asked:




That seems to be what the public really wants to know. After all, if discounted dental plans are such a "great"

deal, then what exactly is the purpose of dental insurance? Let's take a look at both of these dental plans

and see if we can make some sense of this mess.

Dental Insurance

Dental insurance was designed to provide dental protection for individuals, families and groups. The main

benefit of these plans was that you could see a dentist every six months and it would either be paid for

as part of the policy premium or you would pay a substantial discount. In many cases, you would have

to pay for the checkup and then your insurance company would reimburse you.

Insurance companies encouraged you to visit the dentist on a regular schedule because you could catch

things before they became a major problem that required more costly procedures. This isn't always the case

anymore.

Dental insurance does not pay as much as it used to for dental procedures. As a matter of fact, dental

insurance doesn't pay for pre-existing conditions at all. This means that if you have a broken tooth that must

be repaired and you buy a dental insurance policy looking to get it fixed, you can expect a big surprise when

you get to the dentist's office and they ask you if you would like to pay in cash or put the procedure on your