How insurance works for your oral surgical care.

Most dental plans cap major-procedure coverage at $1,000–$3,000 lifetime regardless of treatment cost, so dental insurance typically covers a small fraction of a full-arch case. The better news: medical insurance often provides meaningfully more when the case qualifies as medically necessary. We verify both before treatment, and the written estimate you receive shows your specific projected coverage.

You upload front and back photos of your medical insurance card through a secure portal, and the verification team reviews your specific benefits, typically within 1–3 business days, returning a written estimate before your consultation. It works with most major carriers, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna, Premera, and Regence. Prefer the phone, or have a less common carrier? Our coordinator handles it directly, with the same outcome.

Your carrier makes that determination based on your clinical situation and policy criteria. Common qualifying situations include severe periodontal disease with documented bone loss, traumatic injury resulting in tooth loss, congenital conditions, post-cancer reconstruction, and chronic conditions affecting nutrition or overall health. We don’t decide medical necessity, but we help document the clinical aspects of your case to support an accurate determination.

Many patients don’t, particularly self-employed patients, retirees, and those between employer benefits. Without dental insurance, your cost is the published price minus any HSA/FSA funds you choose to use. Our full-arch price is all-inclusive per arch regardless of insurance status, and financing can spread it across 6–84 months. Even without dental insurance, medical insurance verification is still worth pursuing, many patients without dental coverage still have medical coverage.

Every patient receives a written treatment plan with itemized pricing before any surgical date is scheduled: total cost, projected dental coverage, projected medical coverage where applicable, HSA/FSA eligibility, and your estimated responsibility. You’ll know what you owe in writing before you commit. If you proceed, financing can structure the remainder into monthly payments; if you don’t, there’s no obligation, full-arch consultation and verification are complimentary.

For full-arch implant consultations, no referral is required and consultations are complimentary. For wisdom teeth, single implants, surgical extractions, and other procedures, we request a referral, both for clinical continuity and paid-consultation policy. Insurance doesn’t typically require a referral for specialty care, but one helps coordinate between your general dentist and our practice. No dentist currently? We can connect you with one in the South Sound area.

Verification is genuinely free with no obligation. We don’t charge for it, and the third-party medical verification service doesn’t charge patients either. What you get is a written estimate of what your insurance may cover. What we get is better-prepared patients who can make financial decisions with real information rather than guessing. Both sides benefit when coverage is clear upfront.

The third-party portal uses HIPAA-compliant secure upload. Your card information is used only for benefits verification and is not shared with marketing services or third parties. If you’d rather not upload, call our office and provide your information by phone instead. Once your treatment plan is finalized, records are stored per standard HIPAA-compliant practices, and you may request copies at any time.