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Be in the Clear with a Membership Plan

South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry has a very exciting and cost-effective options for all our patients who might have great medical and even vision health coverage, but lack good (or any) dental benefits. We know that employers, when putting together a benefits package for their employees, can sometimes make medical the priority (which is great!) but forget that dental benefits are a huge importance in our lives.

So, we have some good news for anyone that needs good dental benefits and coverage at an affordable price: we offer a Membership Plan through Kleer to ensure that all our patients will have access to professional oral care. In this blog, we want to highlight the tiers of the plan and make it as simple to understand as possible.

Firstly, here’s the good news: we offer the plan directly to you. You don’t have an agency that you have to work through, and there isn’t an insurance company you need to call to get approval for braces or to consult with to see if your plan will cover a root canal. In other words, you set up a Membership Plan with us and it’s your dentist or oral surgeon with whom you consult—not a corporate work on the phone, elsewhere. No middleman, just your dentist and you making the decisions. That’s the way oral care should work. Hassle-free and cost-effective savings are the things we offer to you, our patients, to make your oral healthcare our top priority.

Let’s review some of the basic benefits, then look at the various tiers of coverage, as well as options for choosing the best fit for your life.

Benefits

All of our plans include the following services or features:

• Cleanings, exams, and routine x-rays are included in the plan. You pay nothing extra for these parts of our basic coverage.
• You receive discounts for other procedures, such as fillings, crowns, root canals, and more.
• Benefits begin the moment you join. Join today and your benefits begin immediately.
• We offer full-price transparency. There are no hidden costs or fees. We will discuss the treatments recommended, and the costs of each treatment, in an upfront and honest way at the time of the consultation.
• A membership cycle covers 12 months from the date you join.
• You do not have to deal with any of the following (which are typical to most insurance plans): deductibles, waiting periods, pre-approvals, annual maximums, or denials of claims. Because this is our plan that we offer to you, and we are both the provider of coverage and the provider of care, you don’t have to deal with a middleman and the hassle it brings.
• This is not insurance but a Membership Plan, so that means you get access to regular, standard treatments as part of the plan, as well as, access to discounts for other procedures. (Because this is not an insurance plan, it will not satisfy the Affordable Care Act’s requirements.)

Plans

We offer up to 5 plans, to ensure that both you and your family members have access to consistent, reliable, and affordable dental health care. Let’s review some of the plans and the main features included in each.

All the plans, listed below, include a 20% discount on other dental procedures, which our practice offers.

1. Adult Start (14-years-old and older): One professional cleaning and checkup. This includes a professional cleaning and a regular exam, an oral screening, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $21/month, totaling $252 annually.
   2. This saves you $99 off of regular dental visits at our practice, over a year’s time.

2. Adult Complete (14-years-old and older): Two professional cleanings and checkups. This includes two professional cleanings and two regular exams, along with two oral screenings, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $32/month, totaling $384 annually.
   2. That adds up to $137 off the cost of what these procedures would be at regular pricing.

3. Perio (14-years-old and older): Three perio maintenance procedures and checkups. This includes three perio maintenance and two regular exams, along with two oral screenings, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $46/month, totaling $552 annually.
   2. This plan can save you $312/year, compared to the regular cost of these treatments without our Membership Plan.

4. Child Start (13-years-old and younger): One professional cleaning and checkup. This includes a professional cleaning and a regular exam, a fluoride treatment, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $19/month, totaling $228 annually.
   2. This plan can save you $134/year and help set your child on the path of good dental hygiene.

5. Child Complete (13-years-old and younger): Two professional cleanings and checkups. This includes two professional cleanings and two regular exams, a fluoride treatment, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $25/month, totaling $300 annually.
   2. This plan keeps $199/year in your pocket, compared with regular prices.

But Why Sign Up?

