Dental insurance can be confusing. Even if you carefully read over your plan, you can still end up feeling overwhelmed. Needless to say, it’s best to keep things simple when it comes to dental insurance coverage. If you’d like easy to understand advice about maximizing your benefits, keep reading. It doesn’t get much more straightforward than these three tips!
1. Know Your Annual Maximum and Yearly Deductible
First, let’s go ahead and break these terms down:
Annual Maximum: The maximum amount of money your dental insurance plan will pay out to you in coverage in a given year. If you spend more than this amount, your dental insurance benefits will no longer be applied to your treatment costs.
Yearly Deductible: The amount of money you’ll have to spend out of pocket before your dental insurance benefits will “kick in.” Some services may be excluded from this restriction, but it tends to apply to major and minor restorative treatments.
To save the most money with your dental insurance, try to schedule your appointments so that you stay between these two numbers – at least until the end of the year.
2. Be Mindful of The Reset
Your dental insurance benefits and restrictions will reset on January 1st of the next calendar year. On one hand, this means any progress you’ve made towards your annual maximum will drop back down to $0, potentially allowing you to get more coverage. On the other hand, it also means progress towards your deductible will be at $0.
Basically, it pays to keep track of your annual maximum, deductible, and the time of year. If you learn you need a crown in December, but have already hit your annual maximum, it’s worth asking your dentist whether it’s safe to wait until January to receive your restoration. But if you’ve met your deductible and haven’t gone past your annual maximum, you’d likely save more money by getting the crown ASAP.
3. Take Advantage of Your Preventive Care Benefits
The one exception to this strategy is preventive dental care – in other words, a checkup and cleaning appointment. A professional checkup and cleaning significantly reduces your chances of developing problems like cavities and gum disease in the first place.
Because of this, most dental insurance plans cover 90% to 100% of two preventive appointments per year, regardless of your annual maximum and deductible. Make sure to take advantage of this and try not to leave free dental care on the table!
There are many ways you can save money with dental insurance, so don’t hesitate to ask your dental team for more tips and tricks.
About the Author
Dr. Stephen Dean knows how important it is to maintain good oral health while also staying within your budget. His office gladly accepts all dental insurance plans and is proud to be in-network with BlueCross/BlueShield and Aetna. If you have questions about making dental care more affordable or would like to take advantage of your benefits, contact Dr. Dean’s office at 770-786-3915 or schedule an appointment online.