Dental Benefits

ABOUT THE PLAN

The Individual Choice dental option provides excellent coverage for a wide range of dental services. You may use your College benefit credits and/or before-tax dollars to enroll yourself and any eligible dependents in the Ithaca College dental plan. (It is not necessary to enroll in both the medical and dental options.)

Your College benefit credits include sufficient credits to purchase individual dental coverage. Your initial enrollment decision affects your eligibility to enroll in dental coverage in the future. If you do not enroll in dental coverage when you are first eligible or if you drop dental coverage during any subsequent enrollment period, you will not be eligible to enroll again until the second enrollment period following your refusal of coverage. This waiting period also applies to eligible dependents. Further, the College reserves the right to require evidence of insurability prior to your enrollment in the plan.

The dental option covers 100 percent of reasonable and customary expenses for preventive and diagnostic services, such as routine oral exams, cleanings, topical application of fluoride for children, and X rays. The plan allows for a routine oral exam once every six months. There is an annual maximum benefit of $1,500 per person for all dental services.

Other dental expenses are covered as follows:

• 80 percent of reasonable and customary charge for basic restorative services, such as fillings, non- surgical extractions, treatment of gum disease, root-canal therapy, and installation and repair of dentures
• 50 percent of reasonable and customary charge for major restorative services, such as installation of inlays, gold fillings, and crowns

You may choose from five coverage categories, as follows:

• Employee only
• Employee and Spouse or Qualified Domestic Partner
• Employee and children
• Family
• Shared Family (when both you and your spouse or qualified domestic partner work for Ithaca College and you have eligible dependent children; if you do not have dependent children, each employee must select "employee only" coverage)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HAVE ORAL SURGERY

Accidental injuries to sound teeth or medically-related oral surgery procedures may be covered under the College’s medical plans. It is important to ascertain whether oral surgery will be covered under your medical plan before any work is done by contacting Aetna directly.

KNOW WHAT WILL BE COVERED BEFORE YOU HAVE THE WORK DONE

You can find out how much will be paid by the dental plan before you have your dentist do any major work. This procedure is called "Pretreatment Estimate." It is strongly recommended, but not required, that you obtain a Pretreatment Estimate anytime the estimated charge will be $200 or more.

A Pretreatment Estimate can be received by submitting a completed Dental Claim form to First Ameritas. Note: the dentist should check the appropriate box on the claim form to indicate that the purpose of the form is a Pretreatment Estimate.