Individual Dental Insurance

Dental insurance is purchased, in order to take care of the expenses incurred for dental care. It pays for the cost of the dentist and other providers of a dental service. Dental insurance can be covered in a health insurance plan, based on the plan type. Otherwise, one can opt for a separate dental insurance.

The main benefit of owning a good dental insurance is that one is able to afford the high cost of dental health care. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Dental Plans, 57 percent of Americans have dental insurance plans.

Types of Dental Insurance

While taking up a dental policy, you should analyze the scheme and coverage of the particular plan. There are mainly two types of insurances for dental care - traditional or Indemnity dental insurance plans and managed care dental plans.

In traditional plans, a policyholder has the advantage to visit any dental care professional of his/her choice and the expenses are paid based on fee-for-service. In such plans, the full expense for preventive dental care procedures such as regular checkups and dental cleanings are covered. However, for root canals and fillings, a policyholder would need to pay a deductible, as traditional plans usually cover only 50-80 percent of the expenses.

Under managed care plans, one needs to select a dentist from a list of providers who are in the particular network. These plans are advantageous as there is no need to pay deductible and also, they are cheaper, as compared to indemnity plans. Some popular types of managed care plans are Dental Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Dental Health Maintenance Organization (DHMO), and Dental Point of Service (POS) insurance plans .

Individual Dental Insurance

At present, many top companies provide dental coverage to their employees. In case, an employer does not offer dental insurance, then one can opt for individual dental insurance or family dental insurance plans. Among these, individual dental insurance is a popular type of dental insurance, in which the insurance company sells the plan directly to its clients.

Most of the insurance companies do not offer individual insurance coverage plans. It is due to the fact that the average number of dental patients is very large. For example, if a person has broken teeth, then he/she needs to visit the dentist once in every three months or six months. It is to be noted that expenses for most of the dental services are very high. In case, the patient has an individual dental insurance plan, the insurance company has to pay for the cost of all the dental services.

In contrast, it is obvious that the policyholders are reluctant to pay more in premiums than the usual amount that they would pay for dental services each year. Taking this into account, if the insurance company pays the dental service expenses for all the policyholders, then it would spend more money on benefits than the received premium amount. In short, the insurance company would lose money. This is the reason, why it is very difficult to find an individual dental insurance plan.

While offering an individual dental insurance, the insurance company checks the previous claim record made by the applicant. In case, he/she has made many claims in the past, then the insurance company may deny the application or else the applicant needs to pay a higher premium. In case of such problems, one can look for alternatives such as searching for a qualified and affordable dentist, and saving money on dental care. One can also make an arrangement for monthly payments with your dentist.