Financial Information

At 6 Day Dental we do not employ a staff member to work billing and send statements. This allows us to meet a primary goal of the practice - to keep our fees as low as possible.

We're pleased to offer you the following payment options for your convenience:

Payment in full at visit with cash, check, or credit card.
- We offer a 5% courtesy adjustment for payment in full when you receive treatment. We're proud to offer you the opportunity to save money on your dental treatment. At no charge, we will gladly process any insurance claim for your direct reimbursement.
No or low-interest payment plans with no down payment necessary in most cases. At no charge, we will gladly process any insurance claim for your direct reimbursement.
Estimated co-payment at visit with cash, check, or credit card with most insurance plans following benefit verification. Please be aware that we cannot guarantee this estimate and that there may be a balance after insurance pays. Whenever choosing this option, we ask that you leave a credit card on file for any balance that may be owed after the claim has been processed.

Orthodontic Payment Options

Orthodontic treatment is an excellent investment in the overall dental, medical, and psychological well being of children and adults. Financial considerations should not be an obstacle to obtaining this important health service. We are sensitive to the fact that people have different needs in fulfilling their financial obligations, so we are providing the following payment options.

Payment in Full
- A bookkeeping courtesy of 5% is given for direct payment in full at start of treatment by cash or check resulting in a one-time payment.
Out of Office Flexible Payment Plan
- No initial payment
- No prepayment penalty
- Potential tax advantage
- Auto-debit available upon request
- Fast, confidential service by phone (refer to brochure for phone number or website)
Office Payment Plan
- An initial payment is due to the office when treatment begins. This fee does not include records, as they are charged separately for your convenience. The balance may be paid through monthly payments.

Facts You Should Know About Dental Insurance

Dental insurance is rapidly playing a larger role in helping people obtain dental treatment. Since we strongly feel our patients deserve the best possible dental care we can provide, and in an effort to maintain a high quality of care, we would like to share some facts about dental insurance with you.

Fact #1: You may receive a letter from your insurance company stating that dental fees are higher than usual and customary. An insurance company surveys a geographical area, finds the average fee, and then takes 90% of that fee and considers it customary. Included in the fee survey are discount clinics, which bring the average down. Any doctor in private practice will have fees that are considered higher than average.
Fact #2: Dental Insurance is not meant to be a PAY-ALL, it is only meant to be an aid.
Fact #3: Many plans tell their insured that they’ll be covered “up to 80% or up to 100%” but do not clearly specify plan fee schedule allowance, annual maximum, or limitations.
Fact #4: It has been the experience of many dentists that most insurance companies tell their insured that “fees are above the usual and customary fees” rather than saying “our benefits are low”.
Fact #5: Many routine dental services are NOT covered by insurance carriers.

Please do not be hesitant in asking us any questions about our office policies. We want you to be comfortable in dealing with these matters and we urge you to consult us if you have questions regarding our services and/or fees. We will fill out and file insurance forms at no charge. We will do all we can to assure you of maximum benefits.

If you have any questions regarding your insurance, we ask that you contact your company regarding the specifics and details of the plan it is conducting on your behalf.

HMO / PPO Provider vs. Private Care dentist

"How come you're not on the list of dentists my company wants me to go to?"

This is a question we are often asked by our patients when their company begins offering an HMO/PPO dental plan option, and we hope to clear up much confusion by answering it. First of all, Texas law states that you can go to any dentist you want. It is called the Freedom of Choice Act. Your employer is required to offer a freedom of choice plan along with the PPO plan. You will need to just sign up for the correct plan at your next enrollment period and you can go anywhere and have coverage. It's well worth the few extra dollars you pay to go to an efficient, caring private practice.

Every dentist is solicited by three or four insurance companies a month to join their "family" of HMO/PPO dentists. Contrary to popular belief, there is no quality control or screening process to select top dentists in the area. In fact, the insurance companies make no evaluation or assessment of a dentist's clinical skills whatsoever. Basically, the only two prerequisites I've ever seen to sign up as a HMO/PPO provider is: 1) do you have a license to be a dentist, and 2) do you have a heartbeat (and I'm not sure about the latter).

The promotional material provided to you the patient by this multi-billion dollar insurance company is very appealing. It makes it sound like you've just BINGO' d at the VFW and there really is a free lunch, or so it seems. It appears that everyone wins in this deal; you, the patient, now get FREE (or greatly reduced) cleanings, x-rays, exams and perhaps even fillings. Even the major treatment is much cheaper—you're ecstatic! The upper management of your employer has a much cheaper dental insurance premium to pay each and every month—they are ecstatic! If you have been following the profits of the HMO/PPO insurance industry, you are aware that they are making money hand over fist. The insurance company executives are among the most highly paid in the business world—they are more than ecstatic; they're doing handstands to work!

