additional dental insurance?

[michaelbsf]

Hi there!
I have a dental insurance at work with covers only up to $2000 per family. We have a family of 4, 2 children (1 and 7years old) and we are their parents in early forties. Now, as we are getting older we realized that we spend more money on dentists. Like, last year we spent more than 3K, this year could be a similar number. I had a gum grafting done on one side of my mouth, which was already 2K last year and planning to continue this year.  Our children didn't have too much dental work done up to this moment, so it was mostly us who spend money, but I think they will need some more attention with sealing, braces, etc. I am wondering, if it makes sense for us to find an additional dental insurance?  I guess, I am more concern about some expensive procedures, like root canals, gum grafting, maybe implants in the future. Did anybody have good experience with dental insurance in a similar situation?

Thanks,
M

[thenextguy]

Dental insurance isn't really insurance in the traditional sense. It's basically pre-paid dental work.

[thingamabobs]

Agree with above. How much did you pay for your $2000 coverage? I was paying about 120/month so 1440 a to get $2000 of coverage, so really I got $600 out of it if I maxed out the $2K. And usually I still had an out of pocket portion for most procedures. After sitting down and doing the math, I'd rather just pay the dentist outright instead of them having to deal with paperwork.

Oh and bonus is when they turned down a claim for a crown stating that a simple fill would've sufficed.. on the tooth that I needed a root canal on...

[EmFrugal]

This may be where an HSA makes more sense rather than buying more insurance. We have a similar issue... Three pregnancies destroyed my teeth and I have pricey procedures at least once a year. We're starting to look into a health savings account to set $ aside for upcoming procedures and braces for our three kids. Yay teeth.

[CSuzette]

Try Dr Ellie’s tooth brushing system. Prevention is everything!