Reclaiming Denplan payments?

Mushaboom

Hi,

I'm a newbie and clearly a wally too since I have been paying my Denplan installments but not attending the dentist (black mark for two reasons).

Does anybody know if it is possible to reclaim payments made if you've been as silly as me?

Thanks.

Toothsmith

Hello,

A lot of my patients are on Denplan, and this is an issue that comes up from time to time.

How long is it since you last went?

Denplan is an agreement between you and the dentist that for £x a month, he will look after your dental maintenance.

It's not a 'pot of money' that builds you up a credit and you can only have treatment to that much if you need it, or, on the other hand, you don't get a refund if you don't 'use' your money.

From my point of view, the 'pay off' is that if we get the preventative side of things right, and motivate the patients to brush well, and eat right and look after things well themselves - then they don't need much treatment, making things more profitable for us.

From the patient's point of view - they don't have to worry about the individual costs of the check-ups, or the sessions with the hygienist, or the time we spend explaining (properly) to patients about just how to look after things themselves, and so they come regularly they learn how to look after things properly - and they don't need too many fillings or nasty things!

But - if you don't go - it's not much use.

It's a bit like having a gym membership you don't use. The dental practice is still there, ready for you to use, the nurses and equipment is being maintained all ready for your visit - so that all costs money, it's just you've not been putting your bottom on that seat!

The thing to do is to actually ring up and make an appointment and GO!

As you've been paying, then anything that might have gone wrong will be fixed. It's better than cancelling it now, and then finding you have to pay somebody else to fix things up. There is a clause in the Denplan agreement that says that if you do leave it a very long time then the dentist is entitled to charge you to put things right (Because you've not been getting a regular 'service' of your teeth) but unless things have gone majorly wrong in there, it would be quite a tight dentist who actually enforced that.

Usually at my place, we try our best to contact Denplan patients if they've not been in for a while, to encourage them to come back in again - especially as they're still paying me!

Last year, I actually de-registered a bunch of patients who hadn't been in for >5 yrs, as they never responded to any letters or calls. It was amazing that once I'd done that, half of them actually then got in touch with the practice to ask why we'd done it! We agreed to sign them back on again once they'd come for a check up!

I have had a couple of incidents in about 17 years where patient have tried to get 'money back' for not coming for ages. In both cases the time span was only a couple of years though, and we'd been trying to contact them. I didn't refund any money, but we did get them both in to check them over and do whatever was necessary before they moved on to denists who were closer to where they now lived.

Mushaboom

Toothsmith; thank you for your reply.

Last apt was March 2008 and I stopped my Denplan installments last year, so I think I've probably paid for apx 3 yrs without attending.

I fully agree the easiest solution is to attend the old practice and resolve things this way, however in reality it's not always that easy; I have moved 2 hours travelling time from the old practice.

I suppose I'm trying to reinvent the wheel but it does seem Denplan could work better if you're able to transfer your account from practice to practice thus avoiding this kind of situation.

I've spoken to Denplan who say they keep no records about the theoretical 'balance' on my account, and similarly my old dental practice also have no individual record. I can't believe this is correct?

I don't want a row with either party, simply want to understand my rights and position, either in terms of a refund or obtaing some records!

Toothsmith

Ahh - well if you stopped your payments a year ago, then there's not even the option of going to see them again, because there is no longer a contract between you and they have no obligation to you.

As I said in my first reply, Denplan isn't a pot of money. You need to think of it more like a membership. From 2008 - 2011? you were a 'member' of that dental practice. It was there for you, it was ready and waitng for you to go along and see them. Had you had a problem, right up to the month you stopped paying them, they would have seen you, and sorted out the problem - regardless of what that problem was.

You were also covered by the insurance side. Should an accident have damaged your teeth, or should you have needed to see a dentist in an emergency (anywhere in the country or even abroad) you would have been able to, and you'd have had access to their helpline to help you find a dentist if that situation arose.

So the money you were paying gave you access to a service - you just didn't use it.

There isn't an 'unused balance' anywhere.

If by 'records' you mean your dental records, then you can get those from the practice, or at least a copy - but they're unlikely to have any financial details on them if you're paying a monthly direct debit - as they're not relevent to your clinical care.

If you've not been for so long though, they're unlikely to have much on them that would be of much use to a new dentist. Most historical stuff can be worked out from a new charting and a couple of x-rays anyway.