Your First Dental Insurance Plan: What to Know

Posted on October 22, 2025 in Insurance

Key takeaways about selecting dental benefits for the first time:

• Your first dental insurance plan helps you build lifelong habits and maintain oral health.
• Dental insurance includes fully covered preventive care and reduced costs for common procedures, helping you manage expenses and avoid financial surprises.
• Not all treatments are covered, and not all dentists accept every plan. Knowing details like these helps you make the most of your benefits.

When you’re an adult, you have the responsibility to make the important decisions about your health. Deciding to enroll in a dental insurance plan is one of these decisions, and a step in taking care of your oral health.

Once you have enrolled in your dental insurance plan, it’s time to make a plan to ensure you take full advantage of your new benefits.

Why your dental insurance matters

Dental insurance plays an important role in maintaining oral health and supporting overall well-being. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

• People with dental insurance are more likely to receive regular oral health care.
• Preventive dental visits can help with the early detection of oral health diseases, injuries, and nutrition-related problems.
• Poor oral health is associated with a range of other health issues.

Even if you have great oral health now, having regular dental check-ups helps maintain good habits and health.

Your dental insurance plan can help you save money

The best way to get the full value out of your dental insurance is to take advantage of all its benefits. Dental insurance helps you save money by covering the cost of preventive care, such as cleanings, exams, and x-rays. Most plans cover these services in full as a feature designed to help detect issues early and prevent more costly treatments in the future.

Pro tip: You can’t take advantage of your insurance benefits if you don’t go to your dental check-ups. Be sure to schedule and go to your appointments!

Your dental insurance plan will also help reduce the cost of common procedures, such as a filling or extraction. These treatments can cost hundreds of dollars without insurance, which could be a strain on your wallet. Dental insurance typically covers between 50 to 80 percent of the cost of these procedures, depending on your plan.

Because dental plans help limit out-of-pocket expenses, they also make budgeting easier. By becoming familiar with your deductibles, copays, and annual maximums, you can better predict and manage your dental spending.

Your dental insurance plan may not cover everything

A common misconception about dental insurance is that it will fully or partially cover all dental treatments. Like health insurance, most dental plans don’t cover procedures that are considered cosmetic or aren’t deemed medically necessary.

Pro tip: It’s a good idea to review your dental insurance plan’s coverage carefully because some plans may offer partial coverage for cosmetic procedures.

Procedures your first dental insurance plan may not cover include:

• Cosmetic procedures
  • Treatments like teeth whitening and veneers may be excluded. These are considered elective procedures and not medically necessary, so insurers don’t include them in standard coverage.
• Adult orthodontics
  • Braces and other orthodontic treatments are often not fully covered for adults, or may be only partially covered for children. These are seen as corrective rather than essential, and coverage varies widely by plan.
• Dental implants
  • Implants are frequently classified as cosmetic or elective, even though they serve a functional purpose. Some plans may cover parts of the procedure (like the post or abutment), but not the full cost.

If you have questions about your coverage, reach out to your dental insurance company’s customer experience team before starting a treatment. They can help you understand what additional costs you could expect from a procedure.

Not every dentist may accept your dental insurance plan

Another common misconception about dental insurance plans is that all dentists accept all insurance providers. In reality, acceptance varies, and not every dentist is in-network. If you have a dentist you prefer to see, be sure to confirm whether they accept your dental insurance before you enroll in it.

Feel confident in your investment

Having dental insurance can help you feel more confident in your health and finances by reducing the stress of unexpected dental costs, giving you peace of mind that you’re covered if something goes wrong.