Going to the dentist can be expensive, and it usually isn’t covered under your medical insurance plan, though some employers do offer a separate plan. But buying dental insurance for yourself is a sticky subject– sometimes it can be wonderful, and sometimes it can be nearly worthless.
Dental insurance plans usually look very good on the surface. They tend to have relatively low premiums, especially compared to medical policies, and usually have low deductibles as well. This means that a good plan can actually save you money if you are one of the few people who actually gets their teeth cleaned every six months.
With the exception of people who have coverage through their employers, this is not usually what dental insurance plans are intended to provide for, however. Plans are intended for the major situations that would cause a financial problem for the insured person. And this can be where these types of policies fail, unfortunately.
Having a way to make sure that you don’t cost the company holding your policy thousands of dollars is a good way to make sure the company always turns a profit. Besides running the statistics on your age and projected care costs, companies do this by inserting a yearly or lifetime limit cap. This is where dental plans often hide a nasty surprise– a much lower yearly limit than many people are expecting.
These policies are not worthless. A single major incident would probably be covered. But people buy dental insurance plans for peace of mind, as well as financial reasons, and it’s important to realize that you could easily hit the limit of your policy if you require several expensive procedures in the same year.
Companies that insure people are always trying to hide things in the fine print, because it’s their job. Just make sure that you read the dental insurance policy carefully, and don’t sign up for anything until you understand it, in order to avoid an unpleasant surprise somewhere down the road.
