If you don’t have any dental coverage through your workplace, you can always sign up for a private dental insurance plan to handle treatment costs. But should you? Read ahead to find out why signing up for dental insurance might not be the savviest decision.
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Monthly Premiums
When you sign up for a private dental insurance plan, you’ll have to pay monthly premiums to the insurance provider. On average, the policy premiums will cost you approximately $50 per month, and $600 per year. If you decide to sign up for a more high-end plan, you could pay closer to $1000 in premiums by the end of the year.
Considering some of the costs of dental care, this commitment might not make sense. For instance, a routine cleaning at a standard dental clinic will likely run you a $200 bill. So, after attending your two recommended cleanings per year, you will only spend $400 at the dentist. That’s less than what you’d spend on insurance premiums per year.
Deductibles
Your premiums aren’t the only insurance costs that you need to consider. You will need to consider your insurance plan’s deductible. A deductible is a predetermined amount that will be subtracted from your insurance provider’s coverage. Typically, deductibles will run between $50-$100.
So, if the cost of your dental treatment was $400, and you had 100% coverage for that treatment through your dental insurance, you would still owe a deductible. You would have to pay between $50-$100, while the insurance company would pay the remaining $300-$350.
Some insurance providers won’t charge deductibles if you go to a dentist that’s in their network. So, the cost of deductibles will depend on factors like your insurance provider and your dentist.
Copayments
In addition to deductibles, you’ll also have to consider insurance copayments (also called copays). Copayments are small fees that you’ll have to pay after receiving treatment. They will usually be between $20-$30. However, most providers will not charge copays for preventative treatments like routine cleanings.
When you add up costs like premiums, deductibles and copayments, you can see that private dental insurance will put a major dent in your personal budget.
Waiting Periods
Your private dental insurance plan won’t offer you coverage for everything in your plan right after you sign up for it. You’ll likely be allowed to make claims for routine care, but certain procedures (for example, getting a dental crown) might be off the table for a limited amount of time. Providers typically require clients to go through a probationary waiting period before getting access to all of the policy’s treatment coverage.
This waiting period isn’t always brief. You might have to wait an entire year before you can access that coverage.
Annual Maximums
Your dental insurance plan will likely have an annual maximum. An annual maximum is how much the provider is willing to pay for you within the span of a year. Once that amount is reached, you will receive no more coverage until the following year. In the meantime, you will have to pay for your dental treatments out of pocket.
Your dental insurance’s annual maximum is not likely to be very high. Typically, the maximum sits between $1000-$2000. Some policies will offer higher maximums over time, rewarding loyal clients with more coverage as the years go on.
Partial Coverage for Major Services
Most dental insurance plans will provide 100% coverage for routine, preventative dental treatments (although you will still pay a deductible). However, the coverage for serious, non-routine treatments will not be so high. What types of treatments are in this category?
- Root canals
- Bridges
- Dental crowns
- Implants
- Dentures
Providers tend to offer 50% coverage for these dental treatments, which means that you will be responsible for half of the overall costs (along with the deductible). Naturally, these treatments will be the most expensive treatments at the dentist’s office. For instance, a root canal on a front tooth will cost between $300-$1500.
So, if you only had to have a single root canal, you may have to pay $750 plus your deductible and copay out of pocket, even with insurance. And that all depends on whether you are out of the probationary waiting period of your policy. If your waiting period isn’t over, you may have to pay the entire $1,500 bill on your own.
What Can You Do Instead of Signing Up for Private Dental Insurance?
If these caveats make private dental insurance seem more like a financial concern than a financial benefit, you don’t have to get it. There are other ways to handle your dental treatment costs.
Dental Savings Plan
One savvier option that you should consider is a dental savings plan. This is an annual membership that will provide you with discounted rates for treatments. The discounted rates can range from 10% to 60%. The membership typically costs less than $200 for a family and under $100 for an individual. It can be an affordable alternative to signing up for a private dental insurance plan every year.
Emergency Fund
Another option that you could consider is an emergency fund. An emergency fund is a personal collection of savings that you can rely on when you have an urgent, unplanned expense that doesn’t mesh with your usual budget — for instance, a dental crown that you need to get as soon as possible. You could use this financial safety net to cover your serious dental expenses out of pocket without the assistance of insurance.
Why is this savvier than insurance? An emergency fund is a multi-purpose financial tool. You can use it for all sorts of emergencies, from dental treatments to car repairs. Your dental insurance is only helpful for dental treatments—and there are plenty of caveats that come with that help. It may be easier to put your funds into a savings account instead of paying for premiums, deductibles and copays.
Emergency Loans
What if you don’t have enough in an emergency fund? While your emergency is on the new side, you might not have enough to cover an urgent expense in full. In that case, you can cover the expense with a different payment method, like an online loan. You can look into online loan options through the website CreditFresh to help you get through this stressful scenario. If you’re eligible for the loan, you can fill out an application online. You just might get access to enough temporary funds to pay off the expense in a hurry.
Dental insurance may not be as helpful as it seems. The good news is that there are always other payment options that you can turn to.
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