What Is the Best Credit Card to Use for Dental Care?
Comparing regular credit cards and health care credit cards
Hispanic man choosing credit cards
If you need any kind of restorative dental work, such as a filling, a root canal, or a crown, you are going to face a significant out of pocket expense. This is true even if you have dental insurance, as most plans only cover 50 to 80 percent of the cost of these types of dental procedures.
At first, you might think that the best solution is to postpone your care until you can afford to pay the out of pocket cost. However, this is probably the worst thing you could do. Your dental problem will only get more serious, more painful, and more expensive to correct the longer you wait to get treatment. You need to get treatment now, and paying by credit card just might be the best way to make that happen.
When paying by credit card at California Dental Group, you have two main options. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of each.
Regular Consumer Credit Cards
The first option is to simply charge your dental care to a regular credit card that you already have. This can be a good option assuming that you have enough room on the card to pay for the care without exceeding your credit limit, and you feel confident you will be able to pay off the card quickly.
If you anticipate needing to take more than a month or two to pay off your balance, the interest on your regular credit card is going to start adding significantly to your dental costs. Fortunately, you can cut down on your interest expenses by exploring the possibility of opening a new consumer credit card. Check around online and you will likely find a variety of options offering 0% APR for anywhere from 12 to 18 months. The catch here is that you must have good credit to qualify for such an offer.
Health Care Credit Cards
If you have less than perfect credit, you may not qualify to open a new consumer credit card. But you will most likely be able to open a health care credit card such as a CareCredit card. CareCredit also offers 0% APR for 12, 15, or 18 months, but there is a very important difference to watch out for: if you have not paid off your balance by the end of the introductory 0% APR period, interest may apply retroactively for that entire period. This means it is extremely important to have a plan for how you are going to pay off your CareCredit account within the introductory period. You will need to make more than the minimum monthly payments to do this.
Bottom line: before you decide to use CareCredit be sure to read the fine print and use your calculator to figure out your monthly expense.
Need Help?
If you are in urgent need of restorative dental work, come to any one of California Dental Group’s clinic locations. We will recommend the appropriate treatment, provide a cost estimate, and help you understand how to pay for your care using your insurance and/or financing options.
