Summary: <p>Teeth can be expensive! Lillian breaks down some unexpected ways you can save on dental – from taking a trip to Hungary to opening a FSA account, and helps explain why dental isn’t quite like regular health insurance. In this episode I say “out of pocket maximum” a few times when I meant maximum.</p> <h3><strong>Ways to Save on Dental Costs</strong></h3> <ul> <li> Step 1, actually get preventative work done if you can – it will save you money in the long run</li> <li> If you have access to dental insurance, make sure you go in-network</li> <li>Do the math on self-bought insurance vs how much you will use</li> <li>Be aware of the maximum on your insurance and any waiting periods – there’s no regulations on what is required like there is for regular insurance</li> <li>Shop around for different procedures & compare prices</li> <li>Look into a local dental school for reduced cost work</li> <li>Consider dental tourism to a country with high-quality and low cost plans</li> <li>Open an HSA (if you have an eligible HDHP plan) or an FSA either on your own or through your insurance</li> </ul> <h3>Helpful resources for strategies mentioned in this episode</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="http://www.fairhealthconsumer.com">fairhealthconsumer.com</a> – a place to look up comparable rates for health care costs</li> <li> <a href="https://www.dentalselect.com/dental-discount-plans/">Dental Discount Plan </a>– A discount discount plan</li> <li> <a href="http://universaldentalplan.com/">Another discount plan</a> – universaldiscountplan</li> <li>An Everyday Health article on <a href="https://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/my-health-story/my-dental-vacation-mexico-mercedes-mouth-hyundai-budget/">someone’s experience with dental tourism</a> </li> <li><a href="https://patientsbeyondborders.com/procedure/dentistry">List of things to consider for dental tourism</a></li> <li>A B<a href="https://www.thebillfold.com/2018/01/paying-for-my-wisdom-tooth-extraction-with-an-hsa/">illfold article on paying for a wisdom tooth extraction</a> with an HSA</li> </ul> <h3>Other Episodes you might find helpful</h3> <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.ohmydollar.com/podcast/choosing-a-health-insurance-plan/">How to choose a health insurance plan during open enrollment</a> – information on HSA and FSAs from last week’s episode</li> <li> <a href="https://www.ohmydollar.com/podcast/24793/">Mistakes not to make with health insurance</a> – last year’s episode with Jake Hopper is still a relevant guide to different questions</li> <li><a href="https://www.ohmydollar.com/podcast/24793/">Your trump health insurance questions answered</a></li> </ul> <p>Reminder we’re on a mission to get those iTunes reviews and ratings up. It only takes 10 seconds to star a review. <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-my-dollar/id1189980636?mt=2">Here’s a link to our iTunes profile!</a></p> <h3>Transcript</h3> <p>We have transcripts for every single episode now provided thanks to the support of our Patrons in the Purrsonal Finance Society – you can become one, too! <a href="http://www.ohmydollar.com/support/">Learn more here.</a></p> <p></p> <div class="sonix--embed-container" style="display: block;"> <div class="sonix--embed-text" style="text-align: left;"> <h1 style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; color: #3e3e3b; text-decoration: none;"><a style="text-decoration: none; color: #3e3e3b;" title="How to Save on Dental - 10.17.2018 transcribed by Sonix.ai | Sonix is the best automated transcription software" href="https://sonix.ai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How to Save on Dental – 10.17.2018</a></h1> <p style="font-size: 14px; color: #3e3e3b; text-decoration: non;"></p> </div> </div>
