What is Dental Insurance?

Dental insurance is a part of health insurance in which the insurance company pays a part of your dental expense when you have one. You may find several dental care plans being offered mostly at work places these days. Usually the employers make a contract with the insurance company to offer their employees with dental care benefits and cover up their dental care cost. 

Most of the dental plans cover basic dental care and are based on the terms that your employer has agreed upon. Normally in most cases, you have the dental insurance policy provided by your employer but if not then get one if your dentist bills are high and you need to visit a dentist quite often. You can mainly divide dental care plans into three categories such as Dental Indemnity Plans, Preferred Provider Organization plans and Dental Maintenance Organization plans.

Dental Indemnity plan

These plans are also called as true dental insurance plans. Having a dental indemnity plans, you can visit any dentist you wish however the plans include annual limit for expenses as well as few annual charges.

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO)

A Preferred Provider Organization plan offers more options than Dental Maintenance Organization plans. When you have this plan, you can see any dentist without having a need for referral. You may also get lower costs if the dentist you are visiting is a part of PPO or PDN annual limits and charges apply.

Dental Maintenance Organization (DMO)

This is a low cost insurance plan in which you are provided with routine dental care worth a fixed price having annual limit and charges applying. In this plan, you select a primary care dentist who looks after your basic dental treatments and when you need to see a specialist the primary dentist provides reference. If your dental plan covers orthodontia then you do not require referral to see a DMO orthodontist.

Dentists are generally in tie up with the insurance service providers and you do not need to pay for any dental check up if you are visiting the same dentist. If you are visiting any out of network dentist then you are responsible for those payments unless it is specified in your policy. Some dental insurance policies have waiting periods under which certain benefits are covered. Some plans have annual maximum limits and you cannot take dental expenses covered with your policy over that limit being limit reissued each year. If you still incur dental expenses after reaching the limits then you will have to pay for these. Members are assigned a policy number for enrolment and they will have to fill their claims by visiting the insurance company themselves.

You can get your normal checkups, cleanings, x-rays with your dentist at no cost as insurance company pays in full for such treatments and pay half or more of the expenses incurred on services like fillings, crowns and root canals .You are responsible for the rest of the payments. Always confirm the annual coverage, your cost, benefits and the ease of claiming as these things matter while buying a plan. You can search for dental insurance online and get various quotes depending upon your needs.

Posted in: Dental Insurance