So those plans set out the practicalities of what you need to know, including what’s covered and at what cost. In other words, just by signing up for a year’s membership, you are paying less than if you just set up an appointment for the same treatments and paid out of pocket, on the spot. You save more by jumping onboard our Membership Plan, and that’s worth the monthly investment.

The plan also lays out the 20% discount on such procedures as the following: diagnostics, orthodontics, preventative, endodontics, restorative, periodontics, implant services, and more. As long as you do the work with us, at our practice, you will get the discount from us for our services.

Just be sure to keep your Membership Plan payments current (you can pay monthly or upfront, for the whole year) so that you can access all of the benefits and discounts available to you at South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry.

And we are so confident you will like our Membership Plan that we offer a 30-day money back guarantee. Within the first 30 days, so long as you’ve not used the benefits, you can get a full refund. But we are certain you won’t need to cancel, because our commitment to your oral and dental health is so complete that we are sure you will love working with us to achieve your dental hygiene goals. The money-back guarantee is to ensure your own peace of mind.

Get Preventative!

Part of the value of signing up is spreading out the cost of a treatment into 12 equal, regular payments over time—and saving money off all of the yearly procedures you will need for regular oral hygienic care. Let’s walk through an example or two.

We recommend an adult has two cleanings in a year, to maintain good oral health. With the Adult Complete plan, what would have been $218 ($109/singular cleaning) costs you $0 at the time of treatment—and you are only paying $21 month. The value of spreading out the cost is that you won’t have to shell out $109 on the spot to get a cleaning, and you don’t have to put it off for 3 more months until there is room in your budget for a cleaning. At $21/month, every month, what could feel unaffordable without insurance becomes easily affordable on a month-by-month basis.

And, also with the Adult Complete plan, two regular exams along with two oral screenings (valued at $61 each) and routine x-rays ($80 for a round of them) are part of the plan. And if you need an emergency exam (normally $101/exam), the plan has you covered! So you and your spouse both joining in on the plan means that, together, you would save $274 ($137 each). Can anyone say 2-3 date nights, with those savings?

What are the costs for children? Let’s consider the costs for treatments without the plan so you can see how the savings add up when you sign up your child for the Child Complete plan. A professional cleaning costs $76, so with this plan that adds up to $152—but the plan covers that as part of its basic benefits. A regular exam can run $61/exam (the Complete plan gives you two exams/year) and your child’s annual fluoride treatment is $67—also covered by the annual plan. Routine x-rays would be $57 without the plan and an emergency exam would cost $101. But, on the plan, this all comes as part of the basic benefits afforded to you as a participant in the Membership plan. Overall, the Child Completeplan would save your family $199/year, per child. Have two or three children who need oral care? Well, that could add up to $398 (two children) or $597 (three children) in savings per year, with our Child Complete Membership Plan! Those savings could add up to the cost of a season’s soccer lessons for one of your children.

Let’s consider the cost-savings afforded to you for one last plan: Perio. This plan, designed for those who need a bit more maintenance and care, especially care for any periodontal diseases, offers you some great savings off of regular care. One  maintenance visit costs $187, and since the Perio plan covers three of those maintenance visits (totaling $561), that means you basically cannot lose by signing up. The Perio plan costs only $552/year, and so the annual cost already saves you some money just off perio maintenance—but the plan also includes two regular exams (totaling $122 for both), x-rays valued at $80, and an emergency exam included in the plan (which would normally cost $101). So, all in all, you save $312/year with the Perio plan, ensuring the regular visits you need to beat back early onsets of periodontal diseases. Can you measure such savings, year after year, when you’ve saved your gums and teeth from decay and disease?

So, we think that the Membership Plan is actually better than insurance: no hassle with a middleman, no denials or insurance maximums, and no pre-approvals needed to get the care you require. As a participant in the Membership Plan, you speak directly with Dr. Wells or a dental hygienist about the treatments you need, so you can make a decision on the spot to go ahead with the treatment. And remember, we offer a 20% discount to all participants on any treatments or procedures they do on site at our practice. So that’s savings upon savings.

