· Origin and Mission: Founded to bridge the gap between patients and dentists, making dental care more understandable and accessible.
· Core Services: Provides comprehensive, free dental exams to educate patients about their dental health and potential costs.
· Innovative Approach: Utilizes portable high-tech equipment for detailed assessments, including x-rays and 3D scans.
· Customized Care: Offers multiple personalized treatment plans from a vetted dentist network, enabling informed decisions.
· Cost Savings: Uses a last-minute booking model by airlines & hotels to efficiently fill dentists' schedules, passing savings to patients.
· Patient Empowerment: Allows transparency and informed decision-making, ensuring patients know treatment options & costs upfront.
· Insurance Navigation: Assists both uninsured and insured patients, helping them manage costs and navigate insurance complexities.
· Community and Expansion: Encourages community involvement through ambassador programs and SNS to extend reach and impact.
Have you ever questioned your dental health before even seeing a dentist? You’re not alone. I’m here to share how Dental Square came into being—a platform designed to bridge the significant gap between patients and dentists.
My journey into the dental world began in a somewhat unusual way. I’ve never been a fan of visiting the dentist, mostly due to the discomfort and pain associated with dental treatments. This perspective changed when I met my wife, who is not only a dentist but also owns two dental practices.
Despite my continued apprehension about visiting dentists, my role in managing our dental practices has provided me with deep insights into the industry. I've observed patients leave with beaming smiles, while others wince when they discover that their treatment costs exceed a $1,000’s after insurance. It also became clear that although most dentists truly prioritize their patients' well-being, a small number view them primarily as sources of profit. This realization, born from witnessing the diverse experiences of both patients and dentists over the years, solidified my conviction in the need fora service like Dental Square.
At Dental Square, our goal is straightforward: to make dental care understandable and accessible to everyone. We believe in educating patients about their dental health and potential treatment options, including cost implications before they even set foot in a dentist's office. To this end, we offer comprehensive, free dental exams. This initiative not only demystifies dental care but also enhances the patient experience through increased transparency, significantly reducing unexpected costs.
The process at Dental Square begins with a no-cost, thorough dental examination that sets us apart, ensuring every patient can access the care they need without any upfront financial burden. During this initial visit, patients receive a detailed assessment, including x-rays and a 3D scan of their teeth—services typically priced between $100-$300 at standard dental offices.
However, what truly distinguishes us occurs after your examination. You’ll receive multiple personalized treatment plans and cost estimates from our network of carefully vetted local dentists. This allows you to make informed decisions, choosing the treatment that best suits your health needs and budget.
These aren’t just arbitrary quotes; they’re meticulously tailored to meet your specific needs, providing you with a range of options. Whether you need a simple cleaning or more complex procedures, you'll possess all the necessary information to make educated decisions. This system allows you to compare different treatment paths and costs, enabling you to choose what works best for your health and budget. Say goodbye to the uncertainty and hello to smart, informed dental care choices with Dental Square.
While our exams are comprehensive, it's important to recognize that x-rays and 3D scans do not capture everything. They can identify many common dental issues like cavities, root problems, and bone loss, but may miss certain conditions such as specific types of gum disease or jaw alignment issues that require panoramic x-rays or perio-probing to diagnose.
While we anticipate that our exams will address 90-95% of all necessary treatments, there might be instances where your dentist suggests additional procedures. If this happens, please contact us! We will either consult directly with your dentist to verify the necessity of the treatment or you can schedule another visit to one of our offices for a second opinion. During this follow-up, we can conduct a comprehensive examination, including Panoramic x-rays and perio-probing, to ensure that all recommended treatments are essential.
We are meticulous in selecting dentists for our network, ensuring that we partner with professionals who are not only skilled but also share our commitment to patient-centered care. Our team, with over 35 years of combined experience in the dental field, ensures that all network dentists meet our high standards.
Cost-efficiency is fundamental at Dental Square. Recognizing that dental practices require a constant flow of new patients—typically 10-15 per month—we facilitate connections between the right patients and the right dentists.
We particularly focus on what we call "perishable times," those last-minute openings that, if unfilled, represent lost revenue. By filling these slots with patients, we not only help dentists optimize their schedules but also pass on the savings from these time slots back to the patients, much like how airlines and hotels offer substantial discounts for last-minute bookings. Essentially, we’re applying this same principle to the dental services industry.
A common question we encounter is, "Are you for real? How is it possible to conduct thorough examinations without traditional dental setups?" The answer lies in the advancements in dental technology. Gone are the days when dental diagnostics required bulky x-ray machines anchored to walls and extensive arrays of equipment on carts.
At Dental Square, the x-ray machines we use at corporate events or pop-up locations are as compact as DSLR cameras. Our 3D scanners? They fit neatly into a standard carry-on suitcase. This portability defines modern mobile dentistry, which allows us to bring high-quality dental care directly to you.
While we have the capability to set up mobile cleaning stations, our focus is on maximizing access to diagnostic exams. This approach lets us serve more people efficiently, without the excessive costs typically associated with traditional dental treatments.
Dental Square offers significant advantages, especially for those without insurance. This is possible because dental offices can afford to offer deeper discounts when they are not required to manage the administrative burden of insurance claims and communications with insurance companies.
However, insured patients also derive significant value from our services. We assist in managing the complexities of insurance claims and out-of-pocket expenses. Often, even with insurance, patients can end up spending thousands of dollars out of pocket. This is due to the fact that insurance companies typically cover only a portion of the claims—usually between 30% and 70%—after deductibles and up to the annual maximums.
For more detailed information on how different types of insurance work and how Dental Square can assist you, we wrote a separate article on this topic.
Admittedly, we’re currently investing more than we’re earning. We’re absorbing significant costs to validate the necessity and effectiveness of our services and to confirm the patients needs such services. And it’s a big risk we’re taking.
This concept is so novel—some might even say we're crazy for attempting it—that it's never been considered or tried before. This uniqueness allowed us to secure a patent for the business idea.
However, we believe that addressing genuine needs will naturally lead to financial viability. We are confident that as patients begin to recognize the value of our services, they will choose to use Dental Square for initial assessments before visiting their regular dentists, whether they have been with those dentists for decades or are new to the area.
And over time, we anticipate that dentists will also recognize the benefits of partnering with us. Dental Square helps fill their schedules during those "perishable times," turning what would otherwise be unproductive hours into valuable appointments, thus benefiting both their practice and their patients, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem over time.
We're on a mission to revolutionize dental care, making it more transparent and patient-friendly. By choosing Dental Square, you're not only taking control of your dental health but also supporting a shift towards a more ethical and transparent dental care system. Join us, spread the word, and help transform the face of dental care together.
Thank you for being part of this transformative journey. Together, we’re not just enhancing smiles—we’re reshaping the future of dental care!
