Affordable discount dental is still available as long as:

#1. You do the proper research to find it.

#2. You don't live in a rural area or you don't mind traveling a ways to save money on care.

There are plenty of both discount dental plans and dental insurance policies available in bigger metropolitan areas, but individuals and families in smaller towns will likely have to either travel a good distance or pay a higher rate than those that live in bigger cities.

Here's a look at what you can expect from each type of dental plan.

Dental Insurance

The word "insurance" means "to protect in the event of an unforeseen event". That means that you buy insurance in order to make sure that you are protected in the event of accident or loss, not something that has already occurred. This means that if you already have broken teeth, caries, need dentures or braces, etc that it will not pay for you to get these things fixed, at least not right away, and then once the coverage does kick in you'll be looking at anywhere from 50-80% coverage, depending on what you need to have taken care of.

There's a mandatory waiting period for major dental care that is normally 12 months. This means that if you need dentures that you'll have to wait a year and even then you'll only get half off. Also, you'll have an annual deductible to pay and a co-pay each time you visit the dentist.

The bottom line is that dental insurance is okay if you have no other alternative or if it's being provided by your employer as part of a group dental plan. However, if you are in pain or have an immediate dental emergency then you'll be paying for it 100% out of your own pocket until you've owned the policy for a full year.

Discount Dental Plans

These plans are probably the most misunderstood of the two. They are not insurance in any way, shape or form and do not provide "coverage" as a traditional policy does. What a discount plan does is simply, offer discounts at participating dentists. The advantage of this is that you can see a dentist immediately for any pre-existing condition and still receive a discount. You'd pay full price without the plan. Some of these plans offer savings as high as 60% or more, depending on the type of treatment, however, the usual savings is around 10-30%.

The two biggest problems with a discount dental plan are that you'll have a hard time finding participating providers outside of larger cities and also that you must pay a good size annual fee up front in order to become a member. These fees usually run between $100-$200.00 per year, depending upon whether you need an individual or family plan.

The plan that you choose should be based upon your immediate needs and the needs of your family, if you have one. Do some research, make some calls, compare plans and make an informed decision before you buy.


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