Frequently Asked Questions

We accept and file all insurance, but we do not contract with them. Arkansas has a dental "Point of Service" law which requires most insurance companies to either provide the insured with out-of-network coverage or pay for out-of-network services from the patient's "network" plan.

In 2007, we came to the conclusion that we could not provide the highest quality care for our patients while staying under contract with insurance companies. The insurance contracts were creating conditions that Dr. Solera felt was compromising patient choice, care, and fairness. He is not willing to use counter measures, such as rushing with his patients to fit more onto his schedule or charging our uninsured patients higher fees, in order to recover the insurance write-offs.

We block times weekly on our schedule for new patients and emergencies. We can usually accommodate new patients on our schedule within a week. Emergencies will be seen based on their need and can usually be worked into the current day's schedule.

The new patient appointment, including a full-mouth series of x-rays and a comprehensive exam, takes approximately one hour. If the patient has a cleaning the same day, the appointment usually takes an additional hour. The actual time needed depends on the patient's condition, time needed to discuss the exam results and the amount of buildup or type of cleaning being done.

You will need to bring a government issued photo id, your insurance card if you have dental insurance, and a list of medications you may be taking. Our new patient forms are available to download here and can be provided to us, before your appointment, by fax.

If you bring them to your appointment, you should arrive approximately ten minutes before your appointment to give us time to enter your information into our system. If you need to fill out forms at the time of your appointment, we request that you arrive at least twenty minutes before your appointment time.

Traditional Medicare does not cover any dental services unless you are having a tooth extracted to prepare a site for chemotherapy. Some Medicare supplemental plans do cover dental, but many only cover preventive care and in very small amounts.

Dr. Solera is a non-billing Medicare provider. What this means is that Dr. Solera is registered with Medicare, but cannot bill Medicare. Medicare will cover prescriptions from their accepted list when Dr. Solera is the prescribing doctor. Since Medicare does not cover dental services, there is no need to register as a billing Medicare provider.

Dr. Solera is not registered with Medicaid or ArKids. These programs are government programs, some funded by the federal government and therefore not subject to the Arkansas dental "Point of Service" law. They will not cover any services performed, prescriptions written, or tests ordered by Dr. Solera.

We subscribe annually to a publication of the American Dental Association which gives us the range of prices that are normal for our zip code from the prior year. We have been setting our fees from this publication since our second year in business in 1997. We try to keep our fees as affordable as we reasonably can, since many of our patients do not have insurance to help with the costs of their dental care.

We charge for Nitrous Oxide/Oxygen and numbing injections not accompanying any treatment. We do not charge for injections used to numb patients in preparation of dental treatment nor for any of the spa services that the dental office provides to the patients.

There is no charge for chair-side spa services, nor do we increase the charges for our dental services to compensate for these costs. Our massage therapist does provide and charge for services for her own clients not in conjunction with any dental treatment. Those services are not provided by the dental practice, and are not paid to the dental practice.

We can usually use current digital X-rays from another office. Occasionally we are unable to use third-party x-rays, such as paper x-ray images, which can be unclear, or when the entire root is not visible on the X-ray. Some Panoramic films cannot be used to diagnose decay. We always attempt to acquire and use any current X-rays available.

Dr. Solera does see emergency patients on evenings and weekends if the patient?s need is urgent. The exam fee after hours to cover the costs to open the office for business and power up the equipment is $200. Any other services, such as X-rays taken or re-cementing crowns, will be charged in addition to the emergency exam fee. If you are new to our practice, and you have insurance, we will file your insurance for you, but your full fee will be due at the beginning of any after-hours appointment. If you are a patient of record with substantiated insurance your account will be handled the same as all your other appointments.

As it could be dangerous to the patient and can create liability issues, Dr. Solera does not perform dental procedures beyond diagnostics without supporting staff. We provide after-hours emergent dental care as a courtesy, and our clinic is a private business. We are not an emergency room. Dr. Solera may not always be available.

WE ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH MEDICAID OR ArKids, AND THEREFORE THESE INSURANCES WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY SERVICES PERFORMED OR PRESCRIPTIONS WRITTEN BY DR. SOLERA.

If you schedule an after-hours appointment and you are a new to our office, you will need a current government-issued photo id. Please also bring your dental insurance information. To expedite your appointment please print our patient forms and have them filled out in advance.