Patient Resources

Your First Visit

We look forward to meeting you and your child at their upcoming visit! Before their first appointment, we want to help you understand what to expect.

A Positive Experience

You can make your child’s first visit to the dentist enjoyable and positive. If old enough, your child should be informed of the visit and told that their dentist and friendly team will explain all procedures and answer any questions. The less to-do concerning the visit, the better.

It is best if you refrain from using words around your child that might cause unnecessary fear, such as “needle,” “shot,” “pull,” “drill,” or “hurt.” Our office makes a practice of using words that convey the same message but are pleasant and non-frightening to the child. Our goal, after all, is to protect your child from a bad dental experience.

What To Expect

We invite you to stay with your child during the initial examination. During future appointments, we suggest you allow your child to accompany our team through the dental experience. We can usually establish a closer rapport with your child when you are not present. Our purpose is to gain your child’s confidence and overcome apprehension.

However, if you choose, you are more than welcome to accompany your child to the treatment room. For the safety and privacy of all patients, other children who are not being treated should remain in the reception room with a supervising adult.

What To Bring

For your child’s first visit, please bring their new patient forms filled out or arrive early to fill out all necessary forms. Also, bring dental insurance information so we can properly submit any necessary claims. If you have any questions prior to your child’s visit, please feel free to give our team a call!

Patient Forms

We look forward to meeting you and your child! Please complete the online forms prior to your appointment to make your experience as efficient as possible. Select one of the options below to get started:

English / Español

Financial Info

At Trinity Kids Dental, we want every family to have access to affordable pediatric dental care. For this reason, we offer a variety of financial options so you can choose the best fit for your needs. If you have any questions regarding finances or insurance, contact our team today!

Finances

We accept cash, personal checks, debit cards, and most major credit cards. Our team can work with you to provide a treatment plan that fits your timetable and budget, as well as offer your child the best possible dental care.

Insurance

We accept many dental insurances, including Medicaid. To find out if we accept your insurance, please contact our office prior to your visit. We will work with your insurance to get the most out of your benefits and help you understand your coverage. Your insurance company will receive each claim within days of the treatment. Please bring your insurance information with you to your child’s first appointment and notify us of any changes before your scheduled visit.

Office Policies

How Are Appointments Scheduled?

The office attempts to schedule appointments at your convenience and when time is available. Preschool children should be seen in the morning because they are fresher and we can work more slowly with the child for their comfort. Schoolchildren with a lot of work to be done should be seen in the morning for the same reason. Dental appointments are an excused absence. Missing school can be kept to a minimum when regular dental care is continued.

Since appointed times are reserved exclusively for each patient we ask that you please notify our office 24 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment time if you are unable to keep your appointment. Another patient who needs our care could be scheduled if we have sufficient time to notify them. If you cancel or reschedule less than 24 hours before your appointment, miss your scheduled appointment, or arrive more than 15 minutes late to your appointment, you may be charged $50 per broken appointment. We understand that unexpected things can occur, but we ask that you notify us ahead of time when possible. We will do our best to work with you in those situations. However, we reserve the right to not reappoint after 2 or more broken appointments.

Do I Stay With My Child During The Visit?

We invite you to stay with your child during the initial examination. During future appointments, we suggest you allow your child to accompany our team through the dental experience. We can usually establish a closer rapport with your child when you are not present. Our purpose is to gain your child’s confidence and overcome apprehension. However, if you choose, you may come with your child to the treatment room. For the safety and privacy of all patients, other children who are not being treated should remain in the reception room with a supervising adult.

What About Finances?

Payment for professional services is due at the time dental treatment is provided. Every effort will be made to provide a treatment plan which fits your timetable and budget and gives your child the best possible care. We accept cash, personal checks, debit cards, and most major credit cards.

Our Office Policy Regarding Dental Insurance

If we have received all of your insurance information on the day of the appointment, we will be happy to file your claim for you. You must be familiar with your insurance benefits, as we will collect from you the estimated amount insurance is not expected to pay. By law, your insurance company is required to pay each claim within 30 days of receipt. We file all insurance electronically so your insurance company will receive each claim within days of the treatment. You are responsible for any balance on your account after 30 days, whether insurance has been paid or not. If you have not paid your balance within 60 days a finance charge of 1.5% will be added to your account each month until paid. We will be glad to send a refund to you once insurance has paid us.

PLEASE UNDERSTAND that we file dental insurance as a courtesy to our patients. We do not have a contract with your insurance company, only you do. We are not responsible for how your insurance company handles its claims or for what benefits they pay on a claim. We can only assist you in estimating your portion of the cost of treatment, we at no time guarantee what your insurance will or will not do with each claim. We also can not be responsible for any errors in filing your insurance; once again, we file claims as a courtesy to you.

No Insurance Pays 100% Of All Procedures

Dental insurance is meant to be an aid in receiving dental care. Many patients think that their insurance pays 90-100% of all dental fees. This is not true! Most plans only pay between 50-80% of the average total fee. Some pay more, some pay less. The percentage paid is usually determined by how much you or your employer has paid for coverage or the type of contract your employer has set up with the insurance company.

Benefits Are Not Determined By Our Office

You may have noticed that sometimes your dental insurer reimburses you or the dentist at a lower rate than the dentist’s actual fee. Frequently, insurance companies state that the reimbursement was reduced because your dentist’s fee has exceeded the usual, customary, or reasonable fee (“UCR”) used by the company.

A statement such as this gives the impression that any fee greater than the amount paid by the insurance company is unreasonable or well above what most dentists in the area charge for a certain service. This can be very misleading and simply is not accurate.

Insurance companies set their schedules and each company uses a different set of fees they consider allowable. These allowable fees may vary widely because each company collects fee information from claims it processes. The insurance company then takes this data and arbitrarily chooses a level they call the “allowable” UCR Fee. Frequently this data can be three to five years old and these “allowable” fees are set by the insurance company so they can make a net 20-30% profit.

Unfortunately, insurance companies imply that your dentist is “overcharging” rather than say that they are “underpaying” or that their benefits are low. In general, the less expensive insurance policy will use a lower usual, customary, or reasonable (UCR) figure.

Deductibles & Copayments Must Be Considered

When estimating dental benefits, deductibles and percentages must be considered. To illustrate, assume the service fee is $150. Assuming that the insurance company allows $150 as its usual and customary (UCR) fee, we can figure out what benefits will be paid. First a deductible (paid by you), on average $50, is subtracted, leaving $100. The plan then pays 80% for this particular procedure. The insurance company will then pay 80% of $100, or $80. Out of a $150 fee they will pay an estimated $80 leaving a remaining portion of $70 (to be paid by the patient). Of course, if the UCR is less than $150 or your plan pays only 50% then the insurance benefits will also be significantly less.

Most importantly, please keep us informed of any insurance changes such as policy name, insurance company address, or a change of employment.