Ameritas Pediatric Dentist in Las Vegas, NV
Most Las Vegas parents know more about their cell phone plan than their dental insurance. Then your child chips a tooth or develops a cavity, and you’re left wondering what Ameritas actually covers. It shouldn’t work this way.
All Star Kidz Pediatrics takes the confusion out of dental insurance. Dr. Lamb earned his diplomat certification from the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, the highest level available in his field. Meanwhile, our front desk team has mastered something just as useful: making sense of Ameritas plans. You get excellent pediatric dental care without the usual insurance headaches.
Understanding Your Ameritas Dental Coverage
Ameritas divides dental services into three main groups, each covered at different rates. The structure encourages regular preventive care by making routine visits affordable. In fact, most preventive services cost you nothing beyond your monthly insurance premium.
Here’s how it typically breaks down: preventive care gets 100% coverage with no deductible. Basic treatments like fillings usually receive 80% coverage after you meet your deductible. Major procedures might get covered at 50%. We always verify your specific plan details before recommending treatment, so you know exactly what to expect.
Services Ameritas Covers Completely
Your preventive benefits with Ameritas typically include:
- Two cleanings per year: Removing plaque and tartar before they cause cavities
- Routine examinations: Checking how your child’s teeth and jaws are developing
- Necessary X-rays: Spotting problems that aren’t visible during regular exams
- Fluoride treatments: Adding protective minerals to growing teeth
- Dental sealants: Protecting the grooves in back teeth from decay
- Space maintainers: Holding space when baby teeth come out too early
Regular use of these benefits keeps your child’s teeth healthy while avoiding bigger expenses later.
Why Primary Teeth Matter More Than You Think
Baby teeth do important work beyond helping your child eat and speak. They hold space for permanent teeth that are developing beneath the gums. When a baby tooth comes out years before it should, the teeth on either side start drifting into that empty space. This gradual shift can block permanent teeth from coming in where they belong, often leading to years of orthodontic treatment.
Ameritas usually covers the simple devices that keep these spaces open after early tooth loss. A few hundred dollars spent now can prevent thousands in orthodontic bills later. It’s one of those situations where your insurance benefits really pay off.
Some children need extra help staying calm during dental appointments. Young kids might not understand what’s happening, while others feel genuinely anxious about dental work. Ameritas often covers the additional time and calming techniques that pediatric dentists use with nervous or very young patients. We document why these approaches are necessary for your child, which helps get insurance approval.
Creating Clear Treatment Plans
When your child needs dental work beyond routine cleanings, we start with a detailed cost estimate. You’ll see the total cost, what Ameritas covers, and what you’ll pay. No surprises when the bill arrives.
Sometimes a child needs more dental work than their annual insurance maximum covers. When the treatment isn’t urgent, we can spread it across two calendar years. This gives you access to two years’ worth of benefits, significantly reducing your out-of-pocket costs. Emergency situations get handled right away, but for planned treatments, timing makes a real difference.
When Sedation Makes Treatment Possible
Some children can’t tolerate dental procedures despite our best efforts to keep them comfortable. Very young children may lack the ability to sit still long enough. Others have had difficult experiences that created real dental fear. Children with certain special needs may require sedation for safe, effective treatment.
We offer different sedation options based on your child’s age, anxiety level, and the treatment needed. Ameritas approves sedation coverage fairly often when we show it’s medically necessary. Our detailed documentation about your child’s behavior and treatment needs helps ensure approval, while our sedation training keeps your child safe throughout the appointment.
Managing Insurance Claims for You
We file all Ameritas claims electronically, which processes much faster than paper forms. Before your appointment, we check your current coverage status. This tells us what percentage Ameritas covers for different services, how much of your deductible you’ve met, and how much of your annual maximum remains. You’ll know your costs before treatment begins.
Some treatments require approval from Ameritas before we start. Our staff handles these requests completely. We put together the treatment plan with X-rays, photos, and clinical explanations of why your child needs the care. Then we follow up until we receive approval, keeping everything on schedule.
We’ve worked with Ameritas long enough to know exactly what information they need. Including everything upfront means fewer denied claims and faster reimbursement for you.
Making the Most of Your Annual Benefits
Dental insurance benefits don’t roll over from year to year. What you don’t use by December 31st simply expires. Many families schedule their child’s cleaning late in the year, then discover problems they can’t address before benefits reset. This means losing coverage you’ve already paid for through monthly premiums.
Scheduling preventive visits early in the year leaves plenty of time to handle any problems we find. We keep track of how much of your annual maximum you’ve used and let you know when you’re getting close to the limit. For kids who need significant dental work, this tracking helps us time treatments to use two years of benefits when it makes clinical sense.
Some Ameritas plans have waiting periods before certain procedures are covered, or age limits for specific treatments. Knowing these restrictions ahead of time prevents disappointment when you’re trying to get care scheduled.
The Advantage of Staying In-Network
Dentists in Ameritas’s network agree to accept specific fees for each procedure. These rates are typically much lower than what non-network dentists charge, which saves you money on every service. Network dentists also can’t bill you for the difference between their usual fee and what Ameritas pays, a practice that sometimes creates large, unexpected bills at out-of-network offices.
To join Ameritas’s network, we had to meet their quality standards and agree to regular reviews of our credentials and patient care. Your child receives care that meets high standards while your insurance coverage goes further.
Research shows that bone loss can begin within three months after losing a tooth, sometimes reducing bone volume by up to 25% in that area. Maintaining baby teeth with proper care, supported by your Ameritas benefits, helps prevent these complications.
Coordinating Multiple Insurance Plans
When both parents have dental insurance through work, children can sometimes use both plans. Insurance rules determine which plan pays first and which pays second. We handle these determinations and file claims with both companies to get you the most coverage possible.
After Ameritas processes your claim as the primary insurance, we send any remaining balance to your secondary insurance automatically. This often reduces your out-of-pocket costs to almost nothing for covered services. Our team manages the entire process so you don’t have to figure out complex insurance rules.
Get Started With All Star Kidz Pediatrics
Your Ameritas benefits work best with a pediatric practice that understands both children and dental insurance. We provide excellent dental care while handling the insurance details that usually frustrate families.
Dr. Lamb and our team respond to texts even outside regular office hours because we know dental problems and parent questions don’t happen only during business hours. Whether it’s a knocked-out tooth on Saturday or a coverage question on Tuesday, we’re here to help. Ready to use your Ameritas benefits? Visit our contact form to schedule your appointment.
Where to Find Us
Welcome! We’re looking forward to meeting and getting to know you and your child at their first “Happy Visit!”.
