J.opt said:
Hi,
I want to go to the dentist, but I dont have dental insurance. Im afraid its going to cost me a lot of money. I dont think that I need anything major done, just fill 1-2 cavities and the regular clean up. Should I get dental insurance before I go? Im living off my student loans, so Im trying to figure out whats going to be more expensive, to pay it on my own, or to get dental insurance.
Does anybody know about good dental plans? (I dont work, so I cant get it through work).
Thanks guys!
Unless your employer is paying for it, dental insurance is rarely worth having. People have lost sight of the purpose of insurance. Insurance is meant to protect people from unlikely but potentially financially crushing tragedies (house fire, cancer, major accident etc...)
In order to work effectively insurance has to spread risk among a large number of individuals. For example 1 in 10,000 people are going to suffer a housefire. For that 1 unlucky person this could mean bankruptcy, no retirement, or other disastrous consequences. But if 10,000 people paid enough to cover the cost of 1 house fire, the amount per year would be almost negligible. The insurance company provides a means to do this by selling insurance policies and collecting deductibles. In return for providing this valuable service they take a small (or not so small) cut of the deductible.
But dentistry is different. EVERYBODY needs to see a dentist. There is just no getting out of it. So there is no risk to spread around. This means that dental insurance isn't really insurance at all. It is a form of prepayment for dental services.
Because there is practically no risk to spread around, the insurance company MUST charge you more for premiums than they intend to cover. I wish more people understood this; the only way dental insurance companies can be profitable is by denying coverage for needed procedures and nickel and diming the dentist on fees.
Imagine if there were insurance for other things that nearly 100% of people needed. Imagine if there were food insurance. The only way to turn a profit would be to charge you enough in premiums to cover ribeye steak but only allow you oatmeal and ramen noodles. Or clothes insurance: you would pay for Gucci and get Walmart's Faded Glory.
Anyway, my point is that dental insurance rarely works for the private individual. Your best bet would be to set aside what you would be paying in premiums each month and use it as it is needed for dental work. This way nobody is taking a cut of your hard earned money and you get to decide the best way to spend it, not some CPA in a 4'x4'cubicle.
