New Patients
Nothing sets the tone of your anticipated dental visit more than your initial call to the office. If you haven’t done so, give us a call and help us understand how we can be of service. You’ll be greeted warmly, we’ll find out what you need, answer your questions, and we’ll gather some information to get things rolling.
A typical first appointment begins with one of our hygienists. Lori or Sue will greet you in the reception area and walk you back you your chair. They will go over your health history and, with your help, get to know what your expectations are and if you have any specific dental needs you’d like to discuss with Dr. Degnen before she comes in to meet you.
Information You’ll Find Helpful
Use the links provided to download our New Patient Forms. Filling them out before you come in will help expedite your visit and let us know how we can best serve you. If you have any questions or are unsure of any answer, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Dental insurance is a complicated animal! Whether you have it through your employer or have your own personal policy, we will strive to do our best to make certain you get the largest benefit possible for the treatment you and Dr. Degnen agree needs to be addressed. As long as your plan allows you to choose any dentist you wish, we’ll be able to work with you and will let you know how your plan works, to the best of our ability, before any treatment begins. If you must select a dentist from a list (this would be an HMO-type plan) then, unfortunately, your insurance will offer you no benefit at our office. We will, however, do our best to find you a dentist in your plan that is accepting new patients.
We will file your insurance claims and accept payment of benefits directly from your insurance company. Only the estimated co-payment portion of your treatment will be due at the time of service, and we will provide you with our best estimate before Dr. Degnen begins any treatment.
If you have any questions about your plan, not sure of what it does or doesn’t cover, don’t hesitate to give us a call and we will help you out.
Smile Advantage
Over the past 30 years, the cost of quality dental care, like most things in life, has gone up. If you’re lucky enough to have dental insurance, you’ll notice that while your annual premium costs continue to rise, the annual maximum benefit you get for your money – $1000, $1500, $2000 or maybe $2500 – unfortunately has not changed since dental insurance was put into play 30 years or so ago.
To help those patients of ours and new patients that join our practice who have no insurance options available, we are proud to offer our Smile Advantage Membership Plan. It is designed to provide the necessary preventive care needed to maintain good oral health that is so important to your overall wellness, and provide you with substantial savings on any other dental service you may need or want. The best part is that there are no exclusions, minimums, or waiting periods that you’ll find with traditional dental plans. You simply sign up and receive services on the same day! No confusing co-pays or reimbursements. Just one simple annual membership fee for both individual adults and children.
We offer the following “Pay In Full” discounts to all of our patients:
Payment by Check, Cash, Debit Card
- A 7% courtesy discount is offered to patients who pay in full with checks, cash or debit cards for treatment plans over $500. This discount will not apply if insurance benefits are assigned.
Payment by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card
- A 5% courtesy discount is offered to patients who pay in full with VISA, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Card for treatment plans over $500. This discount will not apply if insurance benefits are assigned.
For those who qualify and wish to finance their dental care, we offer Care Credit. CareCredit is a “dental care” credit card that is used solely for the purpose of helping you finance the dental care you need. It can help you pay for all of your treatment, or the portion not covered by your dental plan should you have insurance. Depending on your situation, we can offer you no interest options for up to 12 months or help you out with low monthly payments for longer periods. If you think you’re interested in opening a CareCredit account, give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you through the simple application process.
To process our insurance claims and billing statements, we use a company called First Pacific Corporation (FPC). They are located out of Salem, Oregon. They are not a collection agency. With their help, we are better able to spend quality time with you when you need us, rather than spending time away from you processing paper.
If you receive a bill from FPC and don’t understand it or don’t believe it’s correct, WE WANT YOU TO CALL US!
First Pacific is just a vendor. The only information they can share with you is what we give them, so your first step to answering any question you have is to get in touch with us.
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