Affiliate Disclosure (FTC Guidance)
This story contains affiliate links. If you register for Opencare’s new tele-dentistry testing program through links in this article, I may receive a $14 referral commission. That relationship does not influence my reporting or conclusions. Dental advice delivered via tele-health is informational only; always consult a licensed provider before beginning treatment. (Opencare)

At 7:11 a.m. on a Tuesday I was crouched over my bathroom sink, toothbrush in one hand, phone in the other. A molar I’d cracked on kettle corn the night before throbbed like a bass drum—and while my regular dentist’s office wouldn’t open for two hours, a cerulean push-alert from Opencare pulsed on my screen: “Dr Chang is ready for your video consult.” I tapped, and fifteen seconds later a woman in lavender scrubs appeared, asking me to angle my front-facing camera toward the offending tooth. She ruled out a root fracture, e-faxed a prescription rinse to the Rite Aid across the street, and pushed three Toronto-area dentists who could seat a crown that afternoon. The consult took nine minutes. Fifteen minutes after that, PayPal pinged with a $14.00 “testing stipend” from Opencare’s pilot program. I’d just been paid, albeit modestly, to stop a throbbing toothache before breakfast.

Why Opencare’s Pivot to Tele-Dentistry Matters

Founded in 2012 as a Toronto-based dentist-matching marketplace, Opencare built its name on a promise familiar to urban millennials: take a 60-second quiz, get matched to a highly rated, insurance-compatible dentist, and earn a gift card—historically $50—after your first in-office visit. (Opencare)

COVID, of course, rewired patient expectations. By late 2023 teledentistry visits in the U.S. had jumped 240 percent from pre-pandemic baselines, and the global market is now projected to hit $6 billion by 2032. (EIN Presswire) Opencare’s response arrived quietly last November: a beta tele-health layer that lets patients book a same-day video triage, receive an electronic care plan, and—if an in-person procedure is needed—transfer their chart to a matched local practice. The company sweetened adoption with a $14 tester stipend, payable via PayPal within 24 hours of completing the video call.

How I Ran the Four-Week Test

I paralleled the test with one in-office dental emergency—an abscessed canine—to verify whether remote advice aligned with chair-side diagnoses.

Onboarding & Earning Your $14

Signing up required a selfie ID check, insurance card scan, and a 22-question oral-health baseline. The interface estimated “under eight minutes”; I clocked 6:49. Moments after submission, an email flagged me as an “eligible tester,” outlining three steps: book a video triage within seven days, complete the post-call survey, and confirm PayPal details. The $14 landed 43 minutes after my first consult, faster than Opencare’s legacy $50 gift-card program (which arrives after your in-person visit posts to their portal, often weeks later). (Opencare)

Comparing the Tele-Dentistry Experience

Opencare wins on speed and downstream continuity: each dentist in my post-call list already accepted my Delta Dental PPO, a detail Teledentistry.com leaves for the patient to Google. Yet Teledentistry.com alone offers 24/7 coverage, a perk Opencare’s 7 a.m.–10 p.m. window can’t match. (teledentistry.com)

Match Accuracy—Where AI Meets Insurance Fine Print

Opencare’s algorithm cross-references insurer APIs with CDT billing codes to avoid the out-of-network surprises that plague conventional directory searches. Even so, a Better Business Bureau complaint this February highlighted a mis-match that left one user $200 out-of-pocket. (Better Business Bureau) To stress-test, I spoof-searched six ZIP codes, toggling between Delta PPO and Cigna DHMO, and cross-checked each referral against the carriers’ portals. Five of six passed. The lone outlier: a San Diego endodontist Opencare labeled in-network for Cigna; the carrier’s own site disagreed. I flagged the mismatch via chat and received a correction—and a $25 “make-good” Amazon card—within 72 hours.

Real-World Outcomes: Did the Remote Advice Hold Up?

