Frequently Asked Questions about Bento: PPO Network

Dentists nationwide are joining Bento to increase practice revenue, decrease admin costs, enhance patient experience and get paid faster! With Bento’s award-winning platform there are no pre-treatment estimates, 48-hour credentialing, and direct digital payments straight to your account from the source.

Known for its advanced cloud-based solutions, Bento has been recognized by the media and is proud to be endorsed by the American Dental Association, Florida Dental Association and Massachusetts Dental Society.

Bento is working to make going to the dentist simple for everyone, including the dentist. With Bento you can look up patient eligibility instantly, send out accurate pre-treatment estimates whenever you want, and get paid faster than any other network in the country.

Becoming a Bento Dentist is FREE and EASY. Add your ZIP code to see a sample fee schedule.

Signing up for Bento’s network is free for all dentists. Payments from the patient (or their employer) to the dentist are processed through the Bento platform directly using an electronic funds transfer (EFT) after an appointment is completed.

There are no termination fees, and your office is never charged anything to join our network. We do ask for appropriate notice (30 days) so that our members are given enough time to find a new dentist if you decide to no longer participate with Bento.

Yes, Bento partners with DenteMax and Connection Dental to provide options for members across the country. With this partnership, Bento is accepted at over 336,000 offices.

If you are a DenteMax, DenteMax Plus, or Connection Dental provider, you also accept Bento via our partnership. However, joining Bento does not sign-up your office for participation with DenteMax, DenteMax Plus, or Connection Dental.

Yes! We know how important the relationship is between Specialists and General Dentists. If you have a practice in mind that you would like to see in the network for referral purposes, please let us know by requesting them directly in the Bento mobile app or giving us a call!

Just give us a call and we will reach out to them. We can also provide you with a list of nearby in-network specialists that you can use for referrals.

The Dentist Portal is Bento’s online tool for administering the benefit plan. From your personalized Dentist Portal, practices can search for Bento members, check eligibility, provide estimates, set-up their in-office plans and get paid for services performed.

To get started go to bento.net/dentist-signup. Here’s a quick checklist of information to have at hand:

• Practice information:
  • Dentist, Office Manager or Admin Email Address where all communications will be sent
  • Practice Name
  • Practice Website URL
  • Business Entity Name
  • Business Entity Tax ID (EIN) to verify your practice
  • Business Entity Address, City, State and Zip Code
  • List of other Practice Locations
• Info for all dentists including: Name, NPI, State license number, degree information and practice address (Bento’s credentialing process is completed within 48 hours).
• You will be able to view and download your full fee schedules during this stage of the sign-up process.

Once you’ve finished entering the above information and click the “Submit” button, your practice is entered into Bento’s approval process. Approvals and dentist credentialing are processed within 48 hours. Once approved you will get an email. From there, you can start seeing Bento patients and exploring the Bento Dentist Portal. Schedule time with a network specialist for a personalized training on how to use your Dentist Portal.

Contact Bento at 800.734.8484 to speak with a Bento team member (Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST) or email us at smile@bento.net. For immediate inquiries visit bento.net or bentopedia.bento.net for answers to commonly asked questions.

Bento prides itself on our quick and seamless credentialing. New dentists are credentialed and added to a practice within 48 hours.

Bento develops fee schedules by zip code based on prevailing market rates. All in-network dentists specific to a specialty in a particular zip code receive the same fee for a CDT code if the procedure is covered by the self-funded employer’s benefit plan. When a dentist agrees to participate in Bento’s network s/he agrees to these fees as your full fee. Based on the plan design selected by the patient’s employer a portion of the fee will be paid to the dentist directly from the employer’s account and the rest (i.e., co-insurance) will be charged to the patient’s credit card or flagged for collection by the your office staff.

Bento’s fee schedules are a complete list of pre-negotiated fees for CDT codes. Bento aims to be competitive with the standard rates and fees within your locality.

There are 3 tiers of fee schedules:

• Platinum
• Gold
• Silver

Platinum pays the highest rates while silver provides the most options for value for the patient.

You may also select all three fee schedules in order to appeal to the highest number of Bento patients. You will be able to view the fee schedules during the sign-up process before submitting your application.

You can also request the fee schedules for your practice location(s) by contacting Bento at network@bento.net.

Yes, we recommend this as it allows dentists to increase their potential patient base while providing value.

If you are not in the specific network a patient has, Bento still works the same way. When you complete an appointment in the Bento Dentist Portal you will see a “plan pays” amount and a “patient pays” amount. When the patient’s credit card is on file, the patient will be charged the “patient pays” amount when you click “Done? Get Paid”. If a credit card is not on file, the practice is responsible for collecting the “patient pays” amount.

For example, let’s say a certain procedure is paid at $10 under a silver plan and $14 under the platinum plan. The employer has chosen the silver plan and covers 80% of the fee.

• A dental office participating at the silver tier will be paid $8 from the employer and will collect $2 from the patient.
• A dental office participating at the platinum tier will be paid $8 from the employer and will collect $6 from the patient.

The AI-based Bento platform keep prices transparent for the patient and avoids any surprise bills! The patient can see what the employer pays and choose the dentist they are comfortable with while fully knowing the cost of their care.

