The first thing you need to know about dental plans is they are not dental insurance. The primary distinction is a dental plan provides you with more choices in the types of care that is covered by the policy. For instance, cosmetic procedures are not normally covered by most insurance companies but with a dental plan it is.

When you choose your coverage there are no exclusions for preexisting conditions or health restrictions as there is with dental insurance. A good dental plan will help cover the cost of any preexisting condition. Dental insurance has a waiting period of 3 to 12 months before you can receive dental treatment, and preexisting conditions are not covered.

Another distinction is there are no limits on how many visits or services you need. You won't find any age limits, no waiting period, and no paperwork. I know of one dental plan, as an added benefit, offers an immediate membership card that you can print right from their website. That feature would be extremely beneficial to someone with an emergency. You might be without insurance and find yourself facing an expensive emergency procedure. By signing up online and printing your membership card and choosing your dentist, your dental needs could be handled within hours instead of waiting a month to be eligible for coverage by your insurance policy.

Let's take a look at the costs. With a dental plan you pay an annual membership fee starting somewhere around $80 to $100. The membership fee is determined by the type of coverage a member needs. Many plans offer 3 or 4 different levels of coverage. It is wise to print out the benefits schedule that should be included on their website, and compare the coverage's before you purchase your plan.

With a dental plan, there are no deductibles; instead, you pay the participating dentist a deeply discounted fee for the service provided. When you compare the difference between paying a deductable and the percentage of the service not covered by the insurance company to the cost of the membership fee and deeply discounted fee the dentist offers, discount dental plans become quite attractive.

A dentist often chooses to participate in the plan because there is no paperwork involved as with dental insurance. The dentist does not have to wait for the insurance company to reimburse him or her for the work. Instead, the dentist is paid by the company administering the dental plan for being a member of the network.

There is no need to be concerned about the service. With most dental plans, if you find you are not happy with the dentist, you can call the member services department of your plan and request to change the dentist you had originally chosen.

You will receive the same quality service as someone paying full price for the work performed and you might be surprised at how many dentists are involved in the network, all within easy driving distance of your home or work. You can be assured that most companies are quite concerned about your quality of service and will do whatever is within reason to keep you as a happy member.



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Most dental insurance plans have strict policies about not covering pre-existing conditions, and will often even deny claims for what most of us would consider routine dental care. Even though you are expected to keep up with your dental insurance premiums, there is no guarantee that you wouldn't have been better off saving your money and paying for your dental care from your own pocket.

Many dentists who do accept dental insurance plans still require payment form their patients at the time of treatments, and will leave the burden of collecting from the insurance company on your shoulders. So you may wait months to get reimburse, and in many cases will be unpleasantly surprised to learnt hat your procedure was not covered after all!

Discount Dental Plans

If the drawbacks of traditional dental insurance sound unreasonable, the best dental plans for you may not be one issued in that form. Thousands of dentists tired of haggling with dental insurance carriers are now offering the best dental plans, and to join one you only need to sign a membership contract and begin paying a reasonable monthly fee.

Your membership card will in one of the best dental plans will entitle you to see any of the plan's member dentists in your area, and to get any kind of dental procedure you need at a significantly reduced cost. You'll have to pay for your treatments as soon as they are provided, but you'll never be denied treatment for a pre-existing condition. You'll even be given a list of fees for different procedures when you join, so you can budget for your treatments in advance.

These really are the best dental plan, because unlike traditional dental plans, they place no caps on the amount of coverage you receive each year, and will eliminate the hassle involved in trying to get your insurance company to pay up. You will be covered as long as you continue to pay your monthly or annual fee, and can cancel at any time without penalty.

Your At Home Dental Plan

The cheapest if not the best dental plan, is, of course, the dental care you do in your own home. You can enhance the effects of regular brushing and flossing with gum massagers and water picks, and the regular use of antiseptic mouthwashes. But brushing and flossing at least twice each day are still your number one weapons against dental problems and the costs of professional dental care.



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How Does Dental Insurance Work?

Many people simply assume that dental insurance coverage works in the same way as their medical insurance coverage. But that is seldom the case.

For one thing, most affordable insurance is available only through employers or other group plans, and even then insurance is unlikely to cover all your expenses. Most routine dental procedures like those X-rays and cleanings will not be covered until you have been carrying your insurance for any where from six months to a year. And even when you have been paying your insurance premiums long enough to have basic procedures covered, most plans will require you to pay deductibles on your treatments.

Some dentists will even require their patients to pay for the dental work up front and make their insurance claims themselves, simply because a surprisingly large number of procedures which most of us would consider routine are neither routine to nor covered by the insurance carriers.

Affordable Dental Insurance Vs Discount Dental Plans

Discount plans have become more and more popular among dentists who choose not to haggle with dental insurance carriers to get paid for routine work. Discount plans differ from insurance in that they will require you to pay cash at the time you have your work done, but will be given a significant discount on the fee the dentist normally charges for the procedure.

When you sign up for a discount affordable dental insurance, you'll receive a membership card and a list of the dentists in your area who are participants in the same plan. You'll also receive a list of the fees which show the discounts each dentist offers on different procedures. Each discount plan will have negotiated its own set of fees with different dentists, so check out the different plans not only for their fees, but also to make sure the one you choose has a participating dentist close by.

You'll be charged a monthly fee for your discount plan, but most of them let you pay for a full year in advance, and once you have paid you will be entitled to the discounted procedures right away. This immediate access to treatment is a tremendous advantage which discount plans offer when compared to affordable insurance, which requires a long wait before your coverage kicks in.



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