Prevention is Mantra Behind Local Dentist's New Program for Uninsured

When Dr. Sepand Hokmabadi was diagnosed with high cholesterol he decided to change his lifestyle. He ate better, he exercised. The dentist, who heads Total Health Dental Care at 1880 Pleasant Valley Ave in Oakland, soon saw these small changes yield huge results—his cholesterol dropped to normal.

Hokmabadi then decided he would share the preventive approach with his patients.

He now encourages them to eat better, to take vitamins and reduce their stress. Perhaps the most innovative thing he did was to give his uninsured patients more options.

Of the approximately 2,000 patients Hokmabadi sees each year, a majority don't have dental insurance and oftentimes. Many can’t afford the costs of basic care.

“I noticed that my patients would wait until a tooth hurt to come in,” said Hokmabadi. “But that means the damage probably is significant and it’s going to be more expensive.”

He said that while it costs a patient $100 to get their teeth cleaned, a crown and a root canal can cost up to $2,000.

Five weeks ago Total Health Dental launched a membership program to make basic care more accessible to cash patients. For $30 a month—$360 a year—the program offers patients free and unlimited exams and X-rays, two cleanings a year and a 20 percent discount off Delta Dental premium insurance rates. Participants pay $162.40 for a filling, versus $250. For a crown it's $864.80 instead of $1,150.

Hokmabadi said twenty patients have signed on to the membership program so far.

It’s difficult to determine whether similar programs exist elsewhere, although Hokmabadi believes his is the first in the Bay Area. One expert on discount dental plans agrees it's a rare offering.

“We don’t see that dentists are creating their own programs,” said Jennifer Stoll, the president of Dentalplans.com, which markets over 30 national and regional dental care plans at discounted rates and has 120,000 participating dentists.

Stoll has seen more dentists joining the network as they struggle to get patients into their offices. According to a Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, more than one-third of Americans did not see a dentist in 2008. It was ranked as the No. 2 way people tried to cut health care costs. Stoll said some dentists are being proactive in telling patients about discounted plans.

Hokmabadi said before launching the new membership program he was already offering 20 percent discounts to all his cash patients, but decided it was time to formalize the service. By offering free exams and teeth cleanings Hokmabadi hopes to incentivize people to take the basic steps to keep their mouth clean, preventing them from having a painful and pricey root canal down the road.

“I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said.