How to Find the Best Dental Plan

Each dental insurance customer's ideal plan is unique to that customer. Your best option for finding the right dental plan is to draw up a list of your requirements; compile a list of the dental plans available to you; and then pick the one that best meets your needs. Here are some things to consider while trimming down your dental insurance options.

Cost

• Calculate what you are willing to pay monthly for a dental plan. Eliminate any plans and add-ons that go beyond your budget. Carefully read through the terms of the rest; making sure that you truly understand the differences between the policies. For example, dental insurance with a deductible of $200 is better than dental insurance with a deductible of $200 and a co-insurance split of 80/20 because the second plan makes you pay 20 percent of the costs after the $200 deductible.

Acceptance

• Check with local dentists to see which insurance plans they are willing to accept. You may need to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of picking a lessor dental plan against the increased travel time involved in seeing a more distant dentist who accepts your first choice.

Covered Procedures

• Examine the coverage of the plans that you are sorting through. Prioritize them based on the conditions and treatments that you're likely to need. Even if two dental plans cover the same procedure, you can still rank them based on how good that coverage is.

Other Considerations

• Consider whether you need the dental plan to cover other members of your family and whether it limits you to only getting treatment on certain days.

  Also check health insurance forums for customer feedback and complaints. Even if a company seems to offer a good policy, if they have a history of trying to ditch customers during their times of need, it might not be worth it in the long run.