Dental Implants Needed-any insurance out there?

[Marita40]

Fairly newly retired, off my employer’s Delta dental plan, and need two implants in the near future. I currently have no dental insurance. It was suggested to me that some insurance companies do cover implants, at least some of the cost, but I’m having a hard time finding any. I’m wondering if anyone here knows of any. Also, any advice on the best way to minimize costs? For example, I just learned that oral surgeons are less expensive than periodontists for the work.
Thanks.

 

[Aerides]

Any dental insurance (employer or not) will have an annual cap on the spend, and that cap is well south of an implant. Most of them work as discount plans. Better off finding a good practice/surgeon, and negotiating or find one with a membership plan.

 

[Bamaman]

Many of the common dental insurance plans have relatively low maximum payouts--like my BCBS $1500 maximum per year. But again, the monthly premium is also low @ $33.

I like to say that implants are a dental racket. After a dentist "numbed" me, the procedure just took about 6 minutes, and I was back on the road. It was easier and quicker than a common cavity repair.

I originally had a tooth break off at the gum. An oral surgeon charged $850 to remove the root. Then he wanted $2,250 to do the implant, and another $850 to install the abutment a few months later. I would then go to my regular dentist to have a $850 crown installed. That's $4,800 total.

I asked my regular dentist why the cost was so high. He said our oral surgeons have a $450,000 full head MRI to pay for and their large support staff is expensive. (They were M.D. Oral Surgeons from an exclusive Medical School.)

I went to another city to get my implant for $999 plus $100 for a full head x-ray. The dentist just had two employees--low cost operatinn. My regular dentist later screwed in the abutment when I got the $850 crown, and my BCBS insurance paid their share.

When numerous implants are required to attach dentures, implants are a different deal. More skill and time would be required. It's not uncommon to hear of $20K to $30K procedures which is why so many people travel to Mexico, Turkey or Hungary--to save big $.

For a simple implant or two, I would certainly shop around.

 

[COcheesehead]

Negotiate a good cash price.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We looked into Dental Insurance and very few in any we looked at even covered implants. YMMV

 

[OldShooter]

Best price will be at a local university dental school clinic if you have such a thing available.

 

[momoftwo]

Retired 3 years. Had Delta dental thru work for many years and was very satisfied.
Looked around but ended up buying individual plans called Premium from Delta.
Not cheap, approx $120 monthly total for $2000/year coverage for us both
We have run the numbers and found that for our dental needs, we've come out ahead each year (unfortunately).

We each have 2 cleanings, 1set of exrays covered 100%. Fillings, crowns, implants etc covered 50%. Non-emergent work we plan around what's left in that years max. Even if we exceed the yearly max coverage, any work over performed is at the negotiated price which is a substantial savings.
A crown costs us $477 out pocket or twice that if over maximum.

I imagine for people with sturdier teeth a plan like ours is not cost effective.

 

[Freedom56]

If you want to save on dental treatment without being a live experiment at a university dental school, look into Aetna Vital Savings. It costs $200 for a family per year. It is not insurance but you effectively get the insurance negotiated fees versus full dentist fees at your cost. You save on average 50-60% versus full dentist fees.

The site below will tell you which dentists accept the plans

https://www.dentalplans.com/

 

[rodi]

Following this thread. My son will likely need implants in the next year since he had several molars removed when they removed his ameloblastoma tumor. Waiting for the jawbone to regrow before implants. Fortunately, his implants *might* be covered under medical insurance since the tooth loss was the result of a tumor surrounding his teeth.

 

[bobandsherry]

If you want to save on dental treatment without being a live experiment at a university dental school, look into Aetna Vital Savings. It costs $200 for a family per year. It is not insurance but you effectively get the insurance negotiated fees versus full dentist fees at your cost. You save on average 50-60% versus full dentist fees.

The site below will tell you which dentists accept the plans

https://www.dentalplans.com/

^^^ This ^^^. In addition they also offer Cigna. I use that as better negotiated rates for dentist I use.

 

[braumeister]

his implants *might* be covered under medical insurance since the tooth loss was the result of a tumor surrounding his teeth.

I think that is quite likely, since you would usually just have to show that it is "medically necessary". And you probably want an oral surgeon to be doing it, not a regular dentist, since they have more experience with that sort of insurance claim.

 

[camfused]

Re dental plans. I am leaning this way for us for next year, but I am worried that if we ever decide to go to regular insurance, they won't take us, since we were not "insured" in the prior X months. Am I right to be concerned about this?

BTW, leaning towards iDental Discount Plan by United Concordia.

 

[becca]

Our dental plan, Cigna, pays nothing for implants. I went to oral surgeon, he extracted what was left of the tooth and started the implant process....bone graft, I paid him $500 for this. He quoted me $5k to proceed. When I went back for a recheck he said I would need a sinus lift also...more $ in additional to the $5k. The missing tooth does not show (molar), I'm 70 yo, I decided to live without the tooth. Maybe considering a bridge at some point.

 

[grayv]

first, verify the networks of your dentist.

 

[athena53]

Re dental plans. I am leaning this way for us for next year, but I am worried that if we ever decide to go to regular insurance, they won't take us, since we were not "insured" in the prior X months. Am I right to be concerned about this?

