Where Can I Find Supplemental Dental Insurance?

Dental costs all over America are rising at an astronomical rate, and the current proposed health plan in government has nothing included to help with the cost of dental work. Even with dental insurance, many families are having a hard time getting their necessary dental maintenance done. This has left many people searching for supplemental dental insurance. But what is supplemental dental insurance, and where can it be found?

How Does Insurance Work?

When a patient goes to the dental office with insurance, if they are getting anything more than a cleaning, most insurance policies have a rather high co-pay that the patient must pay to the dental office. The patient’s part of the co-pay sometimes reaches as much as 60% – 80% of the total bill. On top of this, most dental insurance policies also have a maximum amount they will cover in a calendar year. The standard maximum on dental insurance will range between $750 and $2000 in a calendar year. Between the co-pays and the yearly maximums, this often leaves thousands of dollars which must be paid out of pocket by the patient.

Types of Supplemental Dental Insurance

When many people speak of supplemental insurance, they are referring to a secondary plan which can be used at the same time as their primary insurance policy. What these people are hoping to do is to use their primary policy at the dental office (which leaves them with a co-pay) and to have a second – supplemental – policy which helps cut down the cost of the co-pay from the first policy. This sounds wonderful, and indeed this type of supplemental dental insurance would be very beneficial; but in the world of dentistry there are very few policies, if any, which operate this way. This idea of supplemental dental insurance is borrowed from the world of medical insurance. In the medical world, there are companies which do offer true supplemental insurance. However, in the world of dentistry, things runs a bit differently. Most dental offices will only honor one policy at a time for any given procedure, therefore not accepting supplemental dental coverage in the way most people look for it.

There is a second meaning for supplemental dental insurance. The second meaning is a plan which can be used when the primary policy does not pay at all for certain procedures. This type of supplemental plan is also helpful if a person has reached their maximum on the primary plan. This type of plan can be very useful because the patient is still only using one plan at a time while at the dental office. A patient can carry multiple supplemental plans into the dentist; they will just be required to choose one policy or the other when paying the bill.

This type of supplemental help is readily available from a number of sources. There are many different low cost insurance plans available as well as discount dental plans, which can significantly reduce the cost of dental work. If you are currently in need of a supplemental dental plan, which will help reduce the cost of uncovered dentistry procedures, the easiest way to find help is right through the internet. A simple search through Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine will wield a large number of options available for retail sale. Each person will want to take their own specific needs into consideration and judge which plan would be most helpful for their needs.