Dental Insurance

Bushi

I'm currently employeed full time and am a full time college student, but my place of work doesn't provide dental insurance! Does anyone know of any places that offer a dental only plans that an individual can enroll in? I've seen a few online, but the relatively high application fees make me wonder if they're legit or not. I'd need something that covers the southern Mississippi area.

Deebaser

I'm not sure what the offerings are in your particular region, but make sure that you're enrolling in "Dental Insurance" not a "Dental Plan". Dental Plans are these new bullshit products that allows you to pay the negotiated rate for DMO quality dentists without the carrier underwriting balls for risk.

See if you have Delta, or Aetna available in your area. They're reasonable and national.

Deebaser

Also, if any of your buddies or your parents buddies are life insurance scumbags (no offense), most of the larger dingleberry fucktard agencies like Northwestern Mutual and Met Life have a department solely for benefits.

If the family friend does not know himself, he can have the benefits fucktard put together a packet.



(note: I fucking hate life insurance salesmen)

Pussy

They're probably all legit, but is this an emergency? Generally, I've found that going to the dentist just really isn't that important, unless someone eats a lot of candy and thus gets cavities, or has other persistent problems. If there is no future dental plan in sight then I would look for one, but if this is just a job that you're going to have for a year or so I wouldn't worry about the dentist.

As for those plans, I imagine they're good, but probably won't cover the full cost, and you might even be better off as a self-pay, especially if you can find a dental clinic that offers low prices to cater to people without dental insurance. Also, you might be able to classify yourself as low-income despite being a college student and having a full time job ... it depends. If so you could get a hold of some government-backed insurance plans, again not full-pay but better than nothing.

edit: Oh, wait, if youre under 25 you might be able to get covered by your parent(s)' plan, again despite the fact that you have a full time job of your own.

Scrublet

Pussy wrote: »

edit: Oh, wait, if youre under 25 you might be able to get covered by your parent(s)' plan, again despite the fact that you have a full time job of your own.

Seconding this. As an example, at one point my mom and my dad were both working full time but my mom's job didn't provide insurance so she was under my dad's plan. Then she switched jobs and DID get insurance, so she got kicked off my dad's plan. The key factor here was whether or not she could get provided insurance somewhere else. Since you can't I think you'd be fine.

Enc

I keep good care of my teeth (brush 2-3 times a day, floss regularly, use Listerine and such) and I found that all I was getting for my $40 bucks a month of dental was a two month delayed refund check for my two regular $120 dentists visits for cleaning. So, in essence, I was paying $480 for $240 in services.

Considering the cost of my most likely future problems ($500-$3000) and that my dentist offers monthly payment plans reaching as far as a year (and dosen't require insurance), I opted to drop my Dental until I get a job that will cover it.

This may not be the best path for you, but unlike Health insurance where you can't really afford not to have it, dental is more of a rational decision thing. If you have a history of dental problems, it's probably a good idea to get coverage. If you go overboard with your dental care and don't have a lot of problems, perhaps it isn't necessary.

Dog

Going to the dentist isn't really that important until you find out that years of neglect results in thousands of dollars in completely avoidable procedures to fix your teeth.

Dman

In your position I would seek coverage through my university (student union?), work, or my parents work and only after exhausting those would I look for insurance elsewhere.

Alternatively....
Self insure. Start your own dental fund and put $60 or so into it every month. Anytime dental stuff comes up pay for half with your regular money and half from your dental fund. If you're disciplined and don't have bad luck there should always be enough in there to cover 50% of any dental work you need and (in canada at least) if you pay cash for dental work and it amounts to $texas in a given year you can claim it on your tax return.

Personally I'm insured through work, YMMV.

And don't skip out on yearly checkups & cleanings!

eleventy

My employer doesn't provide health or dental insurance, I used https://www.ehealthinsurance.com to get an individual plan, you can find just dental plans on there as well. The dental plans (even as an add on to health insurance) don't seem very cost effective if its just routine cleanings twice a year. If you have bigger issues, most plans have a 6/12 month waiting period.

Enc

robothero wrote: »

Going to the dentist isn't really that important until you find out that years of neglect results in thousands of dollars in completely avoidable procedures to fix your teeth.

Well, obviously. My Grandmother never paid a dollar for dental work in her life until her last tooth fell out at 50ish. Of course, she came from a household where brushing teeth was an optional thing.

If you take good care of your teeth, get regular checkups/cleanings, and are smart about things, you can get by without the insurance. If you have a major problem down the line, odds are your dentist will spot it years before it will cause any major problems.

Of course, if you don't get the checkups, you are just setting yourself up for fail.

Dog

Checkups which are covered by insurance