Thanks to belt-tightening by employers around the country, that great dental health plan you used to have through your company is probably a thing of the past.

So, should you go out and get a private dental health insurance plan?

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

CON – You have to spend money on it every month
Any insurance for dental purposes is going to cost you money out-of-pocket, and anytime you have to spend money, that’s a downside. You’ll have to pay a monthly premium, and if you have family dental insurance, that means paying premiums on several different people. Even if you get a discount dental health plan, you’ll have to pay an annual fee to be part of the discount membership group.

But, what’s the alternative?

Sure, you could go without any kind of dental health insurance plan. But then, when you need a check-up, a crown, or a visit to fix your chipped tooth, you’re going to wind up footing the entire bill yourself. Depending on why you’re there, one trip to the dentist can cost more than an entire year’s worth of premium payments!

Luckily, this is the only con to having a dental health plan – and it isn’t totally bad!

So, what about the pros?

PRO – Your preventative care will either be free or dirt cheap

If you have a good dental health plan, all of your preventative care – like your cleanings, check-ups, and x-rays – will be free. Even if you are responsible for a copay, it will be a small one. If you were to pay for a routine dentist visit on your own, you’d likely spend a couple hundred bucks! Even if all you do is go to the dentist for check-ups once or twice a year, the money you spend on premiums will be well worth it.

PRO – You’ll have an out-of-pocket maximum
Most insurance for dental purposes comes with a deductible you have to meet and copays you have to pay each time you go to the dentist. However, every dental health insurance plan will also come with what’s called an “out-of-pocket maximum” – or, the most money you would have to spend in a calendar year, in a worst case scenario. For example, if your dental health plan has an out-of-pocket maximum of $1,000, that’s all you would have to pay – even if you needed thousands of dollars’ worth of dental work.

And, when you have family dental insurance, you have an out-of-pocket maximum that applies to your entire family. So, the money you spend on copays for your wife’s root canal and the money you spend on your son’s braces will both go toward your family maximum.