Dental Insurance Plans

Dental insurance plans are part of the health care package, but not always included in a health care package as a standard feature. Dental insurance can be purchased as an option to a health insurance plan or as a standalone package.

Dental insurance is as critical as health care today. It is important to take care of your oral health as well as your physical health and good dental insurance plans are almost a must have to do that.

Dental insurance plans will cover routine and maintenance care as well as major dental procedures such as root canals, bridge installation and extractions. Most dental insurance plans sometimes have a waiting period before anything beyond routine care is covered. That waiting period might be anywhere from a few months to as long as a year. That is to prevent the insured from taking out dental insurance and having a variety of expensive dental procedure performed then resigning from the plan. If you anticipate major dental work in your future, you may want to consider looking into dental insurance plans. There are some plans that do not have a waiting period, but they may have other qualifiers in place that might prevent expensive dental work from being covered until a certain time frame elapses or the insured has paid a certain amount of premiums into the system.

Dental insurance plans typically do not include coverage for cosmetic dental work such as teeth whitening or orthodontics. The installation and maintenance of braces or other procedures considered to be cosmetic may be covered if necessary for health reasons. It will be up to the insurance company whether that cost is covered or not

Dental insurance plans may also have a limit to what is covered per procedure or per year. There is also a deductible and copay that is required with dental insurance as well. When comparing dental insurance plans, take the out of pocket expenses into account when comparing premiums. Crunch the numbers and make sure you are getting dental value for your hard earned dollar. Paying a high premium along with a copay and additional out of pocket expenses may make a dental plan not worth the trouble it takes to fill out the paper work.

Dental plans can be made reasonable by taking good care of your teeth in the first place. Brushing and flossing after every meal will keep tooth decay to a minimum and gums healthy, wealthy and wise. Regular checkups and professional teeth cleaning will also help to keep your teeth in good working order. Having your teeth repaired as soon as a filling falls out or a tooth breaks is also a way to keep your teeth working the way they should. Avoiding or minimizing foods that attack teeth such as sugar and acidic foods will go a long way keeping your mouth in good working order. Preventative care is just as important as dental care and that will keep your dentist visits to a minimum and eliminate or at least minimize expensive dental care in the future.