Dental Insurance: Use It Or Lose It

It's the golden rule about dental insurance: Use it or lose it.

OK, I know most of you don't want to spend another minute - or dollar - at the dental office than absolutely necessary. But by not fully using your dental policy you aren't getting full value from it - and you might actually be setting yourself up for even bigger dental bills in future.

Here's why:

Virtually all insurance company dental plans have an annual maximum claim limit. Let's say it's $1,000 for discussion purposes. If you make a couple of trips to the dentist during the year, for say a cleaning and checkup, x-rays and a couple of fillings, you might claim about $750.

But your plan allows you to spend $1,000 a year - so you've "lost" $250 once the calendar turns to Jan. 1 the following year. See, insurance companies are pretty smart about saving themselves money, so they won't let you carry over unused claim amounts to subsequent years. I don't think it's fair, but I don't set the rules.

Even though you should at least get an annual checkup, let's say you don't visit the dentist at all one year and don't claim a single dime of your $1,000 claim limit. But the following year, you need a couple of expensive root canals and crowns. Your dental plan is still only going to pay out a maximum of $1,000 for that year - the insurer doesn't care you didn't spend your $1,000 claim limit from the previous year. They win, you lose.

Now if you had gone for your checkup the previous year, the dentist might well have diagnosed the imminent root canals before they become a painful emergency. You could have had one done that year - maximizing your annual claim - and the other done the following year. If you end up having to pay for two in one year (a bill of at least $2,000) it's going to cost you more out of your own pocket!

See? It does pay to go to the dentist!

Now there are plenty of ways to maximize your dental claim as part of taking good care of your teeth.

For example, many plans allow you to have a cleaning procedure every six months instead of just once a year for the very good reason that it removes the sticky residue that leads to gum disease, tooth decay and expensive fillings, crowns and root canals.

You could also - if your plan allows - get those ugly dark amalgam fillings removed and replaced by natural looking white composite fillings.

One final tip: Don't leave it until November or December before making a dental appointment. Unless it's an emergency, you'll likely find the dentist is booked solid as everyone else with a dental plan scrambles to get their treatment done before Dec. 31st!