Dr. James Wells, and the whole team here at South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, hope you will give some real thought to the five tiers of our Membership Plan, through Kleer, and sign up with us so that we can get you the savings that you and your family need and deserve. If you have questions about the particulars of any plan, we are more than glad to talk you through, in detail, with what a plan covers, how the coverage works, or how we process your Membership payments.

Don’t fret about the cost of making your smile bright. We are here to help!

The Dangers of High-Protein Diets

Summer is right around the corner, which means most of us are looking to get that beach-worthy physique back. Popular these days are diets of high protein because they can help quickly shed the pounds. But, you might want to think twice about jumping right into such a plan, as high protein consumption can have negative impacts on your oral health if you’re not careful.

The potential problem with these protein-based diets is that protein promotes acid-production in your saliva. The more protein you eat, the more your saliva will fill up with acid in order to help with the digestion of the protein. The chemicals that protein content can actually harm your teeth in the long run. High-protein foods contain sulfur and phosphorous, which turn into sulfuric and phosphoric acids as your body digests the protein. So, get this: your body makes acid to digest the proteins you eat, plus, many foods you eat already have acidic components in them. That’s a lot of acid!

Too much acid in your saliva and mouth will de-mineralize your teeth, making them weak and brittle. The acids eat away at the minerals and enamel of your teeth, exposing them to various kinds of harmful bacteria that can cause tooth decay and loss, cavities, or periodontal disease (which affects your gum tissues). Sugar and other simple carbs can also put your mouth in danger of such oral health problems.

Did you know that the recommended protein consumption for men is 63 grams of protein, and for women it is 50 grams in a day? Yet most of us eat far more than that in a given day. So, when you purposely up the level of your protein intake, you also are further increasing risks to your teeth. Such diets might trim your waistline but just be aware that they can also trim your tooth enamel.

It is so important to think about increasing your intake of fruits and veggies, especially when consuming a lot of protein, because they are good for your health and your teeth.  Americans do not eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables, so perhaps the better dieting strategy would be to eat those plus lean proteins and to cut out processed foods and ready-made snacks. Reach for nuts over chips, for some blueberries instead of a cupcake, lean meats over fattening pizza. Your waistline will trim down and you don’t risk so much damage to your teeth’s enamel.

Tips for Oral Health and Special Diets:

Still want to go on that high-protein, low-carb diet? That’s ok—go for it. Just follow a few preventative steps to ensure you don’t lose weight and also, eventually, lose teeth too.

1.      Keep a toothbrush and toothpaste with you, as well as, dental floss and travel-size Listerine. Store a set at the office, or keep them together in a zip-lock baggie in your gym bag or purse. If you keep these items with you, you can easily floss, brush, and use mouthwash after every meal when you are away from home.

2.      Brush after every meal and snack. The more consistent you are with brushing, the more consistent you will be at removing the acids that can eat away your teeth.

3.      Don’t forget to floss! Brushing alone removes some, but not all, of the food material that can become plaque—and it is plaque that is the culprit, acting like acidic paste sitting on your teeth. Flossing gets the extra bits of food out from between your teeth, which ensures less acidity in your mouth.

4.      Use a fluoride mouthwash. This is the best way to repair tooth enamel, because fluoride strengthens the enamel you already have and, when used consistently, can promote the rebuilding of tooth enamel over the long run. Use at least once a day, before bed (after a good brushing and flossing!), and it is not a bad idea to use it in the morning before you head to work. The key is not to drink any liquids for 30 minutes after using a fluoride mouthwash so that the fluoride has that half-hour window in which to act on your teeth.

The key is to think about moderation when selecting the diet you follow to get your body ready for summer! Moderately increase your intake of protein as well as fruits and veggies, and decrease eating sugary or processed foods. Talk with your dental hygienist about the best practices to follow for good oral health when changing your diet.

Written by Andrae Bergeron - CCP Web Design