(732) 493-8030

Dental Insurance

A Rational Approach to Dental Insurance

The subject of dental insurance comes up frequently in our office. Our team encounters many questions, concerns, and problems around this very sensitive subject. Let’s take a close look at this mysterious issue.

An insurance company is a business. The objective of any business is simple: to make a profit. Making a profit, put simply, involves having one’s income exceed one’s expenses. An insurance company is very justified in controlling its expenses; if it doesn’t do so, it cannot make a profit and cannot exist. (By the way, this same principle applies to all of us. At home, we need to be sure that our expenses do not exceed our income. This is reasonable!)

Your dental insurance is based on a fixed benefit with some significant limitations. Your policy will pay a pre-determined amount for certain things, based on actuarial principles—not on your needs.

The mission of our office is to enhance your well-being. Together, we arrive at solutions that will accomplish what you want. This is where confusion can arise.

If we depend on—or allow our treatment decisions to be made by—an insurance carrier, then the basis of our decisions will be the well-being and profitability of the insurance company! Most insurance contracts limit the amount of dentistry and the choices that you have, regardless of your own individual needs.

We believe that people can make good decisions for themselves when given good information and the opportunity to think for themselves. We spend a lot of time together in creating a plan to help you achieve your goals and objectives. We feel that this relationship is sacred and should not be violated.

Most dental insurance policies are benefits for your hard work. We, therefore, cannot ignore the existence of your policy—that would be foolish. We’d like to take a rational approach to this issue, allowing you to reap the benefit of your hard work while retaining our ability to treat you with the care, skill, and judgment you seek and expect of us. How do we do this? We will proceed with planning treatment according to your needs and desires and the principles of good dentistry. We will ask you to pay us for our services, preserving and maintaining the total doctor-patient relationship, making each of us accountable to the other with no outside interference. If you have financial concerns, we will listen to them and help you to the best of our ability. And we will file your insurance claims promptly so that you can receive the benefit you work so hard for.

We hope this helps a bit. Always feel free to discuss this —or any other matter of concern—with us whenever the need arises!

Commitment to Financial Arrangements

In Dr. Stern’s practice, highly personalized fine dentistry in a caring office setting is no longer exclusively for the rich and famous.

And attainment of wellness is not reserved for a privileged few.

Fran and our team will help you to find the best, most convenient way to help you pay for your dentistry.

We accept all major credit cards and checks, of course.

Additionally, our office has made arrangements with several sources of long-term and interest-free payment plans for those who seek those options.

We are always available to answer your financial questions and to help you.

804 West Park Ave., Ste 1L,
Ocean, NJ 07712

Alan G. Stern DDS logo

​Phone: (732) 493-8030

Our office will be closed on December 24th and December 25th.

Our office will be closed on December 31, 2020 and January 1, 2021.