Your teeth are in poor condition and it’s time to think about a substitute. One suggestion is to go with traditional dental implants or a procedure that’s known as an All on Four. The question you have is whether or not your dental insurance will cover the cost of the implants. There is no one answer that applies across the board. Here is what you should know about insurance coverage and when dental implants are covered. Smile Advantage offers several different types of dental implants.
Start by Checking With Your Insurance Provider
A quick way to get an answer is to call your insurance provider and ask specifically about the benefits related to implants. Remember to ask about All on Four implants as well as the individual type.
The terms of your dental coverage may not cover implants under any circumstances. That means if you want to proceed, it will be necessary to fund the work out of your own pocket.
At other times, the policy may cover both individual implants or All on Four just as the plan covers dentures.
Covering Implants Under a Limited Range of Circumstances
While more dental insurance providers are including implants in the scope of coverage, it’s often limited to specific situations. This means that you will not have any benefits if the idea is to get implants to replace your real teeth. Specific events must come to pass before the plan will cover any of the costs.
For example, your plan may cover dental implants if you are involved in an accident that causes significant damage to your natural teeth. As part of the restorative surgery, implants may be necessary to replace teeth that are damaged beyond repair.
The same would hold true if you were injured due to a fall or some other contributing factor. When the damage to the teeth is so significant that other dental treatments are insufficient, the provider will be more likely to cover most of the cost of implants.
The loss of your natural teeth due to some type of medical condition may also be covered. For example, natural teeth that are lost because of a change in bone density may mean your provider will pay for All on Four implants.
Implants for Cosmetic Purposes Only
Even providers who do cover a limited number of events involving implants are not likely to pay for the procedure when the purpose is purely cosmetic. While that’s changing in some cases, it’s more likely that an insurance plan would include dental implant benefits if they are necessary to correct a situation that poses a threat to your dental health.
What About Discount Dental Plans?
Discount dental plans are not dental insurance. As the name implies, dental clinics that accept the discount plans offer their services at agreed-upon rates that are specifically for patients who are enrolled in those plans. It’s more common for plans like this to include discounts for all types of dental implants.
You could find such a plan that could cover anywhere from 20% to 70% of the cost of a single implant or several. Your best bet is to talk with your dentist and find out if the practice accepts any type of discount plan. If so, contact the plan provider and find out what sort of discount they offer on implants. Depending on what you learn, enrolling in the plan could be worth the expense.
Remember that if your insurance does not cover implants, there are other financing options. Medical lenders will often provide funding and you can repay the debt in a series of monthly installments. In any case, you can replace missing or damaged teeth, restore the smile, and once again be able to chew just about any type of food that you desire.
Learn more about what dental implants are.
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