[Closed] Dentists - Why am I being offered 20% off for signing up to Denplan?

Commission I would guess.

Den plan is a bit of a rip off unless you need lots of work doing

Commission and more work for him

Den plan is a bit of a rip off unless you need lots of work doing

nickc - Member

Den plan is a bit of a rip off unless you need lots of work doing

Yeah, interested to know why this is the case?
My Wife signed us both up to it after looking at the costs and comparing against 6 monthly check-up and a clean-up.
It seemed to cost the same, but just means you pay monthly, rather than at every visit.

I assumed the advantage to the dentist is regular monthly payments?

Costs seem to break even with Denplan for me (two visits & hygenist). I pay a bit extra for implant replacement if I lose a tooth doing something stupid.

what are you being offered 20% off?

There are two types of Denplan.

Care covers everything except the lab fees for crowns/ dentures etc (normally 30% of the total cost) so check ups, hygienist, fillings, extractions x-rays etc and it gives you the weekend and "on holiday" call a dentist out cover. Cost varies based on the overheads of the practice and what state your teeth are in buts its usually around £20-£30 a month with only the occasional labfee on top if you need a crown etc.

Essentials covers Check ups and often a couple of hygienist visits and gives the same insuarance for weekend call outs but doesn't cover any treatment. Most practices will offer a discounted rate off any treatment you need. Cost is less then Denplan Care, it varies but £15 a month ish.

There's no commission for signing you up to denplan but it gives the practice a regular income. Although the dentist is losing that 20% of fees on his essentials patient, those patients are more likely to stay as regular attenders to the practice over the years because they are paying for their check ups monthly and that is valuable for practice stability. Completely "pay as you go" private patients often come and go as they think they need treatment and so represent a less stable patient base to have for your business.

The whole idea is that denplan costs no more over time than paying as you go it just spreads the payments out over the year in a known monthly amount for the pt and gives the dentists a known stable income to his business

Peter Nadeen, great haywood?

Good response ceepers and useful info.

Costs break even for me as well (2 check-ups + 2 hygienists). Plus it covers any work should I need it such as fillings, x-rays, etc.

I visit my dentist twice a year. £80 per visit for me including checking and hygienist ... 😮

I visit my dentist twice a year. £20 per visit for me including checking and hygienist ...

I haven't been to the dentist for 26 years 🙂

(Since I left full time education)

Ive got fairly straight and white teeth, never had toothache, haven't got any fillings, and I can still open beer bottles with my teeth 😆

Keep thinking I should go, but as I have no issues whatsoever, I never get round to it.

I challenged my dentist over the Denplan fees - turns out they were pretty much the same as the cost of two check ups and two scale and polishes a year and the one replacement filling I'd just had, just spread over 12 months.

Cougar - Moderator
I visit my dentist twice a year. £20 per visit for me including checking and hygienist ...

MoreCashThanDash - Member
I challenged my dentist over the Denplan fees - turns out they were pretty much the same as the cost of two check ups and two scale and polishes a year and the one replacement filling I'd just had, just spread over 12 months.

When they come to sell the business its probably worth more with regular payments from payment plans rather than when your teeth start to hurt.

Well that helps.

It also creates a situation where patients make treatment decisions based on the merits of different options rather than just their cost which is worth something from a clinicians job satisfaction point of view.

Most dentists are self employed and schemes like denplan also help as they effectively give some paid holiday and sick pay that they otherwise wouldn't get

Ceepers is clearly a dental professional, good post. I used to be part of Denplan's senior management in its formative years, about 20 years or so ago, working with the chap who conceived it and more importantly, put it into action.

All I would add is that Denplan was conceived as a preventative dental health care approach. In essence your monthly fee pays for time with either the dentist or hygienist, rather than the alternative private fee per itam (PFPI) approach, whereby you pay for treatment.

The main advantages for the patient by entering a Denplan/capitation contract with your chosen dentist are regular check ups, hygienist cleaning, education as to how you can improve and maintain your oral health and depending, in most cases, any required treatment will be lower than PFPI and lab work at cost (although this may not be necessarily so now). You also budget with a monthly payment for your care, so no surprise bills when toothache hits.

Advantages for the dentist are primarily that they don't have to drill and fill to run their business. It's very expensive to run a dental practice with highly trained staff, expensive medical equipmen, premises etc. Their hourly rate is often much less than say a solicitor, who has an office and a phone. They are also in the caring profession and as such, want to care rather than butcher. Also, from a business perspective, they get a regular monthly income, which eases cash flow uncertainty and possibly reduces their need to get a few more treatments in to pay the bills or salaries.

I wish we could pay for our primary health care in a similar fashion.

Ultimately, as a patient, your choice as to whether you feel it is value for you. Whether it is better if you require lots of work is mainly bullshit, possibly if you already have a mouth full of complex bridgework, crowns implants, but even they don't last forever, so capitation can be viewed as a steady payment scheme for future work required, but discuss this with your dentist first.

I'd be interested in hearing more detail from Nick as I know he's worked as a practice manager, but my personal experience is similar to others above in that the denplan cost is more or less the same as the cost of a check up and hygienist twice a year. Of course it could just be a diddle by the practice bumping prices to make denplan look a good idea and the taking the kickback on the insurance brokerage?

There's no commission, no kick backs. Or at least, there never were, nor was it the intention. Denplan charge the dentist a monthly admin fee per patient. This in itself is/was a sliding scale where more patients a dentist registered on Denplan, the lower the per patient fee.

It was therefore in the interests of the dentist to sign more patients onto denplan as their monthly costs to Denplan reduced. As above, the advantages also included being self employed with an evergreen income, increased value of their business and more time to develop their own skills and areas of interest.

It's a win win for all IMHO, you may not feel so inclined due to your personal situation, views, opinions. Hopefully I've been able to clarify a few things for you as misinformation in all aspects of life are never helpful.

Why am I being offered 20% off for signing up to Denplan?

I used to be part of Denplan's senior management in its formative years

That's why I love this forum.

Excellent words slackalice!

I have nothing to add! 🙂