Shopping for individual dental insurance can be overwhelming. After all, there are so many choices out there! Chances are you’re not an insurance expert, so how do you know if you’re getting a good deal?

The very best dental insurance will come with these 4 things, so be on the lookout for them:

1.A low deductible

When you have dental insurance, you’re not just responsible for the monthly premiums; you may also be responsible for meeting a deductible.

What does that mean?

It means that you have to pay your deductible out-of-pocket, before your coverage kicks in. So, if your deductible is $500, you are responsible for paying the first $500 before your insurance company has to pay anything.

Obviously, you’re getting individual dental insurance because you’re trying to limit the amount of money that you have to spend, so the lower your deductible is, the better. Some plans will even come with no deductible; it just depends on the coverage you get.

2.A large network of dentists

In most cases, your dental plan will only allow you to get treatment from certain doctors. Each insurance company has a list of providers. If you don’t use one of the dentists on the list, the treatment you get probably won’t be covered.

That’s why it’s so important to check out the list of providers before you sign up for an individual dental plan. If there aren’t any approved dentists in your area – or only a small few to choose from – you may want to find another plan that gives you more options.

3.Preventative coverage

Things like x-rays and routine check-ups are considered to be “preventative” in the dental insurance world. After all, they are not treating a specific issue. Instead, they are making sure that problems don’t creep up later.

Most of the time, an individual dental plan will cover preventative services – because, in the insurance company’s mind, it’s cheaper to pay for routine stuff than it is to pay for major treatments later because you didn’t catch the problem in time. However, not all plans cover preventative services, so you’ll have to read the fine print on your policy before you sign it.

4.An option to “bundle” other services
Many times, you can get a discount on your dental insurance if you also buy vision coverage from the insurance company. You can think of it as a “combo meal” of sorts. See if adding other insurance plans will lower your monthly dental insurance premiums.