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Full coverage dental insurance is critical if you want to keep your dental health in tip-top shape. No matter how urgent or necessary it is, the cost of dental services remains prohibitively high for many people.
This is both dangerous and unfortunate. After all, dental emergencies aren’t unheard of, and a single expensive treatment can set you back financially. Additionally, our teeth can significantly affect our quality of life. Even a minor problem can cause persistent and distracting pain, so getting it fixed becomes a priority.
Thus, you need to have good dental coverage if you want to make the most out of your policy.
What Does Dental Insurance Cover?
Dental insurance plans cover specific procedures for your dental health. The extent of your coverage will depend on the particular policy you have. However, most of them will have a 100-80-50 split. This split means the following:
- 100% coverage for preventive care
- 80% coverage for basic services and procedures
- 50% coverage for major services
Interested in the most common benefits that most dental insurance plans offer? Here’s a quick list.
Preventive Care
Many insurance providers usually cover these types of dental services in full. This includes services like the following:
- Dental exams. Examinations for signs of bad oral health, such as gum disease, cavities, and other dental issues.
- Dental cleanings. The routine removal of the buildup of calculus, plaque, teeth stains, etc., from your teeth using special equipment.
- X-rays. This type of dental exam takes an x-ray image of your mouth and teeth to detect potential diseases that can’t be seen during regular exams.
- In-office fluoride treatment. Your dentist can help you strengthen your teeth by applying fluoride using professional materials.
- Tooth sealants. Sealants are used to prevent things from getting into fissures and pits in the teeth to minimize the chances of forming cavities, especially for young children.
Basic Services
Basic services include what most people think about when they hear the words “dentist appointment.” Most insurance providers cover 80% of the cost of these services after deductibles.
- Cavity fillings. Dental fillings that are administered by your insurance dentist to cover decaying teeth and prevent cavities from getting worse.
- Emergency X-rays. Any x-rays that exceed the once-a-year limit of preventative care benefits.
- Emergency dental care. Emergencies include injuries to the mouth resulting in damaged, fractured, and knocked-out teeth.
- Tooth extractions. Non-surgical dental extractions need to be conducted due to disease, severe decay, or injury.
Major Services
These services require a lot of dental care and are also usually the costliest. For these types of services, most dental insurance providers cover only 50% of the expenses after deductibles.
- Root canal treatments. Procedures that restore infected dental pulp in the roots. This is usually done to relieve the dental pain that infected areas cause.
- Scaling and root planing. Scaling and planing involve the use of special equipment to remove hardened plaque and calculus both above and below the gums.
- Dental crowns. This procedure protects weak, damaged, or broken teeth from further harm by inserting special dental equipment.
- Dental inlays and onlays. When a cavity is too large for fills, dental inlays and onlays are made in a lab to indirectly restore the integrity of the teeth and prevent further harm.
- Dental bridges. This procedure files one or two teeth gaps with an artificial tooth using crowns on either side of the teeth while the false tooth is cemented in place.
- Dentures. Also called false teeth, dentures are made in a lab to stand in for lost natural teeth. Dentures improve appearance, make chewing, speaking, and eating easier, and prevent facial muscles from sagging.
What are the Different Dental Insurance Coverages?
To be able to pick the right dental health insurance, you need to first know about the various types of dental insurance coverages around.
Full Coverage Dental Insurance
This is the traditional form of dental insurance, and it covers the most common types of dental services that you are likely to ever get. This type of insurance covers three comprehensive levels of dental care and usually defers in coverage levels (also called the 100-80-50 policy).
Preventive Care
Preventative care is a set of services designed to prevent damage and disease to your teeth. These services are usually 100% covered by a lot of insurers and include the following examples.
- Dental exams
- Routine cleanings
- X-rays
- In-office fluoride treatment
- Tooth sealants
Basic Services
Basic services are some of the most common types of dental services that you can get from a dentist. Many insurance providers cover only 80% of the price of these operations, often after deductibles have been paid.
- Cavity fillings
- Emergency X-rays
- Emergency dental care
- Tooth extractions
Major Services
These are services that require extensive dental care and the use of special equipment and laboratories. They also typically incur the most costs. Most insurance providers only provide 50% of the expenses after deductibles.
- Root canal treatments
- Scaling and root planing
- Dental crowns
- Dental inlays and onlays
- Dental bridges
- Dentures
Dental Implant Insurance Coverage
While the previous type of insurance plan has a relatively balanced coverage for the most common dental services, some types only specialize in specific dental operations that you might need. One example is dental implant insurance coverage.
Dental implants are typically teeth replacements that are screwed into your gums and mouth structure. They are the closest to feeling like natural teeth and can last for decades.
Implants are critical for those who’ve lost a tooth due to injury or disease. Implants can also help restore a patient’s ability to chew, improve their cosmetic appearance, and keep other teeth stable in the mouth.
However, most dental insurance plans don’t cover dental implants. You need to look harder if you want to find policies that cover this specific type of dental care.
More often than not, these policies also come with low limits and high deductibles.
Dental Crown Insurance Coverage
Like dental implants, dental crowns are also used to simulate the appearance and function of a real tooth.
Dental crowns are placed on top of a damaged tooth to prevent the tooth from further decay and degradation as well as to preserve its cosmetic appearance. It will also require the damaged tooth to be shaped to something that will fit the crown.
This type of dental equipment is used to protect a weak tooth, restore a broken tooth, hold a dental bridge, cover severely discolored or misshapen teeth, and more.
Most dental insurance policies already cover dental crown installations – but only for medical purposes.
So, if you want to have dental crowns just to improve the cosmetic appearance of your teeth, you’ll likely have to pay the price in full.
How Much Does Dental Insurance Coverage Cost?
Many different factors need to be considered when talking about the average price of dental insurance plans. When you ask for a dental insurance quote, insurers will likely base their decision on multiple factors, such as:
- Your overall health
- Habits like smoking, drinking, etc.
- Geographic location
According to 2016 figures by the National Association of Dental Plans, the average annual insurance costs for group insurance range from $168 to $366. Some providers have an annual price range of $91.80 to $220.32 for personal dental insurance.
If you want to have the best dental insurance premiums, you need an insurance provider that will tailor-fit your plans for your needs.
In that case, Magnum Insurance is here to help. Our expert agents are well-versed in our offerings and can make you the best return on your insurance premiums.
Getting the Right Insurance Coverage This 2022
Dental insurance is important if you want to keep your teeth healthy over the coming years. With all the things happening around us, we also shouldn’t have to worry about our teeth, of all things.
Magnum Insurance guarantees high-quality and safe dental insurance coverage for any of your needs. Simply reach out to us and relax as we come up with the best and most affordable dental insurance plan for you.
Get a free Dental Insurance Coverage quote today
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