subject: What's The Deal With Dental Insurance? [print this page] It is recommended, for every person over the age of two, that he or she visit the dentist every six months for an exam. Keep this in mind when you consider the fact that nearly 50 percent of the American population is without any sort of dental coverage.
While dental hygiene is important to your overall health and appearance - many diseases have been linked to tooth decay; rotting teeth are unattractive and painful; and gum disease is prevalent in today's adult population - regular visits to the dentist are not part of many people's health routines. Thus, many people don't carry insurance. And for those that do, the complaint that coverage is poor is common.
Dr. Thomas Connelly, a dentist out of New York, told the Huffington Post that he hears this complaint frequently. He explains in his article that the reasons for poor coverage is lack of profit, from the insurance provider's standpoint.
He considers several factors that lead to companies offering less than ideal insurance options. Because premium caps are often very low and dental insurance rarely goes unused, people reach their deductible quickly and insurance companies are left footing the remainder of the costs.
Plus, there are pre - existing dental conditions that people allow to build and build until they get coverage. Then they automatically have a lot of costly treatments. For this reason, many insurance providers have a long waiting period in place before they will help you cover major procedures.
Dental work is less expensive than, for example, a long stay in a hospital. "It [is] difficult for an insurance company to charge a high enough rate to offset [the number of people using the insurance]," notes Connelly.
Is dental insurance still important? Yes. And it is often affordable. Most plans will cover the majority of your regular visits, but without it - especially if you add on x - rays, cavity fillings and more serious procedures, such as root canals - the overall costs can jump into the thousands very quickly.
Dental coverage is especially important for children, the elderly and people with a propensity for problems - those with a history of dental issues in their families. It is crucial that children maintain proper dental hygiene while their teeth are new, or after they've lost their baby teeth and have their permanent ones coming in. Plus, if braces or orthodontic care is needed for a child, insurance will make the difference between being able to afford the services or not.
As we age, our teeth do, too. Seniors will experience problems that younger people do not, and regular dental visits help to fend off some of these issues or keep them in check as time goes on.
As with any type of insurance, the navigation process is tricky, and there are definite pros and cons to coverage. Do your research and talk to an organization that has experience providing dental, as well as several other, types of insurance before deciding what it right for you. Call several dentists in your area and get provider recommendations before soliciting quotes for coverage.
by: Drew Barton
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