Dear Parent,

For a limited time only, most insurance carriers are now offering a one-time, teledentistry “virtual consultation” benefit for children during dental office closures due to COVID. This involvesus taking a peek in your child’s mouth via a live video conference (facetime or zoom) or simply emailing us pictures of their mouth. We urge you to use this benefit for the following situations:

1. Checking for any signs of new or existing cavities.

2. Keeping an eye on the health of existing fillings.

3. Monitoring any teeth with a history of dental trauma.

4. Assessing oral hygiene and reinforcing good brushing/flossing lesson at home with the child and parent. A brushing “pep talk” for the kids (coming from us) is a good idea during this time as there may be a tendency to snack more frequently while at home thereby increasing risk for cavities. In certain cases, we may recommend a prescription strength fluoride toothpaste delivered to your home from your pharmacy of choice. In other instances, an intra oral camera from Mouthwatch may also be loaned to you if we need a better view.

5. Anticipatory Guidance for dental development and problems with tooth eruption for infants and older children.

6. Screening for any dental infections or situations that require urgent/emergency care. Our office remains open for true dental emergencies and a virtual consult is needed prior to scheduling an appointment. We follow strict COVID safety protocol as per the American Dental Association guidelines.

Please visit our website Happyteethny.com and click on “Virtual consultation”. The link will guide you through a self scheduling process. There is an initial deposit for the virtual consultation which we reimburse once you complete a simple insurance reimbursement consent form (automatically emailed to you after the virtual consultation) and we receive payment from the insurance. You should contact and confirm this benefit with your insurance company as the coverage policy/amounts can vary among carriers and are being updated. Your reimbursement amount will be based on what your insurance pays and will be credited to you upon receipt of payment from your insurance (usually 30-45 days)

Regardless, we are here for you should a dental emergency arise or if you have any other questions or concerns. Please feel free to email us: Drlal@happyyeethny.com or call and leave a message for billing questions at 212.810.6562. Someone will get back to you within the hour!
The staff and doctors at Happy Teeth NY wish you and your family a safe and healthy time ahead!!

Best wishes,

Dr Lal

Through courage and compassion, we shall overcome