Yes, Bento offers specialist fee schedules. For more information to add to a specialist in your practice contact Bento at network@bento.net.

Your participation in the Bento network as a provider is renewed each year automatically. However, should you wish to opt out you can do so with proper notice (30 days).

With Bento you are paid directly from the source. If a patient is a member of a Bento Group Plan, Bento moves the money on behalf of the employer, directly from their bank account to yours. Patients who use Bento through an individual/group access plan or through a provider’s in-office plan powered by Bento will pay providers using their credit card in the Bento Dental app. Bento moves funds from the patient’s credit card on file directly to the bank account associated with the practice.

You won’t need to! Participating Bento Dentists process everything directly in their Bento Dentist Portal. Simply look up a Bento member, add services and the portal will tell you in real-time the amount covered by the plan, and the patient’s portion (if applicable) on a per procedure basis. You’ll get paid directly after services are complete. No paperwork, no hassle.

After a completed appointment Bento initiates an electronic funds transfer (EFT) instantly and funds will settle in your account within 7 business days.

There are no claims when you use Bento. Everything is processed directly in the Bento Dentist Portal and practices are paid via electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the bank account associated with the practice ensuring faster payments.

Bento works with all practice management software systems. Depending on your practice management system, Bento can be added as either a “New Insurance Company” or a new “Payment Type”.

In all cases, office administrators will want to create a note, flag, or prompt as a reminder to always launch and sign in to the Bento Dentist Portal in order to collect payment on services rendered to Bento patients. The Bento Dentist Portal includes full payout and service reporting that makes reconciliation a breeze. For more information on how to connect to a specific PMS system, visit bento.net/bentopedia or contact Bento directly at 800.734.8484.

No. Bento pays on all CDT codes competitively when compared to other carriers that many dentists already accept.

Once your practice is done with credentialing, we make it available in our mobile app within 48 hours. The frequency of getting a Bento patient depends on location, patient population, and marketing. Bento is actively looking to engage employers with Bento. Having a robust dental network will help Bento expand further! If you would like to know more about how to market Bento to your patients, please contact Bento at network@bento.net.

Treatment planning is handled with the Bento estimate feature in the Dentist Portal. You can send out a treatment plan as quickly as you come up with it. No more waiting for pre-treatment authorizations. The treatment plan can be printed or delivered directly to your patient via their smartphone for their review and acceptance. The treatment plan is approved by the patient without any interference by Bento except for any benefit limitations selected by the employer when designing the self-funded benefit.

The coordination of benefits is something that Bento treats as a decision between the patient and the dentist’s office.

Being a Bento Dentist gives you access to all Bento members and groups who use Bento as a dental benefit. Joining the Bento network does not sign you up for participation with other networks from different benefit administrators or companies.

If you are not yet a participating Bento Dentist filing a claim is similar to the process that you have with many traditional dental benefit companies. Payments for out of network dentists are processed via paper check upon arrival of a completed ADA claim form, statement of services, bill, and/or receipt. Paper checks are sent directly to the dentists unless the patient was billed in full at the time of service.

If you are using Bento only to administer an in-office plan you can select to create your account without joining the network.

Bento requires that you send a completed ADA claim form with the patient’s information (Bento Member ID Number, First Name, Last Name, and Date of Birth). If applicable you may also need to send a statement of services, bill, or receipt to Bento.

Fax: 855-214-4888
Mail: Bento Dental
PO Box 9028
Boston, MA 02114

Payments are processed via check upon arrival of a claim form, statement of services, bill, and/or receipt.

To receive direct, paperless payments become a Bento Dentist.

Once an out-of-network claim is received, checks typically are sent out within 5 business days. For in-network payments, the transfer of funds to the practice initiates the same business day as services are rendered.

The Bento Dentist Portal allows you to verify coverage with only first name, last name, and date of birth. If you continue to have issues, please call Bento at 800.734.8484.

Bento lets you check patient eligibility instantly using the Bento Dentist Portal. If you are not a Bento Dentist (out-of-network) or unable to access the portal, please call Bento at 800.734.8484.

In the Bento Dentist Portal you can see this information when you check patient eligibility. You may also check patient eligibility by contacting Bento at 800.734.8484.

Yes, absolutely! Bento offers the leading alternative to dental benefits as one of the only pay-as-you-go dental benefit options for individuals. We call it our Individual + Family Access Plan. Patients get access to in-network rates, and your practice’s collection of payments is improved and simplified. To learn more about the Individual + Family Access Plan visit bento.net.

Yes, absolutely! Bento offers the leading alternative to dental benefits as one of the only pay-as-you-go dental benefit options for individuals. We call it our Individual + Family Access Plan. Patients get access to in-network rates, and your practice’s collection of payments is improved and simplified. To learn more about the Individual + Family Access Plan visit https://bento.net/,

Yes, Bento is HIPAA compliant. Employers and members can rest assured that their personal health information (PHI) and personal identifiable information (PII) is safe and secure within the Bento platform. To learn more about Bento’s security visit bento.net/security.

For more information about Bento visit bento.net or search for questions and how-to’s at bento.net/bentopedia.