Is Dental Insurance Worth the Cost?

If you’re thinking about getting dental insurance, you may wonder if it’s worth it. Here, we’ll explain how dental insurance can be a good value depending on your circumstances.

How Much Does Dental Insurance Cost?

The average American spends about $360 per year on dental insurance. A typical dental insurance plan covers you up to a limit of between $1,000 and $2,000 for the year. This means that after your insurance spends that much on your dental care, you will need to pay any additional charges out of pocket. However, it’s not often the case that you’ll go above your limit, as only between 2-4% of people go above their yearly maximum. Therefore, if you are like most people and just need regular checkups and cleanings, you won’t hit the maximum. On the other hand, if you need more intensive procedures, like root canal therapy or a dental implant, you may reach your limit.

How Much Does Dental Insurance Cover?

An average dental insurance plan uses what is known as 100/80/50 coverage. What this means is that dental insurance will typically cover 100% of the cost of preventive and diagnostic care, such as two checkups and cleanings per year, as well as those routine dental X-rays that you get every year. Dental insurance will also cover about 80% of basic procedures, such as fillings and extractions, while they’ll cover about 50% of your more major procedures, like dentures, dental implants, and dental crowns. These plans are designed to encourage preventive care, which in the long run will save you a lot of money. For example, if you go to the dentist every six months for a cleaning and practice fantastic oral hygiene care in between, chances are good you won’t have to get fillings or root canal therapy. However, if you never visit the dentist, you will probably have poor oral health and will need to spend a lot of money later on a more extensive procedure. In fact, it is projected that a dollar spent on regular cleanings and checkups can save $50 on bigger procedures down the line.

So, Is Dental Insurance Worth the Cost?

It can be, depending on your circumstances. If you are young and have a history of good oral health, it may make sense for you to just pay for your biannual cleanings and checkups without insurance if your insurance plan has high premiums. If you are older and have a history of dental health issues, it will probably be worth it for you to have dental health insurance to cover, or at least partly cover, the cost of your more extensive oral health procedures like dentures or crowns.