Dental Insurance Plans

Dental care

An individual’s dental care is decided solely by his/her hygienic habits. This includes brushing twice a day & flossing at least once a week. Dental hygiene is equally important as body hygiene. It starts from childhood & lasts throughout a lifetime. Most of the individuals feel, visiting a dentist for simple checkups is a waste of time & money. Here, Dental insurance has got a major part to play, especially during

Dental insurance

Dental insurance allows you to take good care of your dental needs with minimum worry about the expenses. Dental insurance is provided in the following ways: -

Group dental insurance

Provided by insurance providers to private employees of corporate. Pre-existing conditions & cosmetic procedures may be excluded. This is comparatively cheaper than other insurances.   The types of   insurance thus provided will be: -

DHMO: – Dental Health maintenance organization. You will be provided with their own network of dentists, which you have to strictly adhere to. Your dental expenses will not be covered if you are consulting a dentist of your choice.

Direct reimbursement: – insurance carriers do not provide this. The employer directly reimburses the dental expenses of the employees. It is primarily hassle- free.

Individual dental insurance

If dental insurance is not provided by your employer, then you can apply on your own to any insurance provider. You can browse online or contact any local agent for a dental insurance.

Some of the types are: -

PPO: – Preferred provider organization. You will be provided with network coverage. But the insurance provider will cover a percentage of your dental expenses, if you have to consult a dentist of your choice. More premiums& more coverage are some of the features. Sometimes orthodontic treatments like application of braces might be covered. Pre-existing conditions & cosmetic treatments are excluded from coverage.

DHMO: – This option is available for individual dental insurance as well. Low premium. But deductibles & co pay will be present. You are paying deductibles to the insurance provider, whereas co pay is directly to the dentist.

INDEMNITY: – 50—80% coverage. Low premium.  Services provided by the dentist will be capped for each year. Pre-existing conditions, Orthodontic treatments & cosmetic treatments are excluded.

Family Dental insurance

If the dental insurance provided is to be extended to your family members then there is provision of family dental insurance, where each & every member including children is a beneficiary.

Children are provided insurance, until they reach age 18 or 19. This varies from one insurance provider to another.

Some of the types are: -

1)PPO  2)Indemnity   etc
No preexisting conditions; No cosmetic procedures; Orthodontic procedures might be covered.

Significance of no waiting period:

In any of the above-mentioned dental insurances, waiting period is an unavoidable clause.

Whenever you apply for a dental insurance, you cannot expect it to reimburse immediately. There is sure to be a waiting period for filling the forms & for the insurance to come into effect.

This is ‘coz some customers apply for a dental insurance when there is any dental emergency & later when it is reimbursed, they will cancel the insurance.

Even no waiting period is a part of the propaganda of most of the insurance providers, most of the major dental procedures like root canal, crown replacement, oral surgeries etc requires a specific waiting period ranging from 6 months – 18 months.

Certain routine checkups, fillings, extraction etc may not require waiting period, in the case of some insurance providers.

If you are already a member of the insurance provider, & you have bought dental insurance, then there might not be any waiting period for you.

Again the clauses & conditions vary from one insurance provider to another.

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