Where is the Best Place to Find Dental Insurance? Taking care of your teeth is one of the most important parts of your overall health and wellness. Dental appointments should be part of your normal routine and attended regularly, not just when you have a problem that needs to be addressed. Whether you're looking for a hygiene checkup or cosmetic concerns like tooth whitening, visiting your dentist regularly can keep you happy, healthy, and smiling with all those pearly whites.
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Dental Plans offers dental savings plans as an alternative to traditional insurance. The company promises an easy-to-use interface with a range of different dental services covered. Dental Plans notes that most customers save an average of 50% by opting into coverage with one of their packages. Most plans include savings for dentures, braces, and cosmetic procedures. In business for over 25 years, Dental Plans promises you can be as flexible as you need, whether you want to keep your coverage or change it over time.
Pick and choose your procedures
To search for savings options at Dental Plans, you just need to decide if you're looking for coverage for an individual (just you) or your entire family. Dental Plans will also ask if you have any dental procedures coming up, where you're located, and request your email. From there, you'll be sent to your first estimate (which includes zero procedures, just basic dentistry). If you want to see more accurate numbers for fillings, or braces, you can add these in a checklist below. Finally, you'll be given a plan cost, and you can choose to view your savings plan in more detail (including any additional benefits) or add your plan to the cart if you're ready.
Dental Plans chosen for you
There isn't a traditional database on Dental Plans like you would find on insurance broker sites. Instead, Dental Plans just tells you the best plan for your needs, and you buy that one savings plan. The savings plans are underwritten by major insurance providers, but are considered separate from traditional "insurance". These plans generally don't cover 100% of any procedure, even check-ups or cleanings. Some of the providers that are partnered with Dental Plans include:
However, you won't be able to see other plans, only the one Dental Plans suggests for you. The plan we were suggested for our test customer was from Careington.
Prices around $131.21 to $157.46 per year
To accurately compare costs across different brokers and providers, we created a customer persona to use across all the estimates. Our persona is a 34-year-old individual in Florida, looking for insurance that covers both primary dental care and orthodontia. At Dental Plans, we were offered a plan through Careington Care 500 that offers 20-60% off different procedures, includes 608 dentists, and offers vision and prescription coverage for free. The coverage at Dental Plans is billed annually, so the final cost for Dental Plans's suggested dental savings subscription is $131.21 per year (which comes out to $10.93 per month). If you'd like a family plan instead with the same parameters, Dental Plans quoted us the same coverage for $26.25 extra per year ($157.46 total). However, there is a $20 processing fee that is non-refundable.
Price matching and money-back guarantee
Dental Plans offers two guarantees. First, the company offers a price-match guarantee that states if you find a lower price for the dental savings plan, Dental Plans will match it. Dental Plans also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all dental savings plans. However, the refund does not include the $20 processing fee for joining.
Free vision and prescription plans
The plan we were suggested for our test customer included the additional benefits of a vision savings plan as well as a prescription savings plan. This makes Dental Plans competitive with some of the best dental savings providers out there. You can expect partial coverage for eye exams, new lenses, new frames, and LASIK with the vision coverage and between 20-40% off your generic and brand-name prescription medications.
Solid customer service, but could use more savings
Currently, Dental Plans has a solid reputation with plenty of reviews. The Better Business Bureau shows an "A+' rating for this dental savings provider. On top of that, you can find over 13,000 individual customer reviews on Trustpilot that average out to an impressive 4.5-star rating. Recent reviews call the service reps at Dental Plans "exceptional", and customers who had difficulties with getting discounts from their dentists were able to resolve the issues with help from Dental Plans.
Great option for total coverage
Between the great customer service and the solid savings at Dental Plans, this is definitely a dental insurance option you'll want to check out. With extras like vision and prescriptions and solid ratings from the BBB and reviewers, Dental Plans easily makes it into the top two for our review. Be sure you check it out while you're browsing dental insurance plans, since your area and dentist might come with better savings here than with other types of coverage.
Continued from above...
Taking care of your teeth is one of the most important parts of your overall health and wellness. Dental appointments should be part of your normal routine and attended regularly, not just when you have a problem that needs to be addressed. Whether you're looking for a hygiene checkup or cosmetic concerns like tooth whitening, visiting your dentist regularly can keep you happy, healthy, and smiling with all those pearly whites.
