Let’s talk about dental insurance.
Not the “let’s all scream into the void together” version, but the origin story. The part where things actually made sense… at first.

Because like many things in dentistry, dental insurance didn’t start out as the villain. It started out as a well-intentioned sidekick that eventually got drunk on power, stopped returning calls, and now pretends not to recognize you in public.

Once Upon a Time (a.k.a. The 1950s)

Dental insurance showed up fashionably late compared to medical insurance. Early plans were simple, almost wholesome:

• Modest annual maximums

• Reasonable fees

• A focus on prevention

• Dentists were still, you know… in charge

Insurance was meant to assist patients, not dictate treatment, rewrite fee schedules, or pretend it knew more about dentistry than the dentist holding the handpiece.

Back then, participating with a plan didn’t feel like signing away naming rights to your operatory.

Then Came the “One Plan to Rule Them All” Era

Somewhere along the way, particularly in places like Washington State, dentists made a collective decision that seemed logical at the time:

“Let’s all just sign up with the biggest dental plan. It’s easier.”

And boom.
Convenient became catastrophic.

When most dentists in a state participate with the same dominant plan, something dangerous happens:

• Other insurance plans can’t compete

• Fee schedules stop improving

• Innovation dies quietly in a corner

• Dentists lose leverage… permanently

In Washington, this led to a single carrier gaining enormous market share. We won’t say their name.
Let’s just call them Voldemort, because saying it out loud tends to summon cease-and-desist letters.

How Fee Schedules Went Sideways

Once competition disappears, fee schedules don’t need to be attractive anymore. They just need to be accepted.

And dentists kept accepting them.
Year after year.
Decade after decade.

Fees froze in time like a bad haircut from 1994, while expenses skyrocketed:

• Staffing costs up

• Supply costs up

• Compliance up

• Stress way up

Meanwhile, reimbursement increases?
LOL.

This wasn’t because insurance plans are evil masterminds twirling mustaches. It happened because dentists unintentionally handed over all negotiating power by putting all their eggs in one very large, very comfortable basket.

A Gentle Roast of the “Good Ol’ Days” Dentists

Let’s be honest (and have a little fun):

That earlier generation of dentists, especially in Washington, didn’t mean to create a monopoly. But they absolutely helped one.

By overwhelmingly participating with just one plan, they:

• Shut out smaller carriers

• Eliminated meaningful competition

• Locked future dentists into a broken system

So yes, if you’re only participating with one dental plan today, I’m done whispering this part:

You are part of the problem.

That’s not shade. That’s economics.

The Plot Twist: Smaller Plans Want You

Here’s the part most dentists don’t realize:

Smaller and regional insurance plans are often far more flexible.
They may:

• Offer better fee schedules

• Be open to negotiation

• Actually want dentists at the table

But they can’t compete when dentists refuse to give them a chance.

Competition only exists when dentists allow it to exist.

Looking Forward (Instead of Repeating History)

The future of dentistry does not involve:

• Blind loyalty to a single carrier

• Waiting for reimbursement fairy dust

• Hoping Voldemort suddenly grows a conscience

The future does involve:

• Strategic participation

• Diversification of plans

• Supporting competitive carriers

• Understanding your leverage, and using it

Insurance plans respond to market pressure.
Dentists are the market.

Final Thought (Said With Love)

Dental insurance didn’t break dentistry overnight.
Dentistry helped break dental insurance slowly… together.

The good news?
We can fix it, by doing the exact opposite of what got us here.

So please, for the love of handpieces and sanity:

• Stop participating with only one plan

• Give smaller carriers a fighting chance

• Create competition again

Or for hell’s sake, go out of network and burn the rulebook, give none of them a fighting chance.

And maybe, just maybe, future dentists won’t be writing articles like this with the same level of sarcasm and emotional damage.

Now that would be a plot twist worth rooting for.

Benjamin Tuinei
Founder – Veritas Dental Resources, LLC
📞 888-808-4513
Services: PPO Fee Negotiators, PPO Fee Negotiating, Insurance Fee Negotiating, Insurance Credentialing, Insurance Verifications
Websites: www.VeritasDentalResources.com, www.VerusDental.com