The Non Availability of Dental Implant Insurance
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios
Kotzakoliou, SSA

Dental implants are not cheap. You can expect fees to start at around $1000 for a single tooth. Unfortunately, purchasing dental implant insurance to help with the cost is not always a realistic option, as it is often hard to find at a reasonable price.

Many dental insurance plans were developed before dental implants were as popular as they are today, so even if you are lucky enough to have dental implant insurance included in your plan, you may find the help available is minimal. You will probably find cover is limited to essential maintenance and emergencies. If you want dental implant insurance to help with the cost of treatment, try asking your provider if you can get extra dental implant insurance cover.

You might be able to request help from the insurance provider if you want to claim dental implant insurance for a work or accident related reason for implant surgery. Ask your provider before going ahead, and discuss it thoroughly with your dentist.

You may be surprised to find that if you want to use insurance to pay for dental implants, your medical cover might work better for you than your dental plan. If you require a lot of teeth, this may come under jaw reconstruction to restore normal chewing and eating abilities. If this is the case, discuss with your dentist and your medical insurance provider before embarking on a course of treatment. As an example of what you might expect, Medicare do not provide any dental insurance apart from essential work such as reconstruction following an accident.

Dental implants are considered a cosmetic procedure, so dental implant insurance will probably remain unlikely to be included in dental plans. Talking to your dentist may help you to get some help with the costs of dental implants through a finance plan to spread the costs.