With so many individual dental and family dental insurance policies out there, don’t feel bad if it feels like you’re dealing with “information overload”! Looking for affordable dental coverage means getting up to speed with a bunch of new terms – one of the biggest being dental indemnity insurance.

So, what is it?

Dental indemnity insurance is a fancy name for a traditional insurance policy. When you think of the stereotypical insurance plan, you’re likely thinking of dental indemnity insurance. It may also be called a “fee-for-service” policy.

With most of these policies, you are required to meet a deductible before your insurance company starts paying for anything. So, if your deductible is $500, you’ll have to pay for the first $500 worth of dental treatment before your coverage kicks in. Once your coverage does kick in, your insurance company will likely pay a percentage of the costs. For example, your policy may cover 80% of your dental services and treatments – with you being responsible for paying the remaining 20%.

If you decide to go with a dental indemnity insurance plan, your best bet will be to look for a policy that comes with a smaller deductible. After all, you’ll have to meet that deductible before your insurance company pays for anything – so the lower it is, the better it is for you.

However, a word of caution – policies with lower deductibles also tend to come with higher monthly premium rates. So, before you pick a specific individual dental or family dental insurance policy, you will have to decide if you want to spend a little bit more each month on premiums, or if you’re willing to bite the bullet and have a higher deductible.

By keeping that in mind, you can tailor your insurance costs to meet your specific needs. If you have a little extra money to spend each month – but don’t have a big chunk of money to pay off a deductible if an emergency pops up – then a dental indemnity insurance policy may very well be the most affordable dental plan for you.

And there is another big positive to signing up for dental indemnity insurance. With it, you usually have the freedom to go see any dentist you want. Some specific policies may come with approved providers lists, but if your insurance company’s list is big enough, you will still have a variety of dentists to choose from. For many people, that’s worth the cost of the policy!