For kids to get great dental care in 2025, they’ll need the right dental insurance. Even the best treatments won’t help if they don’t fit your budget, after all. With that said, there are things you should know when buying dental insurance for your child. Your Casper pediatric dentist is here to share them with you before you commit to a plan. To that end, consider these four facts when getting your child’s dental insurance.
Plans Have Different Types
For starters, note that dental insurance isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” service. It comes in different types that have their unique traits and qualities.
The various dental policies can be boiled down to two kinds: PPOs and HMOs. With a PPO, your child’s dental plan will offer partial coverage whether a dentist is in-network or not. On the other hand, an HMO is less flexible and restricts coverage to in-network dentists; it charges a smaller premium in exchange.
Most Plans Cover Pediatric Preventive Care
A dental plan’s specific details certainly can vary. However, please note that most plans will fully cover pediatric dental care.
Indeed, nearly all dental plans cover two yearly dental checkups for your child. That means you’d only have to pay (at most) a small co-pay for your child’s regular visits. By doing so, the checkups would ward off the issues that require kids to get costly appointments. You’d then save much more money over the years than you would otherwise.
Orthodontic Coverage is Often Limited
Another thing to remember is that most dental plans have limited (or no) coverage for orthodontic work. If you expect your child to need braces, make sure your chosen policy covers dental alignments.
On the bright side, kids are more likely to get coverage for orthodontics. Those policies that do offer benefits for braces (or aligners) often require the patient to be 18 years old or younger. From there, the policy will cover up to 50% of the orthodontic work’s cost.
Dental Plans Have Waiting Periods
Don’t expect to use your child’s dental insurance right when you get it. As it turns out, each policy has a waiting period before applying to dental visits.
How long your child must wait will depend on the service they need. For example, dental checkups are covered almost immediately; benefits can apply within 30 days of the plan’s purchase. Basic restorative services, though, require that a child wait three months after the purchase. Major restorations require an even longer period of six months or so.
When buying dental insurance for your child, please observe the above points. Keeping them in mind gives your child a shot at amazing dentistry in 2025!
About the Practice
Casper Children’s Dental Clinic is based in Casper, WY. Led by Dr. Ryne S. Paulson himself, our practice has served the kids of Wyoming for over thirty years. We’ve provided excellent preventive, restorative, and emergency dental work in that time, all tailored to each child’s grin. That means you can trust us to help your youngster’s teeth and gums thrive! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (307)-266-1997.