It’s perhaps the irony that the same teeth which give us good smile also pain us endlessly; especially so when dental care has become almost unaffordable if not for the insurance. The dental care business in USA counts to a few hundred billion dollars with dental/oral care product manufacturers sitting on the top of the ladder followed by insurers, equipment manufacturers and dentists and other care providers.
The rudimentary problems with teeth like smell, plaque, pitting and decay can be prevented by regular cares like flossing, brushing, visits to your family dentists, minimum of twice a year, preferably 4 to 5 visits. The more complex problems like periodontal disease arising due to diabetes take a holistic approach than just dental care. By regularly checking your oral hygiene, you could save unnecessary costs and undue pain in the long run.
Savings Plans
In the first rung are the savings plans. These schemes have dentists and care givers enrolled with them from across the nation. Anyone wanting to avail discount services from these professionals can get registered with such plans for a small fee of $10 a month for an individual. Group registrations are cheaper at $20-25 per month. This is a huge business considering the number of associated dentists.
Fees
Dentists are the frontline of this industry. Different packages such as cosmetic dentistry to various treatments generate huge sums for the industry as a whole. General consultation necessary for planning the treatment outlay cost over $65, while periodic examination costs $25. Figures for Crown and metal, or root canal treatment will cost anywhere from $ 450 - $600 and the costliest of them all is the orthodontic treatment which ranges between $2900- 3500.
Insurance
Insurance is a high growth sector in medical insurance. Although the industry turnover is not quantified specific to dental insurances, one can easily imagine it to be an astronomic figure. It begins with the preferred dentist program which costs $15-20 per month. Students’ insurance instituted usually by colleges, and group dental plans for employees ensure bulk revenue regularly for the industry.
Product Manufacturers
At the top end are manufacturers. The matter that high cost dental treatments are triggered by them does not fall into the scope of this article. But remember, not a single day passes by without hundreds of billions of people brushing teeth at least once daily. The monthly cost of replenishing of your tooth paste and brushes is perhaps enough for feeding half of Africa.