

My daughter is 22 and is in full time employment. She is an NHS patient atm, her dental health is very good and she just has one small filling and no outstanding problems.

After reading on this Board about how basic NHS care is, I feel she should be a private patient. However everytime we start to research it on here, we get so befuddled by what's the best plan to take out, we end up doing nothing!

brook2jack

I wouldn't worry about the plan. She should find a dentist she is happy with and then find out what plans they offer.
I would have thought that all she needs is a "maintainance plan" such as denplan essentials,practiceplan,isoplan to name a few which offer 2 check ups, 2 hygiene visits xrays per year and an insurance component .

Bronnie

brook2jack wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about the plan. She should find a dentist she is happy with and then find out what plans they offer.
I would have thought that all she needs is a "maintainance plan" such as denplan essentials,practiceplan,isoplan to name a few which offer 2 check ups, 2 hygiene visits xrays per year and an insurance component .

Thanks for the advice re the maintenance plan.

I see, so you go with the company your dentist offers? She has a trusted dentist already, they use Denplan too.

Her employer offers Bupa Dental Plan as a subsidised benefit, although the last time we looked at things, it didn't appear to be greatly subsidised! Would she have to use a different dentist if she used the BUPA Plan?

brook2jack

I don't know about this one but read the details. It may be the type of plan where they reimburse you so much each year for the cost of treatment i.e. a maximum of £x for check ups £y for fillings crowns etc.

If so most dentists are also happy to take you on as a pay as you go patient, but some will charge for filling out the form to claim back the money (I don't ).