So who is the loser here? Everyone seems to be getting more for less; this must be the mystical free lunch at last! Unfortunately, it isn't. There has to be someone absorbing the costs of all this free, cheaper treatment. You may have already guessed it, it's the HMO/PPO dentist. Now, you ask,

"Why would anyone want to work harder for less money?"

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is the $64 dollar question I have asked myself. Let's look at why anyone would do this.

The manipulative insurance industry dazzles the prospective dentists with promises of wealth, endless patients, busy practices, happy patients, and then they add,

"Oh, did we forget to mention that you will have to give away many services for FREE and cut the rest of your fees by 30-40%?"

"But don't worry about that," they quickly point out, "because you will have two to four times as many patients to try and see in order to make up for the lost revenue. You'll just have to work a little faster. "

To many financial struggling or marginally proficient dentists, the temptation is too great and they sign up, only to quickly realize that their soul now belongs to the insurance company.

Understand that as an HMO/PPO provider dentist, you are paid $6-10 per month per family or patient whether or not that patient ever shows up in your office! Now if that patient does want to show up and get their teeth cleaned or a filling done (which the dentist is, by contract, required to do for FREE), do you think that dentist actually wants that patient to come in? Of course not, the dentist does not make money when the patient comes in!!

That's the game the HMO/PPO provider has to play with you, the patient, in order not to lose money. Now you see why it might be difficult for you to be seen for a routine visit or in an emergency. The biggest complaint from patients in an HMO/PPO practice is that they can't get an appointment or they never see the same dentist twice. Is it a mystery now why that is the case?

Probably the biggest thing you lose when you leave a private practice for a PPO practice is customer service. Let's face it, in our very busy world, who has time to wait—for anything? When you have an appointment at our practice, we are on-time. When you are being treated, we are very efficient and caring. We often accomplish in 1 or 2 visits what it would take 3 or 4 appointments to accomplish at a PPO practice. Time is money and your time is too valuable to endure this type of waste.

In my opinion to be an HMO/PPO provider, I would be forced to sacrifice quality, service and the personal attention we give to our patients. In short we would give up our ethical standards. I won't do that, and it's an easy choice to make. I do not wish to practice on roller skates, sacrificing quality for quantity. As an HMO/PPO practice we would have to use cheap labs, cheaper materials, work faster and cut comers. Many comers could be cut in the area of sterilization alone by not using so many disposables and procedures to protect you, the patient.

One of my patients was in an HMO medical plan and had lower back spasms. She went to her designated orthopedist and was given some muscle relaxants after a brief examination. After several days, her condition was no better and she tried to get another appointment. She was told that she must have no pain tolerance and would have to get used to it (emphasis mine). I told her, "You don't understand the HMO-Insurance game. Your doctor makes money by NOT seeing you. He makes nothing when you come in for an office visit."

The medical profession has all but lost the war to the insurance industry. The story has been well documented in a recent TIME magazine cover story. The dental profession still has, by and large, the freedom of choice. As long as that continues, I will endeavor to provide you with the best that dentistry has to offer.

“Reasonable and Customary”…What Does It Mean?

We are often asked by our patients, “Your fee for this is over what my insurance company calls “Usual and Customary”, does that mean that you’re overcharging me?” That’s a good question and one we’re happy to answer.

Insurance companies on an individual basis come up with “usual and customary” fees for all dental procedures for a certain geographical region. When our state dental association asks these companies for data to see how the numbers were arrived at and what, if any, dentists were surveyed, they are told categorically by every insurance company that this is confidential, internal information and they will not reveal it.

Our answer is, “If this survey was done fairly, and truly represents the fees in a given area, they why can’t we see how it was done?” The insurance industry seems to be incapable of understanding this type of logic. The fact is that different insurance companies have different reasonable and customary fees for the same area. If the calculations were done correctly and fairly, they should all have the same fees. They do not because the “calculations” were not done fairly and correctly. The insurance company’s only reason for establishing artificially low “reasonably and customary” fees is to cause animosity between the dentist and the patient. It is the insurance company’s hope that the dentist will then lower his/her fees so that the company will have to pay out less money. Any time an insurance company says that they’re on your side, grab your wallet to see if it’s still there.

A dental plan is nothing more than a contract between the employer and the insurance company to partly pay for certain services. There are deductibles and some services are paid on a percentage while others may not be covered at all. Your employer buys a contract at a specified premium and includes as many or as few benefits as the employer is willing to pay for. It is a well know fact within the industry that a higher premium paid by the employer will get you, the patient, a higher “usual and customary” fee schedule.

Our fees are set by the actual costs of doing business in this particular office. Obviously, costs can vary from office to office depending on the quality of service, materials used, lab costs, and many other factors. We have never tried to be a dental office for everyone, and by the same token, we have never tried to be the cheapest office. Our fees reflect the quality of service and care with which it was delivered. We also want our patients to know that our sterilization standards are second to none and are well above what is required by the profession.

If price is your only concern when choosing a dentist then our office may not be the right one for you.