Dental Insurance

zYx · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:10

Hi,

I don't really have any life etc insurance, but maybe I should get one. There isn't many dental insurers, but maybe some life insurers cover dental treatments too? Are there any experienced users here?

Did you use your insurance to pay for your dentist?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Raymond Lin · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:13

I am on Denplan, basically dental insurance, you pay fixed fee per mouth, all work done free, but lab work like getting a crown made or cosmetic work like whitening costs extra (but cheaper than paying cash).

Depends on the condition of your teeth, your monthly payment will be varied.

But 2 check ups and 2 cleans a year easily get your money back before any work done as my dentist charges £71 for a check up and another £71 for a scale and polish.

Dis86 · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:14

I used to get dental insurance through work although to be honest it was a bit of a gash deal even if it was free!
They wouldn't cover the full cost of anything and you had to pay upfront yourself. You then claimed back a fraction of the cost depending on what it was you had done.
Oddly the cheapest treatments tended to have the highest percentage to claim back.

cainer · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:20

im on my parents denplan, i started ~6 weeks ago
you go for a checkup where he'l do any work needed so you can start on denplan with a clean bill of health. mines £15 a month but that might be a cheap price as im on my parents account. that allows me 2 check ups and 4 hygienist sessions per year

Destination · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:44

Raymond Lin said:
I am on Denplan, basically dental insurance, you pay fixed fee per mouth, all work done free, but lab work like getting a crown made or cosmetic work like whitening costs extra (but cheaper than paying cash).

Depends on the condition of your teeth, your monthly payment will be varied.

But 2 check ups and 2 cleans a year easily get your money back before any work done as my dentist charges £71 for a check up and another £71 for a scale and polish.

What on earth does he do for £71?
Is that a half hour appointment for a checkup, or 20 minutes or 15 minutes?
How long are the cleaning appointments?

cainer · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:45

not sure what my dentist is for a checkup but hygienist is £55 per session (30 mins)

zYx · 8 Oct 2013 at 21:49

My NHS/Private charges £18 for a check up, £39 for a hygienist, £49 for root canal, £80 for white (the best?) filling.

My gf and I are planning to fix a few teeth and I think getting an insurance for a while will be cheaper. Hm..

Raymond Lin · 9 Oct 2013 at 00:18

Hikari Kisugi said:
What on earth does he do for £71?
Is that a half hour appointment for a checkup, or 20 minutes or 15 minutes?
How long are the cleaning appointments?

Surgery clinical time for treatment by dentists is charged at £284 per hour. ie. £71 per quarter hour and multiples thereof. Clinical time for therapists and hygienists is charged at £60 per quarter hour.

http://www.stmdentalcare.co.uk/pricing-dentist-hereford/dental-pricing-hertfordshire.html

Rotty · 9 Oct 2013 at 00:54

Raymond Lin said:
But 2 check ups and 2 cleans a year easily get your money back before any work done as my dentist charges £71 for a check up and another £71 for a scale and polish.

that is ludicrous, my dentist is a private one and charged me £43 the other day for checkup, scale and polish and an xray

tbh check up and scale is normally about £20 but I think they charged full price as I was in about 30mins due to a problem with 1 tooth

http://www.richardsonsdentalpractice.co.uk/information/

looks to me that they are inflated to get you on the plan and make money from it

dowie · 9 Oct 2013 at 01:17

I pay something similar to Raymond for the dentist, hygienist is a bit less though... I'm not sure how the plan mentioned in the OP would cover me - 2 dental visits and 2 hygienist visits by themselves would come more than the £15 a month payment...

Then again I've only ever had one filling and it doesn't look like I'm going to need another any time soon.... Did have to have my wisdom teeth removed a couple of years ago (as long as the dentist says they're impacted etc.. ordinary corporate medical insurance plans will usually cover it.)

Destination · 9 Oct 2013 at 07:27

Raymond Lin said:
http://www.stmdentalcare.co.uk/pricing-dentist-hereford/dental-pricing-hertfordshire.html

So basically nhs speed and service for private pricing.
That is a very high hourly rate, well over double my private rate, good for them, they must be utterly minted.

oldbag · 9 Oct 2013 at 07:41

A good private dentist costs money. Not sure id want to go back to Nhs after going private.

atpbx · 9 Oct 2013 at 07:57

I am in denplan.

It's with the same dentist I've been with for the past 20 odd years.

Raymond Lin · 9 Oct 2013 at 17:33

Hikari Kisugi said:
So basically nhs speed and service for private pricing.
That is a very high hourly rate, well over double my private rate, good for them, they must be utterly minted.

They are busy as anything as well, 4 months wait for a check up! Have to book way in advance.

Destination · 9 Oct 2013 at 17:40

Raymond Lin said:
They are busy as anything as well, 4 months wait for a check up! Have to book way in advance.

I need to move.

Raymond Lin · 9 Oct 2013 at 17:44

I have no actual complaints about their service though, I know it says 15 mins but generally it takes longer and it is not rushed. The practice is very friendly and very clean, too to bottom. People always say they are afraid of the dentist, I'm never scared of mine, it's always been a pleasant experience for me.

mattyfez · 9 Oct 2013 at 19:20

I had a plan with simply health, think it was about £25 per month just for dental, it was a conscious choice as i needed a lot of work, bad experience when i was young, didnt go to dentist for about 10 years.

Got 100% cash back for maintenance such as cleaning, check up an xray and 50% cash back for treatment such as filling, crowns and bridges. Implants not covered though as they are classed as cosmetic.

The beauty of it was i could go to what ever public or private dentist i wanted. So i could find one i was happy with.

Got a ton of work done, 2 root canal, a single tooth crown, 3 tooth bridge, lots of filling, it still worked out a bit more expensive than NHS, the dentist i settled on charged £80-100 for a filing, and £380 for a crown (i got 50% of that back) but it was a private dentist who was really understanding of my psychological issues with dentists, and used cutting edge filling and bridging materials /technology. You can't tell my crown and bridge from a natural tooth it's that good, ive seen some really bad crowns in my time, they colour matched it, and even sent some back to the lab to be re - engineered when they weren't happy with the fit/colour. At no extra cost.

I had major psychological issues, but by the end i was happily having my dentist do 2 fillings and a crown in one long session.

In the end the insurance company cancelled my policy as id claimed the limit, but that was ok as i had got the work done and im very happy with the results.

Another bonus of going private is no waiting, i think about 2 weeks for any work was about standard.

Grimley · 9 Oct 2013 at 20:43

Raymond Lin said:
I am on Denplan, basically dental insurance, you pay fixed fee per mouth, all work done free, but lab work like getting a crown made or cosmetic work like whitening costs extra (but cheaper than paying cash).

Depends on the condition of your teeth, your monthly payment will be varied.

But 2 check ups and 2 cleans a year easily get your money back before any work done as my dentist charges £71 for a check up and another £71 for a scale and polish.

Same as me, I would get 15% discount on any extra work required. Been paying for just over a year. I also pay £2 extra a month cover for my dental implants.