Plans vary, but I was unhappy to discover after I retired that most plans cover cleaning and maybe fillings only for the first 6-12 months. I get that they don't want someone waiting till they need a boatload of work to buy insurance but I'd had coverage for decades through employer plans and had been getting regular care. So, if you decide to go with a traditional indemnity plan, it may not matter whether you had a previous indemnity plan or a discount plan, or any coverage at all.

The limited coverage the plans initially provide plus the cap on what they'll pay in a year were deal-breakers for me. I'm also VERY happy with my oral surgeon and my dentist- I don't want to go searching for someone within a network. Too much can go wrong with implants. My dentist had one patient whose in-network oral surgeon put in the implant just a teensy bit "tilted". I have no idea how one compensates for that when putting in the abutment.

 

[swakyaby]

Re dental plans. I am leaning this way for us for next year, but I am worried that if we ever decide to go to regular insurance, they won't take us, since we were not "insured" in the prior X months. Am I right to be concerned about this?.

When I retired and switched from employer dental insurance to Blue Cross dental insurance, the default assumption is that you had no prior dental insurance and there would be a waiting period of, say, 6 months for fillings and 1 year for crowns. But if you contact the new insurance and provide proof of prior coverage and include proof of major dental coverage beyond the basics, then all waiting periods became waived.

 

[swakyaby]

My dental insurance only covers 50% of a dental crown to a maximum of $1,000 and other insurances have a maximum of $1,500 for a crown. So DH will limit his crown work to one a year, if he can wait that long.

 

[momoftwo]

When we switched from employer Delta dental to individual DD, there was no waiting period for fillings/crowns etc.
In addition, they waived the yearly $100 deductible.

 

[athena53]

When I retired and switched from employer dental insurance to Blue Cross dental insurance, the default assumption is that you had no prior dental insurance and there would be a waiting period of, say, 6 months for fillings and 1 year for crowns. But if you contact the new insurance and provide proof of prior coverage and include proof of major dental coverage beyond the basics, then all waiting periods became waived.

Thanks- I never saw any mention of this provision but it would certainly be helpful.

 

[OldShooter]

... being a live experiment at a university dental school ...

I find that quite preferable to hiring a commissioned salesperson whose skills I cannot evaluate, whose continuing education status is unknown, and who has no independent quality control over his work.

 

[Car-Guy]

At my age, and needing multiple implants, I'm wondering if dentures aren't a reasonable option.

 

[swakyaby]

Thanks- I never saw any mention of this provision but it would certainly be helpful.

I learned this by calling the new insurer directly and inquiring about the waiting period. They confirmed that they would waive the 1 year waiting period for crowns and the 6 month waiting period for fillings if I could provide not only proof of continuous dental coverage, but also the description of benefits for my plan that included coverage for major dental work.

 

[athena53]

At my age, and needing multiple implants, I'm wondering if dentures aren't a reasonable option.

Do some research. I have no personal experience with dentures but they're a whole different ball game. From what I've read, when you have dentures your jawbone eventually shrinks away because it's not stimulated by the movement of teeth when you chew. This means you need new ones periodically and over time there's less jawbone to hold them up. I had a friend who had dentures and used mass quantities of Poli-Grip to keep them in, and occasionally I've run across people whose dentures "clack" as they speak because they're slipping. I have no idea how much dentures restrict the food you can eat.

It may be that the people who have the most problems got theirs from places that advertise on the billboards I see on I-70 in MO- they claim they'll make them for $99 each (upper and lower priced separately), cash price.

 

[W2R]

I was able to negotiate a 15% discount since I didn't have insurance.

All in all, my 4, or was it 5(?) implants have provided a big improvement in quality of life, so to me they were worth the $$$$.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Fairly newly retired, off my employer’s Delta dental plan, and need two implants in the near future. I currently have no dental insurance. It was suggested to me that some insurance companies do cover implants, at least some of the cost, but I’m having a hard time finding any. I’m wondering if anyone here knows of any. Also, any advice on the best way to minimize costs? For example, I just learned that oral surgeons are less expensive than periodontists for the work.
Thanks.

I had an implant a few years ago and it was not terribly expensive and covered at least partially by my insurance which was the Hawaii franchise of Delta Dental.

For me the costs were about $400 for an extraction which was mostly covered, then about $1200 for the implant prep, then just a couple of hundred for implant installation. Then I needed a crown from my dentist which was covered like a normal crown. I don't remember how much of the implant prep was covered. This was for a visible tooth.

I have a missing tooth toward the back that cannot be seen. I lost it 20+ years ago after an incompetent dentist botched a crown. After getting the one I had done and found out the process was pretty simple and painless I asked my current dentist if I should get an implant. (He does not do them.) He told me he has been missing the same tooth for over 20 years and does not miss it so I should only consider getting an implant if I miss it.

My work was done by a facial surgeon (MD) so may have been partially covered by regular health insurance.

Sorry I can't help you with insurance specifics for your situation. I can assure you that the process is not too bad or painful. It also took about a year for all the steps so you might be able to get the costs split over 2 plan years to get more covered. There are 3 month waits between extraction, implant prep, and installation. In my case when they tried to do the implant prep they could not get the screw to hold in my bone so they had to do a bone graft which added 3 months. Not a big deal and no pain at all and did not add to the cost.

Also realize that many dental plans have greater coverage if you have underlying health conditions like diabetes or heart disease.