Dental Insurance and Finances
Home | Dental Insurance and Finances
Sunnyside Dental — Your Choice for North Calgary Family and General Dentistry!

Dental insurance benefits are used to help our patients cover some or all of the cost associated with their dental care. Not all dental insurance plans are the same which makes it important for you to understand your specific plan details before your appointment. Most dental plans cover some, but not all of the cost of your dental care. At Sunnyside Dental we follow the Alberta Dental Association Fee Guide for our services, whether you have dental insurance or not. Your particular policy may cover treatments and services at a fixed fee schedule, which typically does not coincide with our usual fees. In these cases, the difference in fees not covered by your insurance company becomes your responsibility to pay and will be invoiced to you once we receive payment from your dental plan.

At Sunnyside Dental, we help our patients maximize their dental insurance benefits, and we ask our patients to please bring along a copy of their plan details for us to help you get the most out of your dental insurance. We also use this information to provide you with accurate estimates for your treatment.

At Sunnyside Dental, our goal is for you to have a pleasant experience in our office. We strive to help you to the best of our ability in helping you attain a high level of dental and overall well-being.

Payment Methods

At Sunnyside Dental, we require payment for your estimated or exact patient portion on the day of service. For your convenience, we offer several payment options:

  • Cash
  • Credit Card: Visa, MasterCard & American Express
  • Interac Direct Payment
  • Dental Financing (Ask one of our staff)
  • Direct Insurance Billing

Frequently Asked Questions about Dental Insurance

Do you offer direct billing?

We are pleased to offer direct billing to insurance as long as the policyholders Benefit Provider will allow us and as long as we have an active credit card number on file to cover any unpaid balances. In some cases, assignment of benefits will not be permitted due to balance on account issues. Also, there are a few policies which will not permit the benefits to be assigned to the dental office and will only forward payment to the patient; we require payment at the time of treatment in these instances.

What costs will my insurance company cover?

Unfortunately, we are unable to know exactly what every patient’s dental benefits will pay. We will do our best to provide you with an estimated patient portion, but it is the responsibility of the patient to know the details of their insurance plan and to inform us when changes occur to the plan, what is covered by the policy and who is covered under the policy. Please be aware that due to privacy laws, we are not able to access information on your behalf from your insurance provider. It is helpful if you have a booklet or form with these details to bring to your appointment.

What factors do you consider when providing an estimate for treatment?

Estimates for your treatment are based on the most recent information we have on file. If you’re concerned about exactly what costs you’ll be responsible for, simply ask about our ‘Pre-Determination.’

What is a ‘Pre-Determination’?

A Pre-Determination provides you the cost of the treatment. Upon request, we will submit this information to your insurance provider before completing any treatment. While this may delay your treatment, you will know an estimated of what (if any) out-of-pocket costs you may be required to pay. We ask that you please provide us with your estimate so that we can help you understand your treatment coverage.

What payment options are available to me?

We require payment in full for your patient portion at the time of treatment. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Interac (Debit). We also offer financing options using iFinance; please contact us to learn more.

What is the best way to budget for my treatment?

We’re happy to put together a detailed treatment plan with the associated costs clearly outlined so that you can budget for each appointment accordingly. We can also prioritize treatments so that you can attend to the most urgent treatments right away and then plan further treatments over time.

My dental insurance said it pays 100% for my dental treatments: why do I still owe you money?

We hear this question often. Usually, the patient has looked at his EOB (explanation of benefits statement) which tells you what the provider paid, or they check their plan booklet and sees that the fee charged by the dentist exceeds the fee guide amount set by the Benefit Provider. The problem is that the fee covered by the provider is whatever has been negotiated between your employer and the Benefit Provider and is directly dependent upon the premium paid for your specific benefit policy. That is why the coverage can vary even among the employees of the same company or other patients covered by the same Benefit Provider. If you have any questions about dental insurance or our payment methods, please call us at 825-540-3515!

If you have any questions about dental insurance or our payment methods
please call us at 825-540-3515!