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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: mindaugas on May 27, 2013, 08:32:58 PM

Title: Dental insurance
Post by: mindaugas on May 27, 2013, 08:32:58 PM
Anyone have any recommendations or is ehealth the way to go? Looking for a family plan.
Title: Re: Dental insurance
Post by: kudy on May 27, 2013, 09:36:49 PM
I've always thought that dental is so limited that if an employer isn't paying for it, it's cheaper to pay out of pocket expenses and avoid the premiums... I could be wrong though, because I've never actually researched in depth.
Title: Re: Dental insurance
Post by: iwannaretire on May 28, 2013, 06:29:10 AM
I discussed dental insurance with my dentist and he told me it's not worth the price of the premiums.  It's great if your employer pays for it, but the premiums you pay are going to far outweigh the cost of two cleanings per year.  If you need additional work, such as crowns, the insurance is usually only going to pay half of it anyway and so you probably still won't break even. 
Title: Re: Dental insurance
Post by: hybrid on May 28, 2013, 06:44:47 AM
Our firm pays part of the cost and my family has notoriously poor teeth (kids inherited soft enamel from mothers side of family) so we have used dental insurance the past several years and we have always come out ahead as a result.

To me this is one of those YMMV scenarios.  If you are younger, have good dental hygiene, and have a history of being mostly problem free then dental insurance is probably not a good idea.  If you are older root canals, crowns, implants and the like can add up fast.
Title: Re: Dental insurance
Post by: mindaugas on May 28, 2013, 09:40:24 AM
Yeah, after doing research the prwmiums are too high and pretty much everyone offers a max of $1k per year.