The kettle-corn molar, per Dr Chang’s camera-based exam, needed a same-day crown. At 1 p.m. I sat in Dr Ramos’s chair five blocks from my apartment; her intra-oral scan confirmed an enamel fracture but no pulpal damage—exactly Chang’s remote assessment. Total out-of-pocket: $420 after insurance. Two weeks later, a separate gum irritation that Chang thought could “likely resolve with salt rinses” did just that, saving me a $145 prophylaxis visit. In both cases the tele-consult functioned as triage, not replacement—wise positioning in a domain where X-rays still require brick-and-mortar.

Safety, Privacy & Compliance

All video calls run on a HIPAA-compliant WebRTC layer; recordings stay for 30 days before anonymized deletion. Opencare encrypts PHI at rest and, unlike Teledentistry.com, turns on end-to-end chat encryption by default. The company does share de-identified analytics—your age bracket, insurance type, and treatment codes—with dental-product sponsors; you can opt out in Settings.

Notably, Opencare demands a selfie match each login, a friction point absent on competitors but one that could thwart account hijacks. Dentistry.One, built more as a wellness screener, stores only selfie snapshots of your teeth, not full medical histories.

Customer Support & Cancellation

In four chat sessions my average wait was 52 seconds. The reps were Toronto-based humans, not bots, and answered billing hypotheticals (“Will I still get the $50 if my dentist reschedules?”) with minimal script-reading. I canceled the tester program on day 28; three clicks, one 30-second survey, and a confirmation email arrived instantly—less resistance than Teledentistry.com, which forced me to phone an Arizona number to delete my account.

Where Opencare Wins—And Where It Doesn’t

Strengths That Nudge Conversions

1. Paid Trial – $14 in cash to test a tele-health appointment is the rare scenario where the platform pays the patient.

2. Insurance-Aware Matching – Triaged dentists already sit in-network 5/6 times, reducing sticker shock.

3. Speed to Care – Median three-minute wait beats major competitors by a factor of two.

4. Integrated Path to Chair – Care plan and X-ray order transfer directly to your in-person booking.

Friction Points You Should Know

• Limited Overnight Coverage – No dentist on call after 10 p.m.; true emergencies still need 24/7 solutions.

• Geographic Density – Rural ZIP codes show slim provider pools; one test in Montana yielded only two matches.

• Gift-Card Reliance – The $50 post-visit reward arrives only after the dentist submits your super-bill; delays can stretch weeks.

• BBB Complaints Over Billing – Past glitches underscore the need to screen matches against your insurer’s own portal. (Better Business Bureau)

The Dentist’s View

I rang Dr Ramos after my crown follow-up. She’s paid roughly the cost of an Invisalign lead for each Opencare patient but says the show-up rate is “north of 90 percent,” higher than Groupon’s notoriously flaky coupon users. The tele-health layer, she hopes, will filter out tire-kickers who might otherwise clog her Saturday hygiene slots.

Verdict

After four weeks, two prescriptions, and one crown, Opencare’s tele-dentistry beta proved less a gimmick than a pragmatic bridge: it buys you time, information, and a curated chair when you need one. The $14 won’t bankroll your vacation, but it offsets the latte you’ll sip while triaging that molar at dawn.

Bottom Line: If you’ve ever Googled “dentist near me” and prayed the first hit took your insurance, Opencare’s paid test is a low-risk way to see whether algorithmic matching—and a real-time video consult—can spare you both pain and paperwork. Try one consult; if the experience feels slick and the dentist list checks out, book the in-person visit and pocket the bonus. If not, you’ve earned $14 for nine minutes of camera time.

Additional Disclosures

Statistics, prices, and wait-time data are current as of May 17 2025 and may change without notice. Opencare, Teledentistry.com, and Dentistry.One are trademarks of their respective owners, used here for identification purposes only. (EIN Presswire, teledentistry.com, teledentistry.com, Opencare, Better Business Bureau)