Here's now my insurance works. They will pay x% of the MINIMAL quality of work being done.
I.e. for my crown I need redone, I will get 50% of a porcelain covered gold crown. that is $720, so my portion is half that.
My dentist is very transparent and my bid showed all 4 crown type options, going all the way up to $1250 same day 3d printed in their office crown. I of course being mustachian opted for the least expensive, there is NO difference in how the crown will wear between the 4 options, the two most expensive are one office visit, the two cheaper require 2 visits.
I have the same $1500 max you do. My cleaning is covered 100% BUT only for basic xrays, my dentist did alot of extra stuff that was not covered, however, they did NOT charge me for it.
I do feel it is your dentist's responsibility to be very transparent with charges and what you have to pay, this does often vary from what the insurance's minimal coverage includes. I think you are fine with your insurance (sounds standard to me) you need to look for a more helpful dentist.
ah, and another quick story of how honest our dentist is. I was just asked where to apply my husband's credit, because the insurance paid more and they did not just keep it, they applied the extra to us for our out of pocket portion we paid.
Eye insurance is the same, seems like it is not really insurance at all.