# How do I get Dental Insurance?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 27, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560 "2001-11-27T19:06:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dasceder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3d9bf3/32.png) [@dasceder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasceder)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560/1 "2001-11-27T19:06:02Z")

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My job provides health but not dental (pretty sweet, no?). Is there any trick to getting dental coverage? I would imagine I could just call blue cross/blue shield and hook it up, but that seems akin to walking into Circuit City and asking for a stereo. You leave with 200x more than you really need. Any suggestions? Or better yet, any dopers in the insurance industry?

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**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560/2 "2001-11-27T19:30:23Z")

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I’m not in the insurance industry, but in my experience, dental insurance is usually a pretty lousy deal, given the coverage limits, deductibles, co-pays, exclusion periods, etc.

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560/3 "2001-11-27T19:39:36Z")

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Who is the health insurer? Most insurance companies will provide dental coverage, but some for a premium in addition to the standard health insurance. In any event, coverage is very limited. It’s really not cost effective to pay extra for dental insurance.

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**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-dental-insurance/95560/4 "2001-11-27T23:42:29Z")

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You could ask your dentist…mine uses a few insurance plans. That way I know she takes them.