Most people will undergo dental work and, when it comes time for payment, deal with the situation in one of two ways. They will either pay for the dental work themselves, or they will use some kind of dental coverage provided either as a benefit from their place of work, or as part of insurance they pay for. But just because these are the two most common ways to pay for dental work, it doesn’t mean they are the best—or even the only—ways to do it. Not many realize it, but other options exist for payment of dental services, it’s just a matter of taking the time to do the research and ask about what choices are available to you.
Credit Card Options
You can use your own general credit card for a lot of purchases, and that includes dental services. However, you should be careful about how much you commit to a credit card for dental work since the interest rates normal cards charge every month are far from the lowest available.
One other alternative to your general-use credit card is looking into new kinds of credit cards that have been made specifically with healthcare in mind. Healthcare credit cards are now on the rise in North America, and new lines like CareCredit will sometimes have special offers like 0% interest for a limited time when signing up. As with any credit card service, it’s always a good idea to read the fine print, and monitor your card expenditures.
Equity Loans
One of the lowest interest rates you can get for a loan on dental services is through an equity loan. The reason for that, of course, is because you are putting your house up for collateral. Equity loans are an unusual way of securing payment for major dental procedures, but it’s far from being an uncommon method in many types of payment plans. Even the IRS has occasionally suggested this method to tax payers as a way of managing income debt.
By using an equity loan, you are taking what is regarded as a “secure” debt, so the interest rates on the loan payback tend to be much more forgiving. Of course, should you fail to make the payments, this means that the lender can take your collateral, that is to say, your house, in lieu of failure to repay the debt. If you are responsible about your finances, this option is not as intimidating as it may initially seem.
Healthcare Loan
If you have the option available to you, a healthcare loan—with installments—may be another alternative. This is, for all intents and purposes, the medical equivalent of a car loan. The interest rates are likely to be higher than that of an equity loan, but they are usually still lower than that of a credit card. These sorts of loans are usually negotiated in advance once you have determined the scope of the medical work involved.
Once you know the cost of the procedure and you can work out a fixed payment schedule for the loan. It’s because of this planning and agreement beforehand that the healthcare loan can afford to be more forgiving about interest rates. Those rates, however, will also have a lot to do with your own credit history, so if you’ve got an exemplary credit rating, you might even be looking only 4% interest, while a more checkered past could go over 10%.
There are a range of payment options available to people looking for extensive dental procedures. You just have to take the time research them carefully and see which choice is the best for you.
