Did you know that most of us have been tricked into thinking that dental insurance is a great deal? In some cases this may be true but only if you are being offered dental insurance from an employer that includes generous features and a high annual maximum- not the typical $1000-$1500 yearly limit.

Before romanticizing the idea of possessing a dental insurance plan you should compile all the facts and be sure that you are really getting “bang for your buck” or just throwing your money out the door. In view of this, let’s take a look at an example of how you would benefit(or lose) from getting a $800 root canal.

First off, you would need to pay your typical $50 deductible which would leave you with a total of $750 for the required dental work.

Next, the dental insurance would cover you for 80%($600) of the root canal and you would need to pay the remaining 20%($150).

So, your out of pocket dental costs are $500 in yearly insurance premiums, $50 for the deductible and $150 for the 20% not covered by your dental insurance policy. Leaving you with a grand total of $700 in dental expenses for your root canal.

Now, look at the random example that we shall include for your reference. We took the example from a discount dental plan available in Las Vegas. You would pay $124.95 for your yearly discount dental plan membership and would receive an instant on-the-spot $395 discount off of a $795 root canal- leaving you with $400. So, your total cost for the root canal work with a discount dental plan is $524.95.

In review, you end up paying $700 for a root canal with dental insurance or you could pay $524.95 with a discount dental plan. Can you see why, in most cases, dental insurance does not add up?

As mentioned above, the only exception to the rule would be if you are getting dental insurance through an employer and the policy has generous features and a high annual cap. But, if you have lost benefits from work or need to pay for your own dental work then your best low cost dental care option would be a discount plan.

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