Tips on How to Choose a Dental Insurance Plan

Dental Insurance is unlike medical insurance is not considered important by many until they come across a dental problem and the cost of Dental Treatment is out of their range. With many Insurance companies now giving Dental Insurance Plans it is important to take a plan for you and your family to keep in check your Dental Treatment costs. Dental Treatments are very costly and only Dental Insurance and Dental Discount plans can come to your rescue.

Dental Insurance Plans are nothing but pre-payment of Fees for Dental Treatment Procedures in the future.

There are many clauses in a Dental Insurance plan so we need to be very careful in choosing the right Dental insurance plan for our needs. Here we are going to discuss about the various aspects which should be kept in mind before you take up your Dental Insurance Plan.

Dentists covered under your Insurance Plan: This is the most important aspect which we should look into before taking up a Dental Insurance plan from a certain Insurance company. Many insurance companies have ties with certain Dentists and will give insurance only if treated at these dentists. So if you take a dental plan and the dentist is located some 50 miles from your place, it is foolishness to travel such long distances if you are considering regular treatment. So make sure you talk to your Dentist and the Insurance company and it would be wise to ask the insurance company to mail you the list of Dentists which come under their Insurance plan.

• Are Specialists covered under Dental Plan
• Are patients allowed to see Specialists of their Choice or only Specified Specialist by the Insurance Company
• Are Patients allowed to see a non-contracted dentist after hours or while traveling and will coverage be given

Waiting Period for Dental Insurance: Some insurance companies have a waiting period of almost 12 months to start your coverage which can be a waste if you need immediate dental care. Cheap Insurance policies will surely make you wait for long periods of time until which you would have paid your Treatment costs yourself. So make sure you choose the Dental Insurance Plan which is best Suited to your needs. So it is important to keep your Dentist updated and ask him for tips to choose the best dental Insurance plan for your particular treatment.

Dental Insurance Plans for respective Treatment procedures: Dental Insurance Companies make sure that they get the maximum benefit out of their Insurance Plans so you need to be careful in choosing the right plan for your needs. Most of the insurance plans wont cover teeth which were lost before the Insurance Plan was taken up, so if you loose a tooth (after the plan is active) beside the one which was lost before the dental plan then the Insurance company will not cover the cost of Dental Bridge siting the presence of the missing tooth before the plan was taken up. Some Dental plans don’t cover Implants, some don’t cover lingual Braces, invisible braces etc so you need to specify the Insurance agent that you are in need of a dental plan which will cover the specific dental Treatment procedure which you require.

• Does the plan cover Orthodontic Treatment – Lingual braces, Invisalign .. etc
• Are there any Age limits on your dental plan for certain treatment procedures
• Does the Dental Plan cover Emergency Dental Treatment procedures
• Does the Dental Plan cover common dental treatments like Crowns, Root Canals, Fillings etc (yes some plans do not cover these)

Oral Surgery Procedures – Dental or Medical:  Some Oral Surgical Procedures are not considered under Dental Plan as they are considered Medical procedures, like in case of Facial Fractures or Cosmetic Bone Re-modelling procedures where the use of GA and OT is required. So make sure you are clear with the Dental Insurance provider that the particular Dental Treatment is being considered under your plan or else you will have to shell out the treatment cost in-spite of paying the insurance cost monthly.

Average Cost of Dental Insurance:Dental Insurance plans are sometimes provided by Companies which you work in, which have either Self Insured or Fully Insured Plans which have their own advantages and dis advantages so you need to ascertain your situation and decide which plan to go for and the Cost of the Dental Insurance plan is a major concern as some low cost plans do not give you the benefit which you require or do not cover the Treatment which you are in need of.

• What Treatment procedures you need and which insurance plan covers it.
• How much can you afford to pay per month to get the insurance plan.
• Is the plan worth it ? are you getting the required benefit from the plan which you are going to take or being offered ?

Cheap Family Dental Insurance: Dental Insurance plans are available to Families as well like in Medical Insurance plans, Family Dental Insurance plans can be cheap as taking a single plan for all family members against single insurance plans for every member separately. Family Dental Insurance plans can be beneficial with decrease in cost and sometimes go against you because of the rules and regulation revolving around the Insurance plans, so we have to consider the following points before taking up a cheap Family Dental Insurance Plan:

• Will the plan cover all the needs of your family (for example your child may require Braces whereas you require a Crown or a fixed denture)
• Are there any age limits for Dental Insurance plans (In a family there is a huge difference in Ages)
• Does it cover Emergency Dental Treatment to any family member
• Does it cover the common procedures like Crowns, RCT, Bridges etc to every member of the family

So according to your requirement you have to make your insurance plan tailor made for your needs and make sure you talk to both your Dentist and the Insurance Agent before taking up a plan.

Dental Insurance vs Dental Discount Plan: Dental Insurance plans can sometimes not be useful in certain types of Dental Treatment in giving you required discounts. Instead you need to look for Dental Discount Plans which can be very cheaper compared to Dental Insurance Plans, most of the dental insurance plans coverage is very low, as we know that Dental Insurance is the pre-payment of treatment costs, in case of multiple dental care procedures in a single year the insurance coverage cannot be given to all the procedures and in such cases Dental Discount plans should be considered.

Missing Tooth clause: This is also termed as Replacement Clause, you need to be careful in noting that this clause protects the insurance company from replacing the teeth which were lost before the insurance plan was started. This also includes Bridges which include teeth lost after the plan was taken, so if the bridge includes a tooth lost before the insurance plan and a tooth after the insurance plan was taken the Insurance company will not cover the cost siting the presence of tooth lost before Insurance plan was started. So if you are taking a Dental Insurance plan when you have missing teeth make sure you take up a plan which does not have this Missing tooth or Replacement plan