Are You Happy With Your Smile

By Frank Menkal

How important is our dental care anyways? Well for starters if you smoke or chew tobacco, you have a greater risk for gum disease and oral cancer. Men are affected twice as often as women, and 90 percent of oral cancers occur in those over 45 years of age. Studies have also shown that diabetics are more susceptible to the development of oral infections and periodontal disease than those who do not have diabetes. To prevent problems with bacterial infections in the mouth, your dentist may prescribe antibiotics, medicated mouth rinses, and more frequent cleanings.


What are my options when it comes to dental plans? Well let me tell you, typically when it comes to dental coverage, most would take care of their dental needs through there job or even from an insurance provider, for a small monthly fee of course. But these days, that is far to impractical, with the development of great discount plans now widely available, one could save “Hugely” with this type of plan!

Here are some examples of your typical dental insurance plan vs. your dental discount plan and the kind of money a family could be saving. First of all, when it comes to your dental insurance offered through your employer, the monthly fees are much smaller when your not buying the converge on your own. . This is due to the fact that your employer pays most of the monthly cost passing the savings on to you! What you don’t realize is that in the end, the typical family pays more on a yearly basis.

Let me tell you that most families only go to the dentist when they need to. If your only going to the dentist when your teeth are in trouble, instead of getting your regular check up’s and teeth cleanings twice a year, those monthly fee’s add up to quite a bit when your looking at it on a yearly basis. When members of your family do make it to the dentist, they come to find out that not all procedure are covered and the paper work may get out of hand! In the end the insurance company wins making your family the losers (I’m just telling it how it is folks):

Now when it comes to picking a great discount plan, there are many options out there. Among these plans, I found that after doing some digging, that Ameriplan offers a plan that one would need in order to save more on a yearly basis On top of their discount dental program, you would automatically receive discount vision, discount prescription and discount chiropractic. To give you an idea on how your family would save more money with this type of dental program, all you need to understand are the basics about how it works.

First of all, anyone can sign up for this dental program and the monthly costs are fifteen dollars for and individual and twenty dollars for an entire house hold. Secondly, when you do decided to make an appointment for that mean tooth of yours, you get the discounted rate at the time of the appointment. Meaning, no wasted high monthly insurance cost when your family is not using the plan. I also found that when you do pay for all your treatments, most if not all are discounted up to eighty percent, “Wow”! If you ask me, this plan is worth looking into.

Other Facts that you might have not heard until now! 50% consider the smile the first facial feature they notice, and 80% are not happy with their smile! Maybe if you had the right motivation with the right dental program, your family would not just be another average statistic. Smokers remain three times more likely than non-smokers to lose all their teeth. This figure has not changed from a decade ago. “Yikes” if you smoke, one should consider the future and how not taking care of your teeth could really affect you later in life!

If you are a person that is concerned about not being a part of that 80% of people that are not happy with their smiles, I would highly recommend getting enrolled in a discount dental plan like Ameriplan. For only a small fee a month you can be on your way to a healthier smile without having to pay and arm and a leg for it! Dental care can get expensive but thanks to companies like this we now have an outlet to save money on our smiles!

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How To Survive Getting Your Wisdom Teeth Pulled

By S Porter

Wisdom teeth can be a real pain. Some people are fortunate enough to be born without wisdom teeth and others have enough room in their jaw for the teeth to come in, but the majority of us will have to have them removed. Having them pulled is an unpleasant event no matter how it’s done, so this article is to help those who are facing the same dilemma. Once you’ve made the choice to have them taken out, or the pain has made the choice for you, planning for the procedure can make all the difference. Putting it off will only delay the inevitable, but failing to plan for it will also cause lots of problems.

If you’re not in terrible pain, it’s best to plan for a week of healing time. You may still be able to work, but for at least a few day after you may have a swelling problem that will make your face look like a chipmunk. If you can avoid going in public during the first few days, then you won’t have to worry about people staring at you. The rest of the week eating solid food will be a problem, but using common sense with your diet will help avoid getting an infection or worse. Before you go in for your appointment, eat a full meal and brush your teeth because the rest of the day you won’t want to put anything in your mouth.

The procedure itself doesn’t take very long if you have a good dentist. After a quick look inside your mouth, maybe some x-rays, they will determine the best way to get them out. If your wisdom teeth are impacted, it will be more difficult to remove them, but certainly not impossible. This will also determine what type of anesthetic they will give you, as some people will have the option to get knocked out and others will get Novocain. Either way, you shouldn’t drive yourself home so make sure you have a ride to get back to your house. I got Novocain and it takes about 10 minutes to kick in; then it took about 5 minutes per tooth to remove. I spent the rest of the day with big pieces of gauss jammed in the back of my mouth to stop the bleeding.

After the first 24 hours things get a little easier, but not being able to eat regular food is very hard. A salt water rinse after every meal and once before bedtime will help keep food particles out of the healing areas, and the antibiotics will kill any infections that may occur. If you’re a smoker, it’s best to avoid having a cigarette for the first 48 hours so you don’t get dry socket; a very painful condition in the space where the tooth was. Over the course of the first week, most of the healing will take place and the gums will grow over the holes. The healing process will continue for awhile after this, but things should be back to normal for the most part.

The only other thing to take into consideration is the cost. About half of the population of the United States has dental insurance, but the other half is responsible for paying the entire bill. I use Ameriplan; a program that gives me a discount on all dental services, so it cost me just under $100 per tooth. Using insurance is a little more complicated as it depends on what your deductible is and if your policy even covers the procedure. Without a discount plan or insurance, the going rate is around $800 to $1,000 for all four wisdom teeth. I didn’t enjoy anything about having this done, but I am happy it’s over with. Good luck with your extraction and I hope that your good planning will make it as tolerable as possible!

