Can I use my HSA funds for teeth whitening?
Can I use my HSA funds for teeth whitening?
If you have an HSA through your health insurance or employer, you may wonder what to use it for. HSA accounts offer a tax-advantaged way to pay for medical expenses, and typically, dental expenses will be eligible for usage and reimbursement. Additionally, your employer may contribute or match to increase the incentives to use this account. Teeth whitening, however, is typically treated as a cosmetic procedure or service and not a medically necessary service. Unfortunately, you must check your situation with your specific HSA administrator (typically a financial institution). It is generally recognized that teeth whitening is not an HSA-eligible expense.
However, you can use your HSA in many other effective ways for your dental treatment for insurance co-pays, specific dental appliances like nightguards or retainers, etc, which can help offset the cost of care. Additionally, you may be able to enable some forms of teeth whitening through HSA-eligible expenses.
For example, our at-home whitening kits can be used with all of the retainer and nightguard appliances that we make for you. This means that you do not need to incur the additional cost of specific teeth whitening trays; you can whiten using these existing appliances we've custom-made for you. In this way, your HSA-eligible dental retainers may enable you to use only the whitening refills when prescribed by your Winter Park dentist. While a new patient appointment is still necessary to confirm your dental health is a good fit for this whitening, it is certainly a way to reduce out-of-pocket expenses.
Additionally, it's important to note that teeth whitening services are not the only way to achieve a brighter smile; it's important to recognize that a brighter smile is also achieved first with the removal of stains and clean teeth. A standard checkup and cleaning include these services, and staying regular (every six months or more frequently) is HSA eligible and a great way to keep your smile the brightest, even without teeth whitening services that use a bleaching agent.
How can an HSA-eligible teeth cleaning help keep my teeth whiter?
A regular dental visit includes a periodic dental exam and a standard dental cleaning. The dental exam keeps you and the dentist informed of any potential issues, such as cavities, gum health, or even tooth wear, which might impact your ability to keep your smile bright. Dental restorations like fillings and crowns will not react to whitening services like your natural tooth, and your Winter Park dentist can help you identify any clinical or cosmetic issues. In some less common cases, patients may have prior conditions or trauma to a tooth causing discoloration apart from the rest of their teeth. In these situations, whitening toothpaste or other traditional gels will not work on these teeth. Instead, an internal whitening (endodontic bleaching) will be required to whiten the tooth from the inside.
While the dentist will help identify any issues, the dental hygienist will be able to help you achieve the whitest and shiniest smile without the use of active whitening gels or strips. This is because a dental cleaning also includes polishing the teeth to remove any deep stains or superficial rough areas on a tooth. In addition, some patients may have leftover cement from braces or other dental work that must be removed entirely for their natural teeth to shine their best. The polishing tools used at our office are like “supercharged” versions of your home care routine. The hygienist uses prophylaxis paste and a prophylaxis rubber cup to effectively and precisely polish areas of your teeth. This is typically the last step in a thorough dental cleaning!
Are over-the-counter whitening products HSA-eligible?
Whitening products, like services, are generally not HSA-eligible.
The most common whitening treatments are over-the-counter products such as whitening strips, toothpaste, or gels. When used safely and correctly, these products work well for some patients. Regarding whitening products with active ingredients, these are limited in their strength for your safety. So, some patients may not see results as quickly or as white as they would like to achieve without multiple repeated sessions of this whitening. Our dental office in Winter Park offers teeth whitening products exclusive to dental professionals. It can utilize products typically 3 to 4 times stronger than standard "over-the-counter" whitening products to achieve the results and speed patients seek. Our In-Office whitening can be up to 8 times stronger and faster than over-the-counter products.
For a typical patient with no outstanding dental work, our teeth whitening products and services are very safe for patient use. However, concerns typically arise for patients with gum disease, exposed roots, cavities, or broken teeth. Our whitening products are gluten-free, vegan, animal by-product-free, and kosher-certified.
If you are looking for ways to make your smile brighter or have tried home care and over-the-counter options but want more whitening results, please give us a call or make an appointment with our office!
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