Your Dental Coverage – 2 Alternatives You Need to Know About

When most people sign up for a dental coverage plan, they think that their insurance company is going to pay for any service or procedure that's related to their oral health. However, that's not always the case. If you don't understand exactly what your affordable dental plan covers, you may wind up having to pay for certain things all by yourself! If you're afraid that the typical dental coverage plan isn't going to be right for you, there are two alternatives you can opt for instead:

1.Orthodontic insurance In some cases your dental coverage will cover the cost of braces and retainers.

However, you usually have to sign up for additional orthodontic insurance when you first get the policy. If you don't sign up when you're supposed to, you will be out of luck. If your dental plan doesn't cover your trips to the orthodontist, you can get orthodontic insurance that is completely separate from your regular dental coverage.

With it, you will experience many of the same things that you do with traditional dental insurance. You will likely have a list of accepted providers that you can go to, and you will have to make monthly premium payments. And, like traditional dental insurance, you can also get an orthodontic family plan that covers everyone in your house. 2.Dental indemnity insurance If you don't want to deal with separate dental and orthodontic insurance plans, you can always opt for dental indemnity insurance. In most cases, it will cover preventative services (like cleanings and x-rays), major dental procedures (like root canals and oral surgery), and orthodontic services (like braces). As an added benefit, dental indemnity insurance plans typically don't come with a list of acceptable providers. Instead, you pick and choose who you want to go see. So, if you're one of those people who's always travelling and can't commit to a specific dentist – or you live in a tiny town where the only dentist isn't on the preferred list for most insurance companies – you don't have to worry about getting treatment from a certain person.

So, what's the catch? With dental indemnity insurance, you have to pay for everything upfront, and your insurance company will reimburse you later, after you've filled out specific claim forms.

Depending on the terms and conditions of your policy, you may get full reimbursement or just a partial one. Typically, though, dental indemnity insurance policies offer full reimbursement for "usual, customary, and regular" services – known in the insurance industry as UCR.

About the Author

Richard A. Manfredi has written about www.dentalforeveryone.com . We offer quality dental insurance plans online, including individual dental insurance, full coverage dental insurance and affordable dental plan options for students.