"Why Can't I Just Have A Filling?"

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Patients often go into a dentist's office with the expectations that the only thing we need is a simple film only to be told that they need extra dental work involving inlays, onlays or crown build-ups.

While crowns are typically covered by dental insurance because they're considered a "major benefit", inlays, onlays and crown build-ups may be considered by an insurance policy to be a "Least Expensive Alternative Treatment" (LEAT) reimbursement which means that the patient is faced with much higher out-of-pocket expenses or settling for what amounts to be an inferior treatment.

With limited expected benefits for inlays, onlays, and crowns, patients may ask: "Why can't I just have a filling? According to the September 2007 issue of Woman Dentist Journal, the most easy-to-understand answers to this question include:

• A tooth with a defective "filling" or with cracks or fractures may be a tooth with bacteria and fluids seeping into it
  
  
• Bacteria may "eat away" at what is left of the tooth, eventually reaching and contaminated the nerve and blood supply, causing toxins to drain out the root "end," forming an abscess
  
  
• Once an abscess has formed, a root canal procedure is required, and an onlay or crown will be needed anyway.

So the next time you go into a dentist's office for a filling, don't be surprised if you end up needing a lot more than a hole in your tooth being patched. *And your dental insurance may not even cover it.

* Luckily, all of the discount dental plans that I sell cover inlays, onlays and crown build-ups. In fact, expect to save anywhere from 25% to as much as 50% off the regular retail price for these dental procedures.