It is again this time of the year that everybody is busy preparing for their tax returns and plan for tax spending for next coming year. I can share my experience in dental expenses and how to maximize your spending for the necessary dental treatment.
Many companies will offer some kind of medical benefits to the employees. This includes dental benefits. This can be either in the form of dental insurances or some spending credits for paying necessary dental treatment.
In some situation, employees are allowed to allocate their desired dollar amount in their credit account to pay for their medical expenses. Usually this type of credit account is sometimes referred to as flexible spending account. It is pre-tax money. Usually each employee allocates their desired amount of money into this account for medical spending. The upside is that all money is pre-tax. However, in some cases, any unspent dollar amount will be lost if the employees did not claim in a given year.
Generally, I would advise patient to first estimate their expected medical spendings. Then based on this estimation, I would advise patient to allocate amount of money corresponding to the lower range of this estimate into their medical spending account. The benefit of this is that patient can use this pre-tax money to spend on their medical/dental treatment. On the other hand, if they put in too much money into the account, they may risk losing the unspent amount.
I would advise patient to come for routine dental checkup. By monitoring their dental health, I as their dentist can comprehensively evaluate their dental needs and make necessary recommendation to the dental treatment they may need in the near future. Even if the patient may have multiple problems, I can devise a suitable treatment plan and stage the treatments.
Written by Daniel Tee, DDS, MS
If you have any questions or want to schedule an appointment, Please call 480-820-6131
Practicing Dentist Serving Tempe, Chandler, Phoenix, Mesa, and Gilbert Arizona
