I am self-employed. My wife will soon be leaving her job to go back to school. So we’ll have to pay for two individual health insurance policies now … and maybe dental insurance.
I’ve always had dental insurance. It just seemed like the “right” thing to do. )I’ve also always had a vision plan, even though I still have better than 20/20 vision and have never used my vision benefits.)
But does it really make sense to pay for dental insurance? Looking at one of the major health providers in my area, we’ll be paying (for each of us) ~$600 per year in premiums ($1200 total). That covers the first $150 in costs, but only 80% of the next $500, and 50% of the remainder, up to the annual max. So here are some scenarios:
I get a cleaning/exam, and pay $600 for less than $150 in services (my typical year)
I spend a little more (say, a filling, X-rays…) and $700 for $650 in services
I spend a little more (intensive perio cleaning, etc.) and max things out at $750 for $750 in services (the first year’s annual max; goes up to $1500 max in year 4)
So unless I have more than $750 in costs in any year, I seem to be losing money. Furthermore, unlike with health insurance, the dental annual max. is not all that high, so I’m not really protected from anything truly catastrophic.
So, on balance, it seems dental insurance is a poor gamble. BUT… if I have no dental insurance (and no insurance company to hammer on the doctor), what rates will I likely be paying to the dentist? Will that cleaning still cost $120, or will it balloon to $200? Will a filling be $800? etc.?
Fillings are about $150 and I just had a cap and that was over $600 and I think cleanings are around $45 and x-rays are $80 and the prices don’t go up if you don’t have insurance. Those are my guess prices since my insurance covers cleanings and x-rays but I think I remember the bill saying that. So just think about how bad your teeth are. If you get an x-ray done and need 5 fillings have them all done in one year and don’t get dental the next year. Mine is free but only pays for cleanings and x-rays. So it was a very painful cap in more ways than one.
A root canal is going to cost about $1,200 average nationwide. That’s probably the most expensive thing you’re going to have to have done.
You can get the tooth pulled but pulling a tooth, while cheaper, is almost never better than a root canal. When you pull a tooth it effects the other teeth around it.
So base your calculations on a root canal cost and if you may/may not need it
All dental coverage I have ever had never covered a root canal. And geeze mine was only I think $800. That was a few years ago. Have they gone up that much?
I have double dental insurance coverage. I also broke my jaw in an accident 45 years ago and have been battling to keep any teeth in my head ever since. My first policy comes from my wifes employment benefit. The second one costs me $40 a month from Southern New England AAA. If you’re teeth are in good condition, it may not be worth it. Few policies cover prosthetics or cosmetic work.
I had a root canal earlier this year (:() and it cost me $600 out of pocket. I don’t remember exactly what the total cost was, but $1,200 seems about right.
What I want is true dental insurance, not prepaid medical coverage. In other words, I pay for the routine exams and cleanings, and it covers unexpected (and expensive) procedures.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be an option.
2nd: You have perfect vision, never visit the eye doctor or need glasses (“have never used my vision benefits”) yet you pay insurance for that? Can you drop the utterly useless vision insurance and use that money for dental coverage? Or just drop it and use the dough elsewhere? Why are you paying money for something you never use and don’t need?
3rd: how bad are your teeth? If you’ve been getting twice-yearly cleanings until now and brush/floss regularly and don’t have other issues … can you just skip seeing a dentist this year?
Again, this is one of those insurance inertia things that I just woke up to. I’m planning on dropping it, and not getting it for my wife. (Since, again, the coverage is hardly worth it.)
Not bad. I’ve been doing annual cleanings. No new fillings in quite some time. Wisdom teeth already out. I don’t want to skip the dentist this year, but since I pretty much only ever have an annual checkup/cleaning, there doesn’t seem a need for the insurance.
I haven’t needed any dental work beyond routine cleanings in many years, and my own dentist agrees that I am unlikely to anytime soon, so dental insurance (I could get a group policy through work, but it’s expensive and doesn’t cover much) leaves me behind just paying out of pocket for the cleanings and routine X-rays. Haven’t had a filling since middle school, wisdom teeth are gone, and the only semi-real possibility seems to be traumatic injury to natural teeth, which is covered on my medical insurance.
Does your wife’s school offer insurance? Here in MA, all full-time and all health profession college students must have health insurance so the school offers coverage. In my case, it cost about $840 for health insurance and $200 for dental. That is for the entire year. I still have my copays but no monthly or weekly payments. The dental was voluntary so my boyfriend got it for me for Christmas. The health is mandatory and was added to my bill and was covered by my financial aid. We compared my school insurance to my boyfriend’s employee insurance and mine is better than his and costs way less.
I can’t say whether or not dental insurance is worth it for your wife but if she can get it for less through school, it might be worth it.
No insurance is “worth it”. Because insurance companies make money, gobs of it. There are only two reasons to buy insurance: a loss you cannot bear or are required by law to have, and a policy that is subsidized by your employer.
Well, yeah. But saying ‘a loss you cannot bear’ sounds like you only need it to stave off bankruptcy. I’m not required to maintain collision insurance on my cars. There’s always at least one, that wouldn’t seem worth covering. But the cost isn’t that great once I have the good ones covered. I take as high a deductible as allowed, so it’s economical in a sense, even though I’ve never collected from my own insurance nor have they had to pay out on a collision, a few hundred dollars a year is worth the peace of mind.
And with dental insurance its saved me thousands. That’s one of the good things about dental insurance though, there’s no pre-existing condition exceptions, or rate schedules. When I had implants put in so I could start chewing properly again, the implants and the oral surgeon’s fee weren’t covered, but the anaesthetic and xrays were. Extractions and root canals were completely covered because of my two policies. So sometimes insurance is a luxury that you can afford to buy.
