Healthy savings tips
As continuation from last week’s health practices, eyesight and smiles are no less significant than hand-washing and drinking water, among others. Let’s take those baby blues first.
1. Forget paying retail for eye care. Glasses (lens and frames),
as well as contact lenses, cost a pretty penny as any wearer knows. On the other hand, as members of Costco, for example, or other discount stores and online lens discounters, we can save a bundle, depending upon the brand and number of boxes purchased. Take a look at two boxes of Acuvue Advance contacts. Moreover, upon further investigation, Bausch and Lomb ULTRA can be purchased at Costco, too, in a six-box pack at $47.97 per box, whereas $53.32 per box is the lowest price for an online order. Savings add up.
I like an anti-reflective coating on my glasses, even though this feature is more expensive. Experts at the American Academy of Ophthalmology tell us to ditch the coating, unless we’re often in the water or snow. And designer frames? Nah. Pass up the brand name and the ultralightweight titanium frames; instead, save hundreds of dollars by buying plastic or metal frames which are plenty strong enough to survive most of what life throws at us. And if you’re really frugal and need only reading glasses, head to the local drugstore or big box store to find perfectly good ‘readers’ for literally a teeny-weeny fraction of the cost — usually only about $10.
2. Lucky indeed are those who enjoy some sort of dental insurance through their employers, but what’s the alternative for those who don’t? Those of us who need more than the advised twice-yearly exam and otherwise take loving care of our teeth, try joining a discount club. Offered through major companies like Aetna and Cigna, enrollment can help your savings. The insured pay a low or fairly low annual fee per individual or family and then they/we save 20-50 percent on the cost of treatment. The kicker, of course, means the dentists must be on the participating provider list, which can be good or awful (and I’ve had both back when I became a member of this type of plan). Be certain the providers are in your area and the plan itself is legitimate with your state insurance commissioner (naic. org).
Major dental schools are a decent source of savings. Students in their final two years of training are closely supervised by experienced dental teachers/practitioners, and the clinics charge about 50 percent less than “real” dentists in private practice. Search for DDS or DMD programs at ADA.org.
Floss regularly and choose cheaper fillings. If the fang to be filled is one way back in your mouth, then perhaps opt for the old amalgam filling. Obviously not as aesthetically-appealing as resin-based (tooth-colored) fillings, the amalgam fillings can be as much as 25 percent less expensive and last longer, too. On the other hand, it’d be worth the extra spent on resin if the cavity resides in my center buck tooth!
Contact Ellen Phillips at consumerwatch@timesfreepress.com.