¿Habla español? New Spanish videos are available for you to share with your employees. These videos will help your Spanish-speaking employees make the most of their plans and navigate Delta Dental’s online tools. You’ll find easy-to-share YouTube links and links to ad-free versions of the video that you can download and host on your company’s intranet. These videos are also available in English.
Online tools
This video walks employees through the robust online tools Delta Dental offers, including plan details, claim history, personalized cost estimates, the online dentist directory and other wellness resources. Resources behind the login process are currently only available in English, so this explanatory video is an especially valuable resource for Spanish speakers with limited English proficiency.
If your group’s plan doesn’t include the Cost Estimator, you can share this video instead. It covers all of the same online tools as the previous video, just without the personalized cost estimates.
These videos explain Delta Dental’s three main networks.
For employees covered under a Delta Dental PPO™ plan, this video breaks down the advantages of choosing a PPO dentist and show them how to find a PPO dentist online.
The Delta Dental Premier® network expands your employees’ options under a Delta Dental PPO plan. This video introduces employees to both the PPO and Premier networks, explains the differences and shows how to search for an in-network dentist.
Understanding the cost of dental care can sometimes be confusing. Many procedures that can be described in simple terms can have multiple costs associated with them. For example, to get a crown placed on a tooth, you’ll likely require multiple x‑rays, a root canal, a post build-up and more! For that reason, pre-treatment estimates can help employees avoid unexpected surprises.
What is a pre-treatment estimate?
Pre-treatment estimates (also known as pre-determinations or pre-authorizations) are written estimates provided by Delta Dental to members and their dentists. These estimates detail the cost share for a proposed dental treatment and are often requested before complex or expensive procedures, such as crowns, wisdom tooth extractions, bridges, dentures and oral surgery.
Pre-treatment estimates help employees understand and manage their costs by breaking down complex procedures into easy-to-understand, itemized lists. They show what portion of a bill is paid by the patient and what portion will be paid by their insurance.
Pre-treatment estimates are not binding, and factors may change in between requesting the estimate and receiving care that lead to costs being different than expected. For example, if a dentist recommends a filling to treat a cavity and too much time passes before an employee gets the procedure done, a root canal may become necessary. If employees’ coverage changes, if a patient ages out of a procedure with an age limitation, that could also affect the accuracy of a pre-treatment estimate. Pre-treatment estimates should be considered an approximation (although a very accurate one!) of the final costs of care.
How can employees get pre-treatment estimates?
There are four steps your employees can take to receive a pre-treatment estimate.
The Delta Dental member (your employee) discusses the proposed dental treatment with his or her dentist and asks the dental office to request a pre-treatment estimate from Delta Dental.
The dental office submits a treatment plan and supporting documentation (such as x‑rays) to Delta Dental for review.
Delta Dental reviews the documents and the member’s benefits.
Both the member and dental office receive a copy of the pre-treatment estimate from Delta Dental. This document includes a cost estimate based on the member’s plan type, eligibility, current plan benefits and the amount remaining in their annual maximum.
To spread the word about pre-treatment estimates, feel free to share this flyer with employees or place this poster in your workplace.
Pre-treatment estimates are available for members with Delta Dental PPO™, and Delta Dental Premier® and DeltaCare® USA plans. Because DeltaCare USA is a copayment plan, members will have access to a list of copayments for every covered procedure. Pre-treatment estimates may be less useful for DeltaCare USA members than for members with other plans.
Are there other resources employees can use to help them understand their costs?
Delta Dental members can also use their online account to view their current benefits and benefits usage, as well as to estimate costs. This online cost estimator isn’t as thorough as a personalized pre-treatment estimate, but it can be useful for getting a quick estimate for common procedures.
Open enrollment can be difficult for employees to navigate, but they won’t have to go it alone. Flyers, videos and more are available to help your employees understand their coverage options, choose the right plans for their needs and make the most of their benefits.
What’s new
New initiatives and resources available for this year’s open enrollment season.
Virtual booths
If your company has virtual open enrollment software, you can get all the benefits of having an in-person event virtually. With flyers, presentations and more, a virtual booth session is the perfect educational source for employees who can’t make it into the office. (Virtual booth sessions with a live Delta Dental representative require a minimum of 100 attendees.)
Quality ratings for dentists
Choosing the right dentist can be tricky. The new DentaQual rating system provides a simple and objective rating system based on a dentist’s past performance. That makes it easy for employees to find dentists that deliver effective, appropriate and fairly priced service.
Virtual dentistry
Two options are available for employees who are looking for teledentistry tools: Delta Dental – Virtual Consult (PDF) is a video-based app for members to consult with a Delta Dental dentist live, and Toothpic (PDF) is a photo-based app that lets members submit photos of problem areas for professional analysis.