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Health and Dental Insurance vs Discount Plans

By S Porter

There are many options available to Americans for health and dental plans. The most common health plan is regular insurance provided by employers, but there are other types of plans that don’t cost as much. Dental plans are also usually provided by the workplace, but they are disappearing as employers are trying to cope with rising health costs. 46 million Americans are without health insurance and nearly 50% of this country has no dental insurance. As we live longer and demand more from our health and dental providers, the price tag for these plans will continue to go up.

Health insurance is what everyone is familiar with, but most people don’t really know how it works. You and your employer pay the insurance company a regular monthly premium, and you are responsible for a small co-pay when you go see the doctor or get a prescription. Over time, the money you pay the insurance company adds up to much more than the average person will ever use in healthcare. If something tragic happens, you will thank your lucky stars that you have insurance, but even major surgery will not offset a lifetime of paying into the system. Insurance companies only pay the doctor a small percentage of what they bill and the result is multi-million dollar insurance companies.

Dental insurance works almost exactly the same way that health insurance does but dental insurance companies are usually much smaller. Like healthcare, you will pay into the system much more than you will ever use for the comfort of having it when you need it. Most employers have stopped offering dental to their employees because it’s not as important as health, but still expensive. You can also get a dental plan directly from some dentists that work in a dental chain, but they don’t usually cover the big expenses like braces. This leaves most people stuck with nothing and they just pay full price when they need to go to the dentist.

Discount plans like Ameriplan insurance are the alternative to regular health and dental insurance. With these programs, you pay a very small monthly fee and in return the health and dental providers give you a large discount on their services. The down side to these plans is that 80% off a $100,000 bill is still a $20,000 bill. You pay the discounted price that insurance companies enjoy, but this can still leave you stuck if something really bad happens. Dental is better than health with these programs because no one is going to lose their house over a dental bill. These plans are good for people that have no health or dental at all because something is better than nothing, and the cost is hundreds of dollars less per month.

Each person’s situation is different and the plan that’s best for them depends on their needs. If you are in good health and don’t have any coverage, a discount plan is going to be your best option. This will give you the option to save money for an emergency while enjoying a good discount on your everyday health needs like regular checkups. Another great option for most people is a discount plan combined with catastrophic health insurance. Catastrophic health insurance covers you in case of a big problem, but has a large deductible so it won’t help with everyday healthcare. Together you can have good coverage for substantially less than regular health insurance premiums. Health and dental care have a huge impact on your life, and it’s in your best interest to learn as much as you can about them so you can get the perfect plan for you.

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Important Times in a Child’s Dental Schedule

by: S Porter


Dental and health topics are talked about frequently in the
United States and it seems that the do’s and don’ts change on a
daily basis. We all know that we should see a dentist every six
months for preventative care because that hasn’t changed for
many years, but what about your children? Teeth are easily
maintained after they all come in and nothing else changes, but
while children grow they need several checkups to ensure long
lasting healthy teeth. What happens during the first 12 years of
your child’s life will impact their teeth for as long as they
live.



Children begin to get their baby teeth between 3 and 6 months
and it’s easy to tell when this is happening because of their
need to bite. After their baby teeth begin to come in, they can
be cleaned by a light rubbing with a wash cloth until they are 1
year old. From 1 to 7 years old, children need a soft toothbrush
and a pea sized dab of toothpaste. Dentists recommend that
children make their first trip before they are 3 years old, but
it’s time to make a decision at 1 year. If your child has high
risk factors for tooth problems, 1 year is a good time to make
your first appointment. High risk factors include; lots of
juice, going to bed with something to drink, thumb sucking and
most of all… the health of YOUR teeth.



From 6 months to about 7 years, children have their baby teeth
and they need to be treated well to last even that long.
Fluoride and calcium are chemicals that bonds to teeth and makes
them much stronger, but too much fluoride and it can cause teeth
to become brown stained. It is essential that children receive
the right amount of these chemicals and the only person
who can tell you how much is your dentist. Some parts of the
country have more naturally occurring fluoride in the water and
food supply than other parts of the country and your local
dentist will be able to tell you how much your child is getting.
Fluoride and calcium are even more important after your child’s
adult teeth come in between 6 and 7 years old. These are the
teeth they will have for the rest of their lives and
strengthening them very early on will help protect them until
they have children and grandchildren of their own.



Research has always shown that children who don’t receive proper
dental care early on have tooth problems most of their lives.
Not getting enough strengthening chemicals in their food due to
malnourishment and lack of dental care has always plagued the
poorer sections of the country and the children pay for it. Over
half of the country has no dental insurance through their
employer and dental appointments can become very expensive if
your child needs braces or has cavities. One solution to this
problem is a dental discount program like Ameriplan. In one
of these programs, dentists offer big discounts to their
patients in exchange for cash payment. These programs cost less
than $20 a month but they can cut the cost of braces in half.
Other portions of the population may get assistance through
Medicare and Medicaid, but lots of people will have to just suck
it up and pay out of pocket.



New advances in mouthwash and toothpaste can allow you to whiten
your teeth or strengthen them from the inside, but children have
no idea what they need and don’t need. It’s up to us as parents
to see to their health and dental and provide them with long,
happy and productive lives. When our children have children of
their own, most of these dental do’s and don’ts will have
changed. Until then, we can only do what we feel is best and
what we know works!



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