Dental insurance can be a pain, for dentists and patients. It often seems treatments aren’t covered, co-pays are high, and limitations can be strict. Unfortunately, dental insurance isn’t profitable to insurance companies, and that’s why we – patients and doctors – sometimes get the short end of the stick.
If you think about it though, business models for dental insurance and health insurance are very different. Health insurance companies rely on much of their services covered not actually being used. Therefore, they’re able to cover those rare cases of high-cost treatments, while still making a profit from those of us who invest each month “just in case.”
However, dental insurance always gets cashed in on. We all need not only teeth cleanings but, as we get older, if we didn’t take excellent care of our teeth (and sometimes even if we did), root canals, bridges, dentures, crowns, and other procedures. So whatever we pay in to our dental insurance companies, our dental insurance companies must pay back out. This doesn’t leave much room for profit.
In addition, many people with pre-existing conditions wait until they purchase dental insurance to have those conditions treated, rather than taking care of the problem right away.
Yet, many people don’t want to pay much for dental insurance, because we don’t tend to worry about our teeth as much as we do the rest of our body.
So there are no answers, but one thing is certain – how you take care of your teeth is directly tied to your entire health. So here’s our advice.
Take excellent care of your teeth at home. Invest in dental insurance for problems that may arise. Or, keep a savings for unexpected procedures. Visit your dentist at least twice a year. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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