For those on medicare, what do you use for a dental plan?

[LouAvul]

My wife's retiring in a few weeks and I'll be needing a dental plan. Ours is provided by her employer till she retires.

[Does so]

Delta, as recommended by my employer.

[Ace's Dad]

One source would be your current dentist. Mine has been very healthful.

[cuban leaf]

Dang, that’s so similar to my beliefs I was wondering if that was one of my posts I was looking at. 😁

[Persevero]

Dental is cash for me and I think it’s much more affordable than dental premiums.

“Carecredit” is an outfit that will pay your dental bills and you pay them back within 6-12 months no interest. You may wish to apply.

[Owen]

Medicare Advantage plans generally have some basic dental coverage. Annual exam etc.

There’s an outfit called DentalPlans.com that gets you discounts if you select their network dentist.

Default approach: if anything serious arises, Los Algodones just across the Mexican border.

[Berlin_Freeper]

More than that,

And more than that:
Cavities are primarily caused by bad dental habits, including diets high in sugar and acids, use of tobacco products, and poor oral hygiene. However, people who take excellent care of their teeth also get cavities—sometimes even more than those without a good oral care routine. If you get cavities more easily than others, genetics may partially be to blame.

[hardspunned]

I have a Medicare supplement plan which has no dental but gives me the other coverage I need. My wife has the same. We pay $500 per year (joint) for my dentist’s in house plan. It covers regular maintenance and gives us a 15% discount on additional work. It has worked well for us so far.

[mass55th]

"So if you have a medical plan, you should be covered for cataract surgery."

I have both Medicare and health insurance benefits as a retired employee of New York State

[Karliner]

I guess I’m a bit different. Have had two cavities my whole life, had one tooth pulled besides wisdom teeth and I’m 65 in a couple months. A lot is hereditary, streptomucens etc. My brothers and sisters have similar problems as you.

[Ken H]

If you’ve got a spare $35,000, look into full mouth implants.

[mass55th]

"My reasons for the surgery weren’t remedied, and I miss the sharpness that glasses could achieve."

My problem is that I have a few small cataracts in both eyes, but I have one specific cataract in my left eye that is sitting smack-dab in the middle of my lens. It affects the vision in that eye, despite up-to-date corrective lenses. Because of the sizable difference of strength in my lenses, I may still end up having to wear glasses after the surgery. I don't really care about wearing glasses. I've worn them since I was 12. I just want to be able to see normally again without blurry vision, halos and feeling like my eyes are fighting each other to focus.

[JohnnyP]

I have medicare with a Delta Dental HMO plan.

I have several broken teeth that need crowns, and bridges as both canines are missing. The plan pays a lot but I’ve never been able to use it.

My wife had her upper four front teeth capped a couple years ago. The dentist billed $250 per tooth above what the plan paid.

I got a quote a couple years ago for $30k worth of work, the plan would have paid $20k.

I have a few $k to spare now. Could I change enrollment to a Delta Dental PPO plan? Would that pay everything? Approximate monthly cost?

[DennisR]

We don’t. We pay out of pocket.

[StAntKnee]

Cash money. Even when I had a Cadillac dental plan, my share added up to what I now pay out of pocket. Emergencies are a different deal. They have cost me plenty.

[BobL]

Agree...lots of people simply have ‘bad teeth’. In my case, though, I started with good teeth, didn’t bother with them, and they got bad. So I did the floss/cleaning/brushing routine and they’re back to good.

But if I started with bad teeth, then it’s (obviously) still best to keep them as clean as possible and deal with the issues as they arise.

[Vendome]

I use a door knob and fishing line...

[Zuriel]

My next younger brother (63) is like you: indestructable teeth. Even though he has not taken very good care of them. Maybe two cavities. Drinks soda pop like water. And his baby teeth didn’t start falling out until he was a couple years older than I was when mine fell out.

[Bob434]

as a dentist- does densify from crest actually work to ‘rebuild teeth’ or is it a gimmick?

[Hootowl99]

First of all… Have your wife speak directly with her company's benefits department. The company likely has a retained insurance broker that handles retiree Medicare supplemental insurance. This great for me. Note that retired and employee insurance are completely separate things.

Medicare was mandatory for me at 65yo and as far as I know it still is. I worked though 2 extra years until 67 before choosing to actually go on SS. Through my former company (100% retired now), I have now and going foreword will stay with the company programs. Medigap, vision, hearing, dental, prescription. Full package. I have found nothing comparable.

Initiate this process through the employer. Expect to be forwarded to their retained broker. As far as company names, I currently have Transamerica for Medigap, Aetna for prescriptions and Cigna for vision, hearing, dental. Expect to make a telephone appointment with the employer's broker and expect this to take 2-3 hours. It's so long because they are learning your unique medical history and current status. Next it shifts to determining your options and their costs. Note that this broker is retained by the employer so there are little to no fees or commissions buried in the costs you pay.

I'll repeat a strong suggestion, talk to the employer's benefits department to start on this Insurance adventure. Also It works easier for me for the costs for the supplemental insurances to be directly withheld from the SS check. It's one less hassle to deal with if you change banks or debit cards.

Last things, you're not locked into the exact insurance plans or types you initially start with now. That's what the 1X per year change window is for. If you move, you need to notify the insurance broker immediately to keep address current. If your working through company's retirement insurance as I've chosen, you also need to keep your company updated with current address - This is real important as there is a routine download of retiree contact info to the broker then to the insurance companies. If you move for example, this could tangle insurance coverage until you update the employer's database.

[babygene]

Next month I’m having cataract surgery on both eyes.

If you can afford it, pay the extra for the reading lenses. they also correct astigmatism. I had an astigmatism and the standard lenses don’t correct it and I would still have to wear glasses. I upgraded mine for $6000 extra, and now I have 20 20 in both eyes, and 20 25 for reading. It was worth it...