Dental Insurance

With the ever increasing fees of the dentists and the expensive routine check-ups, dental insurance, just like medical and health insurance, has become a necessity today. Dental insurance generally covers routine dental check-ups and other serious dental problems like cavity and dental implant etc.

To start with, most of the insurance companies insure those persons whose teeth are in proper shape and who visits dentists regularly. They also make sure that the person concerned does not require treatment for any minor or major dental problems at the time of start of the policy.

Benefits of Dental Insurance:

• a)Since you have to pay a fixed monthly premium to cover your dental treatment, you don’t have to worry about your budget going overboard or expensive unexpected bills.
  
• b)Most of the insurance companies come out with different types of policies to suit everyone’s budget.
  
• c)With dental insurance in your hands, you don’t have to worry about the quality of the dental treatment or dentists. Generally, all insurance companies have tie-ups with various dentists, so you can select the one which is nearest to your place and more experienced. You should always check the credentials of the dentist i.e. his experience and expertise if you don’t know him personally. It is preferable to select the dentist which is recommended by your family and friends.
  
• d) Many insurance companies also provide discount if all the members of a family get their dental insurance done from them.
  

Types of plans or policies:

There are different types of dental insurance plans like Dental Insurance Plan, Dental Maintenance Plan, Dental cover for Businesses, Dental Implant cover and Dental cover for children.

• a) Dental Insurance Plan: In this type of plan, you pay monthly or annual premium for coverage of preventive, minor and major dental treatments. It may cover just an individual or whole family. The cost of this type of plan depends on what all you want to be covered in the plan. The wider the cover, higher will be the premium. However, most of the companies do not cover cosmetic treatment, sports injuries and dental implants, which is very expensive.
  
• b) Dental Maintenance Plan: Here, you have to pay monthly or annual premium and this plan will help you in the maintenance of your teeth. Normally, the plan covers the routine check-ups, X-rays, fillings and preventive care. However, some others do cover almost everything from routine check-ups to serious dental problems.Cosmetic treatment, however, is not included in the Dental maintenance plan as it is quite expensive and that the cost may vary from person to person.
  
• c)Dental Cover for Businesses: Some business houses or corporate houses appoint an insurance company to provide dental cover to its employees. In some cases, the premium is paid by the company as part of its welfare schemes for the employees. While in others, employees have to pay the premium through monthly deduction in their salaries. The company may give you a booklet containing all the details regarding what all is included in your plan. Read the fine print carefully so as to know what all services are included in your insurance plan. Like other plans, this plan may cover from routine check-ups to serious dental problems. Most of the insurance companies also offer benefits like discounts for all the customers.
  
• d)Dental Health Cash plan: This type of dental insurance plan only provides cash for the routine visits to the dentist and prescription charges. It doesn’t cover the cost of the treatment. Some health cash plans offer both dental and optical care which includes eye-sight tests and prescription charges for spectacles and the contact lenses.s
  
• e)Dental Insurance plan for children: In most of the insurance plans like the dental insurance cover, dental maintenance plan and health cash plans, children under the age of 16 are provided cover free of cost. Some schools in US and UK appoint insurance companies from where parents can buy dental cover for their children. Most of these companies charge less premium if the insurance plan is purchased through school.
  

Tips for choosing proper dental insurance plan:

• a) For choosing a proper and beneficial dental insurance plan, first you must know the types of the plans available in the market. Broadly, there are two types of insurance plans – Group plan and individual plan. Group insurance plan is generally taken by an employer for all his employees. The employer or the corporate house may partially or wholly pay the premium for the plan. But if you are self-employed or you don’t want to opt for the group plan, you can go in for an individual plans wherein you will have to pay the premium. You can choose from different types of the individual plans like the ones mentioned above, depending on your requirements and budget.
  
• b) Different dental insurance companies offer different facilities at different rates. These rates vary depending on your age, health status, past medical history and the duration for which you want to get the insurance. Compare the facilities and the rates provided by all the companies before finalizing a particular insurance company. This will make your decision-making easier.
  
• c) Many people also use Indemnity plan in which you have to pay a monthly fees to the dental insurance company and they directly pay the dentist for the services provided to you. This is also called cashless transaction wherein you don’t have to pay the dentist. But you must know what all is covered in your plan.
  
• d) You can also consult different dentists on the best dental insurance agency in your city or country. Though there is a likelihood that different names may crop up, they may also come up with a consensus name.
  

Take suggestions from everybody but take the decision yourself about the best dental insurance plan on the basis of different facilities provided and the rates and put your dental worries to rest!.