Are Dental Plans Replacing Dental Insurance for Some?

By Staff Writer DiscountedDentalCard.com

For most self employed only dental plans are available to help with dental costs...there are no large corporation employee benefit plans offering dental insurance. An increasing number of employees working for small companies (and not so small companies) are without basic health insurance not to mention dental. For that matter,  many employees that have enjoyed a full, "wealthy" benefit package including vision and dental care coverage now are faced with no dental insurance as health care benefits sky rocket in cost with dental insurance one of the first benefits to be cut by their employer.

What's to be done at the prospect of large dental bills in the future?

Well, dental plans are increasingly replacing dental insurance as the answer. With these plans the card holder receives a discount, many times a substantial discount, to normal fees. In this regard, dental plans work much like dental insurance in that steep discounts apply. Depending upon the cost of the dental plan chosen the discount can be as much as sixty percent. This includes routine cleaning and exams as well as more complicated care such as fillings and crowns.  Procedures that are not classified as routine such as cosmetic work will generally not get the full discount but will generally still be discounted.

There are some major differences in the way dental plans and dental insurance work.

First of all, with a dental plan, there is no "policy underwriting" asking the applicant all about their medical history, requesting medical records then excluding pre-existing conditions. So the day the dental discount card is received in the mail, it can be used to receive discounts on that day.  All of the dental work done on that day gets a discount.  Yes, this also means there is no waiting period unlike dental insurance which can have a ninety day or even sometimes six-month waiting period before coverage begins.

The next major difference is how dental bills are paid.  Normally with dental insurance a deductible is applied before bills are paid by the insurance company.  Next a coinsurance of typically twenty percent is owed by the insured.  The deductible can be in the thousands but is usually one thousand or less.  Deductibles and co-insurance can add up large out-of-pocket costs during the year. Lastly, with dental insurance there usually is an annual cap on the amount of benefits received.  If a large dental expense occurs like gum disease or bridge work the insured can end up running out of coverage and be responsible for one hundred percent of the bill.

With most dental plans there is no deductible, coinsurance or annual cap.  As many times as the card holder needs to go to the dentist or as large as the bills may add up to...the discount will be applied.

The fixed monthly fee for dental plans are almost always lower than dental insurance premiums. 

As with most dental insurance policies there is a list of dentists approved by the dental plan.  Not all dentists will accept the discount card. However, there are many discount dental plans that have a very large list approved dentists nationwide. If the card holder moves with one of these national plans there will usually be a list of approved dentists to choose from serving the new location.  There also are regional plans.  A very good online service offered by dentalplans.com allows dental plan shoppers to enter their zip code and see what is available in their area.  There are over thirty national and regional plans to choose from.  Enter you zip code below and find one in your area.