No one likes to go to the dentist but keeping up to date with dental care is vital. The annual dental survey 2008 carried out by HSA health insurance has revealed that 1 in 5 UK adults have put off visiting the dentist because of concerns about the cost.
25% is a huge number in relation to the population, we have all experienced toothache and to think we would rather suffer with this than go to get it looked at because we are dreading the costs is crazy. More than three out of four adults don't floss regularly, and a fifth of us don't even brush our teeth twice a day. So one extra investment to help is a decent toothbrush and some floss, and reduce your sugar and acid intake.
If affordability is a concern, there are different ways of covering the costs.
The National Health Service (NHS)
Although everyone is entitled to treatment by an NHS dentist, finding one isn't easy: in some towns, there isn't a single dentist willing to take on new NHS patients.
So unless you’re after private dental insurance because it gives greater choice, first try to find an NHS dentist.
Just because it’s on the NHS doesn’t make it free though; while children, pregnant women and people receiving means-tested benefits will still receive free treatment, others pay.
In England, NHS dental charges now fall into three cost bands, with the cost of basic treatments such as scaling and polishing £15.90; intermediate treatment such as fillings or extractions cost £43.60; and complicated work such as bridges, crowns or dentures cost £194.
Get cover through your employer
Some employers include private dental treatment for employees, so check. If your employer pays for your insurance, you pay tax on it like your salary as it’s a ‘benefit in kind’, but this is still usually miles cheaper than paying it yourself.
Your employer or trade union or professional association may also offer voluntary schemes which you can pay to join, at prices lower than you can buy direct.
Buy dental insurance
Buying insurance is a good option. However, some insurance policies make you wait, say, three to six months before you can make a claim, so check carefully before signing on the dotted line.
Insurance plans cover general dental treatment, injuries and emergency work, plus serious oral diseases, however cosmetic dentistry is excluded, so don't expect your policy to pay for teeth whitening, porcelain veneers or dental implants.
Many dental insurance policies require you to pay something towards your treatment costs, say a quarter of all spending up to a limit of £500 a year. Also, as with private medical treatment, the cost of, and demand for, private dental treatment increases with age, so older people should be especially keen to double-check every policy.
Some policies will allow you to go to any dentist. But others restrict it to your own dentist, or just private dentists, or just NHS dentists.
Pay as you go
Private dentistry is not cheap. Some private dentists charge four times as much as an NHS dentist would for similar treatment.
About three-quarters of all private dental treatment is paid for on a cash basis, with the patient directly paying the dental practice, so most of us get by quite happily without insurance.
If you need regular treatment you should avoid it, as the cost can get high.
Self-insure
Regularly save rather than pay an insurer.
One sensible alternative to buying dental cover is to self-insure. Instead of paying £20 a month for dental insurance, put away the same amount in a high-interest savings account.
You can use this cash pot to pay for your treatment. As an added bonus, if you don't need any treatment, you get to hang on to your cash and the accrued interest.
It sounds good, but few of us have the discipline to ring-fence an amount for dental treatment. Inevitably, the month when you borrow from this pot to pay for a car repair or holiday is the month you get serious toothache.
Buy a health cash plan
Rather than buy a tailored dental insurance policy, you could cover some of the costs of private dental treatment with a healthcare cash plan.
Healthcare cash plans are a good low cost way to cover dental costs. So, if you pay for NHS or private treatments for a range of things, like osteopathy, hospital stays, dental or optical treatments, you can reclaim the cash up to set limits.
There are drawbacks. They pay only part of the cost. Some make you pay 50% or 25% of all treatment costs. All will have an annual and/or per treatment limit which is often way below current dental charges.
Buy a private medical insurance
Only the very expensive top of the range ones include dental insurance.
Go overseas
For major treatment consider going abroad
If you are in need of major private treatment for your teeth, costing thousands, it’s often much cheaper to reduce the cost with dental tourism. This means finding a dentist overseas who’ll charge a fraction of the cost.
Get cover through your dentist
Many dentists encourage private patients (especially new patients) to sign up to ‘capitation' plans, which spread the cost of your dental care over a year. The biggest provider of these schemes is Denplan, which has signed up a third of all UK dentists.
Here a dentist will inspect your teeth and place you in one of five categories. Basically, the worse your teeth are, the more work needs doing, so the higher price you pay.
Budget capitation plans are also available, which only cover routine and preventative work, such as examinations, hygiene treatment and x-rays, but not more expensive treatments.
The problem with capitation plans is that you're tied to a particular dentist and pay the same fixed amount (an average of £240 a year), regardless of how much treatment you actually receive. So, if your dental hygiene is good and you only see your dentist for occasional check-ups, these plans are poor value. These tend to be more expensive than dental insurance policies.
Featured providers
You can obtain details of the major providers of private dental insurance plans by selecting a dental insurance company from the list below.
Dencover
Dencover is designed to help you budget for the cost of your dental care and regular treatment without worrying about large bills. With simple entry criteria and and wide-ranging cover, Dencover provides dental plans for both private and NHS charges, as well as unexpected emergency treatment here or abroad.
Read more about this provider....
MoneySupermarket
Use the MoneySupermarket dental insurance finder to compare Dental Insurance policies and in some cases, apply online.
Get a dental insurance quote....
