Updated November 2022
Dental Benefits – did you know they expire on December 31st every year if you don’t use them? It’s true. You can’t carry them over to stockpile in case of emergency. If not used each year, they simply vanish. All that money you paid into your plan throughout the year gone to waste.
If you haven’t used up all your dental benefits yet for 2022, there’s still time, but you need to hurry… don’t put your money in someone else’s pocket!
One Thing You Can Control In An Uncontrollable World
While there is still some lingering uncertainty in the world as we head toward the end of 2022, you do have control over one thing: your oral health.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve no doubt heard the news that research in recent years has undeniably confirmed the significant impact that our oral health — whether good or bad — has on our overall state of health and well-being.
For example, there is a strong correlation between gum disease and heart disease. The plaque in your mouth is the same plaque found in the arteries of the heart. It’s even the same plaque found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
Interestingly, this correlation is a two-way street — just as poor oral health can lead to disease elsewhere in the body, certain diseases like diabetes increase your risk of gum disease and other oral health issues.
It’s a symbiotic relationship, between our mouths and the rest of our bodies… one that we need to nurture and protect fiercely.
So — what on earth does all this have to do with dental benefits?
I’m glad you asked!
Dental Benefits: Use ‘Em Or Lose ‘Em
It’s a phrase that we use often in many different contexts: use it or lose it.
Your muscles? Use them or lose them.
Your brain? Use it or lose it.
Your dental benefits? USE THEM OR LOSE THEM!
It’s absolutely true in this context too. You may think that by NOT using your dental benefits each year, you can stockpile all that unclaimed cash with your insurance provider so that when a really big dental procedure is needed for someone in your family, you’ll have a windfall at your disposal to pay for it.
Not so! Whatever you don’t use up by December 31st each year simply expires. Vanishes into thin air, never to be seen again.
Actually, scratch that – never to be seen by you again. Somebody is indeed cashing in from your unused dental benefits, but it sure isn’t you.
That money, earmarked in 2022 by your insurance provider specifically for your family’s dental plan – which you have faithfully paid into throughout the year – if not used for dental work, goes right back into the pockets of the insurance company come January 1st.
Yep, insurance companies love it when you don’t use up your dental benefits, because they can then keep all that unclaimed cash for themselves.
And if you knew how many people keep paying and paying into their plan all year in order to have those benefits, and then simply let them expire on December 31st without using them up? It would shock you. In fact, it happens so often that insurance companies count on it as part of their annual projected revenue.
So, what can you do to keep your hard-earned money working for you — and not your insurance provider? Use the dental benefits you have – NOW! There’s no excuse not to take advantage of them!
Has it been a challenging 2 and a half years? Absolutely.
Was your dental office closed for a few months in the beginning of 2020? Absolutely.
Are you now behind on your checkups and cleanings? Probably.
Is there still a way to catch up before your dental benefits expire? Absolutely!
What Do I Do Now?
Simple. Contact us ASAP and we will help make sure you don’t lose out on the dental benefits you are entitled to, as we head into the final few weeks of 2022.
Whether you just need a good cleaning to get you back on track, or you’ve been putting off a more intensive procedure that you know you might need, book an appointment right away so together we can come up with a plan for your treatment before the end of the year.
It’s vitally important to stay on top of our oral health. We need to keep our immune systems humming at peak capacity to stay ahead of whatever this winter’s cold and flu season will bring. And we now have irrefutable evidence that optimizing our oral health is a crucial piece of that immunity puzzle.
We all need to be good money managers of our family finances, and using up the dental benefits we are entitled to is one of the best ways to manage those finances responsibly.
It’s not too late! Call Bradford Family Dental at 905-775-5307 today – we can help!