Editorial Director Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, DMD, discusses Beam Dental insurance plans, which offer perks for oral hygiene compliance.
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Alex Frommeyer, the founder and CEO of Beam Dental. If you haven’t heard of Beam Dental, you will!
Beam Dental is an innovative dental benefits company that offers plans called SmartPremiums to its enrollees. Here’s how it works: An employer will subscribe to and offer Beam Dental insurance to all employees. All plans automatically include the Beam Perks program, through which all participants receive a sonic-powered smart toothbrush, replacement brush heads, toothpaste, and dental floss every three months. This toothbrush is only available to people who are enrolled in this insurance plan.
The Beam Toothbrush is a Bluetooth-connected toothbrush that records the user's brushing activity. The Beam app enables Beam Dental to assess oral hygiene compliance and facilitates behavior mapping. The app also encourages longer brushing times and better compliance.
So why is this dental benefits company special?
Beam Dental offers better rates for oral hygiene compliance. The goal is to get as many people as possible to brush for two minutes, two times daily—a goal they share with all of us. If the majority of insured employees within a company perform better than average, Beam Dental will reward good behavior with either enhanced coverage or lower premiums. And what about our noncompliant patients? There are no negative implications for noncompliance. Plus, Beam Dental's reimbursements to dental providers are competitive with other plans.
Beam Dental is currently available in California and Texas. Keep an eye out for availability in other areas!
Editor's Note: This article first appeared in Pearls for Your Practice: The Product Navigator.Click here to subscribe. Click here to submit a products article for consideration.
Pamela Maragliano-Muniz, DMD, is an editorial director for Pearls for Your Practice: The Product Navigator, an e-newsletter from DentistryIQ and Dental Economics. She was a dental hygienist before earning her DMD from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and her certificate in advanced prosthodontics from the UCLA School of Dentistry. She teaches, and she maintains a private practice in Salem, Massachusetts. In 2010 her practice was named the Adult Preventive Care Practice of the Year by the American Dental Association.
