Is Dental Insurance Important to Have?

As with many things in life the answer is “it depends”.

Let's first go over what dental insurance is and why a person might want to have it.

What does dental insurance do for you?

Dental insurance can help to subsidize the cost of routine and major dental care, such as regular checkups, cleanings, x-rays, and procedures like fillings, crowns, and extractions. Some dental plans will also include benefits for orthodontics (e.g. braces).

People with complex dental needs or a history of dental problems, may find having dental coverage particularly valuable as these procedures can be costly to treat, and the expense of frequent ongoing care can add up. Having some dental coverage can assist in covering these costs and make maintenance of your oral health more affordable.

Encouraging wellness

It goes without saying that regular dental care is important for maintaining good oral health, which is an essential part of overall health and well-being. By having dental coverage, you may be inclined to visit your dentist more regularly, and thus maintain your overall wellness. Nothing wrong with that right?

If you're a person who values their health, and prefers to take a proactive approach, then having dental coverage can be right for those reasons alone. Having some dental coverage that you're paying for might just be the nudge you need to get your butt to the dentist on a regular basis and take care of that smile.

What should you buy insurance for?

Opinions on this will certainly vary, but philosophically-speaking from a ‘risk management’ perspective people should strongly consider purchasing insurance to cover the things that they may not be able to write the cheque for themselves. In other words, a person should consider purchasing insurance for risks or events that have the potential to bankrupt them, or have negative financial consequences if they did not have the insurance.

Dental expenses, while they may be a nuisance are unlikely to bankrupt a person simply because the typical dollar amount of these expenses is relatively low - particularly when compared to the potential cost of being diagnosed with an illness that requires a costly prescription medication every month for instance. This is why it is certainly important to at least have some health coverage in place, but depending on your perspective the dental insurance may be something that is more optional.

It’s more of a financing arrangement

With dental insurance, you are essentially paying premiums in advance, and then hoping that you claim back enough that at the end of the day you break-even or come out ahead.

In other words, if we look at this strictly from a 'mathematical perspective', unless you are claiming back the same or more than you are paying, you may be better off simply paying the dentist out-of-pocket yourself for dental expenses as you incur them, and skipping dental insurance altogether.

Dental insurance is great when somebody else is paying the premiums on your behalf (e.g. an employer), but when you are paying the premiums yourself and you run the numbers, it’s reasonable to consider whether or not the arrangement makes sense for you.

It comes down to your usage

Ultimately whether dental insurance makes sense for you and your family comes down to your usage. If you and your family visit the dentist frequently and are therefore likely to make good use of it, then a dental insurance plan may make sense for you.

Again, by simply having dental insurance that you are paying for, you and your family may be more compelled to visit the dentist routinely to make use that investment. Better oral health, better overall wellness.

Bundled into many healthcare plans

Many health care plans will ‘bundle’ dental benefits together with the health care benefits. Some plans however allow you the option to opt-out or opt-in to dental should you wish to, offering people more flexibility and choice.

Aeva helps you to sort which plans include dental benefits and which do not.

Summary

To recap;

• Dental insurance is designed to help subsidize the cost of dental treatments for your family.
• Dental coverage is often 'bundled' into health insurance plans. Some plans allow you to optionally add/remove dental benefits.
• It's worth considering your usage - do you visit the dentist often or plan to? If no, then perhaps a plan without dental coverage is preferable to you.
• By simply having dental insurance, you may be incentivized to visit the dentist more routinely, which tends to mean you'll have better oral health and better overall wellness. This may be reason enough to have dental coverage.

Next steps

Aeva makes it easy for you to be able to filter and sort which health care plans include dental and which ones do not, making it easier for you to pick the plan that best suits your family.

You can get started with Aeva today by clicking here.

Want to chat? Professional advisors are available to help you.

We look forward to assisting you with your health (and dental) insurance needs.

Thanks for reading!