However, as with many medical and preventative care appointments, the cost of dental work can get pretty high. A recent study shows that the national average cost for a standard visit (dental exam, cleaning, and x-rays) is around $203 per visit. If you're not one of the lucky folks who get dental with their job benefits, grabbing your own dental insurance is a sure way to make sure you save money and keep your teeth healthy at the same time.
If you need other procedures like fillings, crowns, or root canals, your total cost at the dentist could be thousands of dollars (crowns can cost up to $1,800 per tooth). While you can't do much about the cost of the dentists themselves, there are some resources to help you find affordable dental insurance to keep costs down.
A recent study compared different monthly costs (including preventative visits) and found that those with insurance paid $800 less per year than those without. Plus, if you get insurance, many of the basics are free of charge, making it less likely that you will need more complicated or expensive trips to the dentist in the future.
Now, when you decide to grab dental insurance, you'll want to keep a few things in mind. Like health insurance, your dental insurance company will have a network of accepted providers. If you have a dentist you really love, you'll want to make sure you grab insurance that is taken by your current dentist. In-network insurance policies will usually cover 100% of preventative dental care, up to 80% of basic procedures (fillings, root canals, and extractions), and up to 50% of major procedures like crowns, implants, and treatment for gum disease. Keep in mind many plans do not include orthodontics (such as braces), but most insurers or brokers offer at least one plan that does include specialist care.
In general, you can find a few types of dental plans. First is the Preferred Provider Organization (PPO). This is the common "network" approach where dentists join a PPO network and set up their fee schedule with the insurance provider. You can go out of network with PPO plans, but you may have higher out-of-pocket fees. The other main option is the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans which have a more restricted network requirement. For HMO (sometimes called DHMO in dental insurance), you are not able to go out of network and still use your insurance benefits.
If you're ready to support your dental health and enjoy the security of covered preventative care, but don't know which dental insurance service to choose, we've put together some factors to help you decide:
To help you find the best dental insurance for your sparkling smile, Top Consumer Reviews has researched and ranked the top providers and brokers out there today. Whether you prefer total coverage for dental and orthodontics or a simpler option that focuses on preventative care, there's a dental insurance plan out there waiting for you. This way, you can enjoy your pearly whites and save some money in the process!
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Why Has Dental Insurance Become So Popular?
A person's smile often is the first thing others notice about them. A beautiful set of pearly whites can make or break that first impression.
Keeping our teeth, gums and mouth healthy goes a long way in improving our appearance. As we age, our teeth develop numerous issues which should be monitored and treated by a dental professional. But let's face it - dental procedures can be expensive. Even a routine exam and cleaning can cost over $100 in most areas. Costs can be even higher for those without dental insurance.
Recent figures indicate that 42 percent of all Americans go without dental insurance, which in turn results in a lack of regular visits to the dentist.
However, studies in recent years have linked improper dental care and health to everything from heart disease to diabetes and even cancer. A healthy mouth is the first step toward a healthy body.
Some people are lucky and have dental insurance included as part of their regular health insurance package through an employer. For those people, espousing the benefits of proper dental hygiene and care are unnecessary. They have the benefits in place and are happy to use them.
For those who are not lucky enough to have dental insurance through an employer, the benefits of purchasing your own plan through an insurance broker or directly from a dental insurance company are numerous.
Dental insurance plans have seen an increase in popularity in recent years due to the general populations' growing knowledge about the important of proper dental hygiene. This includes a twice-annual exam and cleaning by a dental professional. A recent spate of television ads promoting dental insurance plans has helped to spur that growth, accounting for roughly a 7 percent increase in the number of people who sought out and purchased dental insurance plans.
Another reason dental insurance plans have become so popular is that they are easier to navigate than a traditional health insurance plan. Because there are only so many dental procedures a person can undergo, plans are very clear as to what they cover and how much coverage is included.
Dental insurance plans also tend to be more affordable than traditional healthcare coverage plans, and the cost remains stable from year to year, whereas healthcare insurance costs are less predictable and often skyrocket from year to year.
Employers also are taking notice of the rise in popularity in dental insurance plans and are considering them as part of a comprehensive healthcare package to help attract the best employees. Next to annual salary, benefits are the next most important factor for many individuals when considering employment. Companies which offer healthcare and dental plans are more likely to not only attract the best people for the job, but retain them from one year to the next.
If you are among the people who are not lucky enough to have dental insurance through your employee benefits package, but would like to secure your own coverage, be sure to review the best plans for your area before making a decision.
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