Get check-ups remotely
Callback assist
When your employees contact Delta Dental’s Customer Service, they can now get a convenient callback instead of having to wait on the line.
A redesigned website
In 2020, we rolled out a whole new design for our website and refreshed its content. This new design makes finding answers easier, whether choosing a plan, understanding benefits or just looking for tips on maintaining a healthy smile.
Delta Dental members resources. Help members plan visits, know what to expect at the dentist’s office and what to do after they complete their visits. There’s also useful information about value-added benefits, like virtual dentistry and preferred pricing on LASIK and hearing aids, and a wellness library with articles, videos, recipes and more.
Smile On. If you have employees who may be retiring or ineligible for full-time benefits, Smile On is a great way for them to get affordable coverage that meets their needs.
New video content
These videos provide short and direct explanations of Delta Dental’s plans and features. To share these videos on your website or intranet, just click the videos to navigate to YouTube. Below the video you wish to share, click Share > Embed. Then copy and paste the code into your webpage or intranet site.
These videos also feature Spanish closed captioning. To turn on Spanish captions, click the settings symbol (the cogwheel icon), then click Subtitles/CC and choose Spanish from the list.
Delta Dental PPO™ network
All about the Delta Dental PPO network
Delta Dental PPO and Delta Dental Premier®networks
Get to know Delta Dental’s PPO and Premier networks
DeltaCare® USA
Welcome to your DeltaCare USA plan
Online resources
Your online resources from Delta Dental
Online resources including the Cost Estimator
The Cost Estimator and other tools form Delta Dental
Resources for your employees
Multilingual support
Material in other languages, including Spanish and Chinese, is available on request. Delta Dental members can also get translation and accessibility services through the Language Assistance Program.
Even if your company hasn’t returned to the office, open enrollment doesn’t need to be a challenge. Online resources make choosing the right plan and making the most of it easier than ever before!
How do your employee search for a new dentist? Consumers often rely on reviews to help make decisions, but subjective commentary isn’t always the most reliable way to find a health professional. Dental patients deserve reputable sources based on facts. That’s where DentaQual, a new feature of Delta Dental’s dentist directory, comes in.
DentaQual is a ratings system that relies on actual data — rather than opinions — to help your employees navigate their options with ease and give benefits administrators like you confidence in Delta Dental’s offerings.
How DentaQual ratings work
When your employees search Delta Dental’s dentist directory, they’ll notice one-to-five-star scores. These DentaQual ratings are based on statistical analysis of claims data and developed by P&R Dental Strategies, a neutral third party and research company with over 20 years of experience.
The reviews are based on:
Procedure success rate
Commitment to best practices
Value
Patient retention
Treatment recommendations
This fair and unbiased feedback can help your employees feel more confident about choosing a dentist.
P&R Dental Strategies isn’t funded by insurance companies and provides reviews only for dentists with enough data available to make an accurate assessment.
DentaQual and your employees
As of April 2021, Delta Dental PPO™, Delta Dental Premier® and select DeltaCare® USA dentists within our 15 enterprise states and the District of Columbia have DentaQual ratings in their directory listings. Delta Dental’s dentist directory aims to make finding a dentist as easy as possible. Now, along with languages spoken, office hours and other crucial information, members can see DentaQual’s objective evaluations.
Better yet, DentaQual automatically refreshes scores each month, so members can always rely on the accuracy of their dentist’s rating.
As employees finalize their open enrollment choices and begin looking towards 2021, you may be asking yourself what you can do to help them stay informed and healthy in the year to come. Fortunately, Delta Dental offers an assortment of themed wellness materials to help you offer employees relevant wellness content all year round.
Promoting wellness means approaching health from a holistic perspective. From holidays to awareness months, there are plenty of opportunities to remind employees to take care of both their oral health and their total well-being. Campaigns include everything from Glaucoma Awareness Month in January to holiday health in December, and each campaign is supported by a wealth of multimedia assets.
Whether you want to communicate with employees who are in the office or are working from home, whether your employees want to watch a video about wellness or read a flyer, there are materials available to suit your needs. Visit the wellness calendar page and you’ll find:
Emails
Flyers
Posters
Booklets
Infographics
Videos
Our new 2021 calendar is available now, and full of great resources and materials to share with employees. From January through December, let’s make 2021 a great year for oral health and total body wellness!
Encourage your employees to brighten their smiles — and their days — with Delta Dental’s fun, informative and free e‑magazine: Grin!
Available in English and Spanish, this quarterly publication is full of useful and entertaining content, such as:
The latest news on dental care — including what to do during the coronavirus pandemic
Advice from experts
First looks at innovative technology
Fun features
Healthy recipes, and more
And because your employees’ dental health is strongly tied to their overall health, Grin! also explores how many chronic health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and depression, are related to dental care. In fact, you can learn how allergies and oral health are related in the recent summer issue.
