Dental Insurance?

For the first time in my life I have to buy insurance on the open market. Dental, to be specific.

The number of choices is bewildering.

Does anyone have any recommendations? My teeth are sort of a disaster area, so I need good coverage.

We had Metlife dental for years.  Really helped pay for kids’ braces and some crowns.  I would recommend Metlife. 

Thanks. I will check them out.

drummerboy said:

For the first time in my life I have to buy insurance on the open market. Dental, to be specific.

The number of choices is bewildering.

Does anyone have any recommendations? My teeth are sort of a disaster area, so I need good coverage.

 I just did this and ended up with Delta Dental insurance. Go to www.deltadentalcoversme.com to check it out. Be careful as I found out while researching that coverage in some insurance plans doesn't actually cover anything until 12 months after you enroll. The plans I chose with Delta started immediately and approvals for work are very quick. Just a week or 2 after the dentist submits the paperwork. 

since1997 said:

drummerboy said:

For the first time in my life I have to buy insurance on the open market. Dental, to be specific.

The number of choices is bewildering.

Does anyone have any recommendations? My teeth are sort of a disaster area, so I need good coverage.

 I just did this and ended up with Delta Dental insurance. Go to www.deltadentalcoversme.com to check it out. Be careful as I found out while researching that coverage in some insurance plans doesn't actually cover anything until 12 months after you enroll. The plans I chose with Delta started immediately and approvals for work are very quick. Just a week or 2 after the dentist submits the paperwork. 

 great! thanks for the tip.

sheesh. even the choices from that one link are bewildering. I looked at one plan that seemed good (the most expensive) with a 2k max  but then saw a waiting period. Then I saw a different plan with no max, no waiting period, that was a bit cheaper.

Can I ask what plan you ended up buying?

Read carefully, you often get what you pay for.  Waiting period and payout per year are not the only factors to consider.  Does your current dentist accept the insurance plan? Do you have to see a dentist who is in network?  If so, is there anyone in network near you? How good are the in network dentists? How long do you have to wait for an appointment with an in network  practitioner?  What types of procedures are covered?  What is the coverage for the procedures you need now or are apt to need in the future?  

drummerboy said:

sheesh. even the choices from that one link are bewildering. I looked at one plan that seemed good (the most expensive) with a 2k max  but then saw a waiting period. Then I saw a different plan with no max, no waiting period, that was a bit cheaper.

Can I ask what plan you ended up buying?

 Sure, The individual clear plan for my wife since she needs a lot of work and the enhanced family PPO Plan III for me and the kids since we're mainly maintenance.

joan_crystal said:

Read carefully, you often get what you pay for.  Waiting period and payout per year are not the only factors to consider.  Does your current dentist accept the insurance plan? Do you have to see a dentist who is in network?  If so, is there anyone in network near you? How good are the in network dentists? How long do you have to wait for an appointment with an in network  practitioner?  What types of procedures are covered?  What is the coverage for the procedures you need now or are apt to need in the future?  

 thank you for bewildering me more.   

kidding - yeah, I'm aware of most of those concerns already. The goal is to keep my current dentist, who I believe doesn't participate in any plans, but he files the paperwork. That worked out fine when I was on AETNA..