Adding dental coverage to your health insurance policy is an excellent way of ensuring your preserve your bright smile without denting your wallet.
With the insurance cover, there is a deductible needed before the coverage comes into effect. Many dental plans will cover around 20% to 80% of the bill. Therefore, your dental insurance will pay the remainder of what you are owed once you pay the deductible out of pocket.
Is Dental Insurance Worth It?
You should go through the dental plan to know how much is covered before you append your signature. Keep the deductible in mind because that is the amount you are obligated to pay out of pocket before your dental insurance coverage kick in.
You also should note that dental procedures are mostly covered on a tiered basis. Take the example of the preventative cover, which has you covered at 100% inclusive of the x-rays and routine dental cleaning. Then you have the basic dental procedures that include things such as root canals, extractions, and fillings. Dental insurances will often cover these procedures up to a certain percentage, but after you have paid the deductible.
Major dental work such as denture, crowns, and bridges mostly have a smaller percentage cover. That means you will have to meet a significant portion of your dental bill when it comes to these dental procedures.
How Do I Use My Dental Insurance?
As is with any health insurance policy, dental coverage does have a list of in and out of network dentists. You get to spend less on your dental work if you stay within your network because the dental insurance will cover a substantial percentage. Conversely, you will pay more when you go out of your insurance network. Some of the dentists will not mind trying to work with you on this, more so if you are one of their regular patients. But you can place the cost of getting quality services. As such, it should not mind paying a bit more if you have found an exceptional dentist.
Depending on your agreement with your insurance company and your dentist, you may have to pay for the dental work at the dentist’s clinic, and then your insurance provider will reimburse the cost. If that is the arrangement, then you should visit your dentist ready to foot the bill for the dental work.
In some instances, your insurance may need a pre-approval for the dental procedures with the exemption of a routine checkup. In such a case, you should request your dentist to submit the claim on your behalf in advance. The dentist should also call and verify this before you visit the clinic. In the event of emergency dental work, you should call your insurance provider to confirm if you should wait for the approval. The goal of confirming that your claims are approved before you get the dental work done is to save you from a lot of headache and hassle later.
And given that dental practices like the Dental Practice Fleet tend to have unique ways of classifying their basic, preventative, and major dental procedures, this can affect the much you will pay out of pocket. Therefore, you should have all the information right before having any dental work done.
Where Can I Get Dental Plans?
You can get the dental coverage through your employer. You can even purchase a personal one, as is the case with self-insurance for the self-employed people. Overall, with the cover, you will be saving a specific amount of money on a yearly or monthly basis that you can use to pay for dental work you get.
What are the Alternatives to Dental Insurance?
A dental discount card is one of the top alternatives to dental insurance. However, you should weigh the pros and cons of the two so that you make an informed decision.
All in all, you need to allocate some money in your budget for your dental insurance to meet the costs of your dental care. Remember to check in with your dentist periodically, especially if you are prone to cavities. It may cost you most up-front, but you get to save more in the long run while also preserving your teeth.