How to Compare Discount Dental Plans

Because many medical insurance plans don't include personal dental insurance coverage, you may need to subscribe to an additional dental plan to cover your family's needs from dental exams to annual cleanings to dental work like braces and crowns. To save money, consider conducting a dental insurance comparison to find the best plan that features reputable dentists who accept discounted fees as full payment. Use these steps to compare discount dental plans to get reliable and affordable coverage for your family.

Instructions

1. Consider the differences between traditional dental insurance plans and discount dental plans. Dental insurance requires monthly premiums, allows you to choose your own in-network dentist and asks you to pay anywhere from twenty to sixty percent of the fees, along with a deductible. Discount dental plans typically have a small annual fee, features a network of dentists that provide deeply discounted prices for dental work and may also provide discounts on vision care and prescriptions.

2. Prioritize the dental services you'll use most (or anticipate you'll need) before trying to compare discount dental plans with traditional dental insurance. Ideally, you'll want a dental plan that covers diagnostic benefits, as well as coverage for basic and major dental procedures. This will help you choose the most affordable dental plan to cover preventive maintenance, common dental work like fillings or more expensive and less-common cosmetic dentistry or dental implants, for example.

3. Conduct a discount dental plan and dental insurance comparison that takes each option's deductible, fees and annual cap into consideration. For example, although an affordable discount plan may seem to cost you less annually, you may actually end up paying more than the traditional insurance's deductible and monthly premium if you end up needing a major dental procedure that costs more than the discount dental plan's annual cap.

4. Determine if the discount dental plans you're considering place restrictions on pre-existing conditions if you have a current health or dental condition that might render you ineligible. Unlike traditional dental insurance, dental discount plans typically allow pre-existing conditions and offer coverage that starts immediately without additional health exams or waiting periods.

5. Ask your employer if they offer a direct reimbursement dental plan if you've decided against traditional dental insurance. Unlike insurance, a direct reimbursement plan requires you to pay the dental provider in full at the time of your visit (though most of the dental professionals on the plan offer discounted rates). Your employer would then reimburse you for all or part of the fees based on a sliding scale determined by how many services you've used that year. Although the low cost dental plan may have an annual cap, you will be able to avoid monthly premiums if you don't need dental work done.