Coping with the changing state of dental managed care.

About 58 percent of the American population has some type of managed dental care that pays for some, not all, dental care needs. Unlike the medical profession, the dental profession has not been devoured by managed care, but there is no question that managed care plans are here to stay. The various types of managed care programs are changing every day. The trend is for DHMOs and dental indemnity programs to decrease, DPPOs and dental referral programs to increase and dental reimbursement programs to grow slowly as more organizations become aware of their benefits. Plans vary from excellent to poor in their service to patients and their dentists. We dentists must learn to live with them and to educate our patients about the advantages and disadvantages of each. I am pleased to observe that fee-for-service dentistry, although challenged, is still very alive and strong and serving the public with the same high quality and freedom of choice for which American dentistry has always been known.