A recent article in Money magazine offered consumers simple advice to cut their health-care costs. The advice? Floss daily. According to the writers, you'll save up to $2,000 in dental expenses down the road if you start flossing today.
The message is timely. Americans are placing more importance than ever on proper dental hygiene. Increasingly, scientific evidence shows a strong link between a person's oral health and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and even some forms of cancer.
Furthermore, studies have shown that pregnant women with periodontal disease are more likely to give birth prematurely and have low-birth-weight babies.
We Americans love our teeth, it would seem. Dental insurance is the most commonly offered employee benefit after medical and prescription drug coverage, according to LIMRA International. Workers treasure it. Fully 89% of Americans believe that their overall health is linked to their dental hygiene, according to a recent survey by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. Seventy percent of them visit the dentist once a year, and 47% go every six months.
Yet, faced with higher costs for Health insurance, many employers are asking workers to shoulder some or all of their Dental insurance premiums. Small businesses are among the growing ranks of firms offering dental as a voluntary benefit.
The rewards of offering Dental insurance are great, regardless of whether the employer or employee pays for the coverage. Since dental plans typically cover 100% of the cost for preventive services, people tend to take advantage of these benefits regularly. That's a good thing, because every dollar spent on prevention in oral health care means $8 to $50 saved in restorative and emergency treatments later, according to the American Dental Hygienists' Association.
That savings is money in the pockets of workers and their employers. This makes group dental plans a good deal for everyone.
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Because of the potential future savings, the number of preventive care services covered by dental plans is growing. Many insurers now offer extra cleanings at no charge to people at risk for periodontal disease, including diabetics and pregnant women.
Some insurers have even started covering fluoride treatments for adults. Children and teenagers have traditionally received fluoride treatments to strengthen their teeth while the bones are still developing. But adults can benefit from fluoride treatments, too. It's an inexpensive way to head off the need for high-cost restorative treatments such as bridges, crowns, and implants.
Fluoride treatments aren't the only new preventive dental benefit to hit the market. Dental insurers are also adding advanced oral cancer screening technologies to their list of covered services.
Oral cancer is on the rise in this country. It claims the life of one American every hour, according to The American Cancer Society. The Oral Cancer Foundation reports that 34,000 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease in 2007. Smoking, drinking, and genetics are among the risk factors, but 25% of oral cancers occur in people with no lifestyle risk factors.
The key to surviving oral cancer is early detection. When detected early, it can be treated successfully 90% of the time. Yet it's difficult for dentists to spot the warning signs. Oral cancer is discovered through early detection only about one-third of the time.
Thankfully, new tools are available to help dentists find the early signs of oral cancer. One of these is ViziLite Plus, which uses a fluorescent light to reveal abnormal tissue in a patient's mouth that cannot be seen with the naked eye. As with fluoride treatments, some insurers give patients and dentists the freedom to decide if the test is needed for individuals older than 40.
Freedom to make one's own health care decisions is a hallmark of consumer-driven health plans. Patients are becoming more accustomed to controlling their own health plan dollars. Accordingly, some dental insurers are allowing patients to roll over part of their maximum annual benefit into the next year. Patients can save up a portion of their unused annual maximum dollars to help pay for future, more expensive dental procedures such as dental implants. This product creates a more sensible incentive than the "use it or lose it" rule that governs traditional dental plans.