About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is part of UnitedHealth Group. It is a health insurance company offering a full spectrum of health benefit programs to individuals, employers, retirees and their families, military service members, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the country.
UnitedHealthcare has a vast network, with more than 1.3 million physicians and healthcare professionals and nearly 6,700 hospitals and care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare also works in partnership with Optum, which provides the necessary technology, tools, and data to help people achieve better health.
How does UnitedHealthcare serve its customers?
UnitedHealthcare primarily serves its customers through 4 main businesses:
- UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual offers healthcare benefits to over 29 million individuals in the country, including public-sector employers, large national employers, mid-sized employers, and small businesses.
- UnitedHealthcare Community & State serves roughly 7.7 million people in the United States in programs for the economically disadvantaged, the medically underserved, and those who do not have employer-funded healthcare coverage.
- UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement offers services to about 13.7 million older adults and other people eligible for Medicare.
- UnitedHealthcare Global provides care to approximately 2.2 million people in South America and extends its services to governments, multinational and local businesses, insurers, re-insurers, individuals, and families.
Who are oral surgeons? When do you need oral surgery?
Oral surgery is generally performed by dental specialists known as oral and maxillofacial surgeons. These surgeons train to become dentists and then undergo additional training in areas like cosmetic facial surgery, head and neck cancer, anesthesia, craniofacial surgery and pediatrics, or cranio-maxillofacial trauma.
Oral surgery includes any type of surgery performed on the teeth, gums, jaws, and other structures within the mouth and face. Your dentist may recommend oral surgery in the following cases:
- If you have issues in your jaws. Problems in the temporomandibular joint (a joint that connects your jaw to your skull) called TMJ disorders can have symptoms such as jaw-popping, pain, stiffness, and headaches. Treatment options for these disorders include physical therapy and medications. However, advanced cases may need corrective oral surgery.
- Oral surgery, specifically orthognathic surgery, may be recommended to correct an overbite or underbite caused by improper teeth alignment. Misalignment of the teeth can also lead to chewing, breathing, and swallowing difficulties. Orthodontic appliances like braces can help correct some of these issues. Still, severe cases may require surgery to move the lower and upper jaws to a better and more functional position.
- Oral reconstructive surgery can also help treat injuries in the facial structures.
- Extensive tooth decay, gum disease, and dental trauma, such as a knocked-out tooth, can lead to tooth loss, which may require a tooth extraction.
- Tooth replacement with dental implants. These are made with medical-grade titanium or zirconia and are embedded into the jaw to replace missing teeth roots.
- Oral surgery may also be necessary to treat cancers of not only the mouth but also the head, neck, lips, larynx, and sinuses.
- Oral surgery can help with issues like nerve repair and removal of lesions inside the mouth.
- Sometimes, teeth that emerge from the gums are crowded or don't come out completely. This can cause sore gums and infections around the wisdom teeth. These are called impacted teeth and may need to be removed by oral surgery.
- Oral surgery can also help correct birth defects like cleft lip or palate, which can negatively impact a person's health and physical appearance.
If you think you need to consult an oral surgeon, you can speak to your dentist first, who can give you a referral. You may also directly search for oral surgeons in your network on Zocdoc. For example, you can effortlessly search for UnitedHealthcare oral surgeons near you.
Do UnitedHealthcare plans cover dental services like oral surgery?
Yes, several UnitedHealthcare plans, such as the UnitedHealthcare community plan, UnitedHealthcare Commercial benefit plans, and UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan, cover oral surgery.
Under the commercial benefit plans, Orthognathic (jaw) surgery may be considered reconstructive and medically necessary in a few cases, including when there is a presence of certain facial skeletal deformities associated with masticatory malocclusion and vertical and transverse discrepancies. For example, an individual has one or more functional impairments like swallowing dysfunction due to skeletal malocclusion ( e.g., the inability to bite or chew solid foods, choking on incompletely masticated solid foods, damage to soft tissue during mastication, and malnutrition) and documentation of speech impairment due to facial skeletal deformity. Note that orthognathic surgery is not considered reconstructive or medically necessary for cosmetic purposes.
Dental services or oral surgery rendered by a physician or dental professional are covered for those with a Medicare Advantage plan. Some examples include - the setting of the jaw or facial bones (including wiring of the teeth when performed in connection with the reduction of a jaw fracture). Splints, casts, and other devices used to treat fractures and dislocations are covered under Part B of Medicare, including dental splints if the treatment is determined to be covered as a medical condition, like a dislocated upper/lower jaw joint.
Under UnitedHealthcare Community plans, prior authorization may be required for crowns, partial dentures, complete dentures, root canals, and oral surgery.
Find a UnitedHealthcare oral surgeon near you
On Zocdoc, you can easily find oral surgeons in your area without leaving your home and book a virtual or in-person consultation in just a few minutes!
To book a consultation, visit the Zocdoc website and enter your location, condition or symptoms, and insurance plan. You may filter the displayed search results based on criteria such as languages spoken by the doctor, their gender, and whether they treat children. You can also learn about their medical background, certifications, awards, clinical experience, and more on their personalized profiles.
Zocdoc makes locating and choosing an oral surgeon in your network easy. To manually find in-network oral surgeons, enter your insurance carrier and plan in the drop-down menu at the top of the page. You may also directly search for a UnitedHealthcare oral surgeon near you.
However, If you are not able to find your particular plan, try to upload your insurance card. Zocdoc will then scan the image of your card and show you your likely plan. Note this is only applicable to medical insurance cards (excluding dental and vision plans). If you need assistance uploading your card or have other unanswered questions, contact Zocdoc's service team. Additionally, check out Zocdoc's patient help center for more insurance-related information. If you're just getting started with insurance and need help understanding technical jargon, check out Zocdoc's Health Insurance 101 guide.
All bookings on Zocdoc are fast, free, and secure!
How many people in the country have dental insurance?
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion showed that around 73.5% of people aged under 65 had dental insurance in 2022, a 3.2% increase from 2019. Among adults aged 18-64, approximately 83% of those insured in 2022 had private health insurance. Nearly 7.6% of adults were uninsured. More women (73.9%) had dental insurance in 2022 than men (73.1%).
How many people have benefitted from UnitedHealthcare dental plans?
UnitedHealthcare Dental plans provide access to over 110,000 network providers and serve over 25 million dental members (as of July 2023).
UnitedHealthcare dental plans provide diagnostic and preventive dental care and reward routine dental care. In 2019, nearly 27% of at-risk dental members with gaps in preventive care returned to their dental provider and completed their preventive and periodontal care.
According to the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Dental Plan Satisfaction Study, based on responses from over 1,203 dental plan enrollees, UnitedHealthcare's cumulative score of 806 for dental carriers was the highest among the plans analyzed. They finished no. 1 in 4 of the five categories measured- coverage, cost, communications, and customer service.
Sources
National Association of Counties
UnitedHealthcare[1]
UnitedHealthcare[2]
UnitedHealthcare[3]
UnitedHealthcare[4]
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UnitedHealthcare[6]
UnitedHealth Group
Cleveland Clinic
WebMD[1]
WebMD[2]
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion[1]
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion[2]
UHCDental
