Dental Insurance Coverage After College

By Stephen D.

Many college students fly through their time at a university on their parents' insurance. Many charge on their new credit cards for hipper clothing, popular restaurants and expensive hangouts. College students may pay rent on an apartment once a month, or perhaps Mom and Dad will force them to budget every now and then, but if they get in financial trouble, Mom and Dad are often there to bail them out.

Finding Coverage

Once senior year rolls around, these students are suddenly faced with a multitude of important decisions. What job can I get? Where will I live? Should I take the risk to move to another state? What do I need to start paying for? Can I handle these car payments? Amidst all these questions, insurance rarely enters the picture until a student graduates.

Then the real world hits. Now as independent adults, many ex-college students are forced to pay for everything on their own. These new adults begin to earn money for their necessary payments by themselves; if they do not earn it, they do not have it! Medical insurance becomes of obvious importance, but sometimes new adults bypass the necessity of dental insurance or a dental plan without a second thought. It may not occur to them that seeing a dentist regularly could prevent serious oral diseases down the road. Coverage for this vital preventative care should not be a disregarded option!

Before college students even graduate, they should research the topic of insurance. After finding out what kind of dental plan their parents had, college students should decide what they need their plan to cover and what affordable dental options are available; they can learn online about what different insurance and dental plan companies offer. These students should access the prices for procedures in their areas and compare a dental plan to insurance to save the most money possible.

Parents are often a help and a voice of reason as their college students endeavor to find insurance or a dental plan. Sometimes professors or other adult mentors can help students in their search for dental insurance as well. If you are a student comparing dental insurance to a dental plan, the bottom line is: Get help!

Lastly, students should not wait until they feel financially “stable” to enroll in a dental plan, because that may never happen to their satisfaction! As soon as students are out from under their parents’ wing (and insurance), they should begin their own dental plan and make payments regularly. New adults should make seeing a dentist a priority, and having access to the best coverage can make seeing the dentist less of a chore and more of a check-up!