Yes. There is no catch. It is offered free while in dental school and if you sign up before graduating you will be eligible for the discounts on insurance going forward. You only need to begin paying for premiums in the December following school. Before they implemented changes about two years ago, their product had some riders that were inferior to going through a broker, but now that has levelled out the playing field.
FYI CDSPI is dental focused and is non-for-profit so their financial advisors are also charging lower rates than going into the private market. They have a good product.
Regardless, I would recommend getting the non-medical application done first (this will lock in that insurance amount to you). You always want to apply for insurance as soon as possible while you are healthy, as you don't know what can occur to you during dental school that may be excluded from your future application. Now if you have any medical issues that can cause any problems in your application or if you have any doubt that you would be approved fully for a medical application (ie. they take your urine and full medical history) then I would do any medical app with a broker because you don't want an insurance denial in your history of insurance applications. I know this because I went through this process already and learned a lot about it.
