5 Tips For Purchasing Dental Insurance

By Murray Glick, writer for the blog My Dental Health Companion which has the latest news on dental health, technology and benefits

The main benefit of dental insurance is that it provides flexible coverage. For example, some insurance policies, like car insurance, only provide benefits to the few people who have a costly accident. Others, like health insurance, provide immediate benefits, but can be very costly. Perhaps the best part of dental coverage is that it encourages and generally pays for regular check-ups and many people who purchase protection start to benefit immediately.

As the assistant Webmaster of a website that helps people choose the best type of dental plans for themselves and their families, here are 5 tips that will help you get the best possible insurance coverage without paying too much.

Before you purchase an individual dental insurance policy, here are 5 tips you should consider to help you get the best possible policy at the best possible price;

(1) Be Patient and Shop Around
Resist the knee-jerk reaction to choose the insurance plan with the lowest premiums as some plans will intentionally quote you a super-low price for the first year (when your coverage will undoubtedly be severely limited) only to substantially raise those premiums for your second year. Make sure you know exactly how much you will be paying for the most common dental procedures and if the policy is a "Closed Panel", and make sure you see a list of participating dentists as well as dental specialists in your area.

Note: If shopping online for dental insurance coverage, I recommend you use eHealthInsurance.com as they provide side-by-side comparisons of the most popular dental insurance policies, even Delta Dental. However, make sure you price out your coverage over a period of the least three years (or better yet, five years) because many policies may seem cheap the first year that you have them only to discover that the premiums skyrocket the second year when most of your benefits kick in. However, when shopping off-line for dental insurance, I recommend you don't limit your scope to a single insurance company as you will also limit your options. Instead, use a licensed insurance agent who can sell dental plans from a variety of insurance companies, provide you with personal advice and assistance, and work with your insurer on your behalf to help expedite a decision on your application.

(2) When The Best Insurance Isn't Insurance
If you intend on having any type of expensive dentistry done --especially if it's done by cosmetic dentist-- don't get dental insurance, as these types of procedures are almost never covered. A better alternative would be to look at purchasing a dental discount card / plan so long as the plan has cosmetic dentists included in its list of dental providers.

(3) Go With a Good Agent
If you decide to purchase dental insurance through a broker, make sure that that they specialize in employee benefits, rather than just be a general, jack-of-all-insurance type of agent. However be aware that few insurance agents will sell you an individual policy as to make matters worse, fewer than 10% of insurance underwriters offer this type of dental coverage anymore (Source: National Association of Dental Plans).

(4) Always Read The Fine Print
Before purchasing a policy, make sure you check out the insurance companies UCR (usual, customary, and reasonable) fee guide, and if the insurer balks at this idea, don't buy from them. A UCR guide is a fee schedule that lays out what the insurance company considers an acceptable fee for a given dental procedure. This is what they will pay the dentist regardless of what the dentist charges you. If the UCR fees are lower than what you're dentist charges (and they almost always are), then you responsible for paying the difference. However, it's also true that insurance companies use a UCR fee schedule so that dentists don't price-gouge them when they bill them for services performed.

(5) Avoid Dollar/Service Limitations
Choose an insurance plan that imposes dollar or service limitations, rather than those that exclude categories of service. By doing so, you can receive the care that's best for you and actively participate with the dentist in the development of treatment plans that give the most and highest quality care.