Finding the right dental insurance to cover fillings and your specific needs can be tricky. You need to know even if the dental insurance you purchase covers fillings, then how much a filling will cost, or what percentage of the filling you will have to pay, and how long your dental insurance needs to be in place before your dental insurance will cover fillings.
Dental insurance will cover fillings, but what is the right dental insurance that covers as much of the cost of the fillings as possible. You will want to find a dental insurance plan that has first-day coverage (no waiting periods) for preventive, basic, and major services.
This article will cover what you need to know to find the best dental insurance for your needs to cover fillings and other dental work you need with first-day (no waiting period) coverage. It will also help you find a plan that will pay the most of your dental procedures to keep as much money in your pocket as possible.
What to Know About Dental Insurance that Covers Fillings
Finding dental insurance that will cover your fillings is not hard at all when using an expert dental insurance agent. Almost all dental insurance will cover fillings. The answers you need to know are how much will I have to pay for my filling(s), and how long does my insurance needs to be in effect before my dental insurance will pay.
When searching for the right dental plan to cover fillings, you need to be careful of the fine print because some plans won’t cover fillings at all. Also, look to see if the plan has a waiting period to cover fillings (avoid plans with waiting periods for fillings). Many plans don’t cover fillings and some may have a 3 to 6 month waiting period just to have fillings covered. Here is an example of a plan that only covers preventative services and not fillings. This plan doesn’t cover any basic services (fillings), or major services either. This plan is from a major insurance company. This plan that doesn’t cover fillings or major services is $23.00 per month. We have plans that do cover preventative, basic, and major services all on the first day of coverage and are just under $25 per month.
Plan Without Coverage for Fillings
How Much Does Insurance Pay For a Filling?
A good dental PPO (DPPO) insurance plan should pay at least 50% of the cost of a filing on the very first day of coverage. A good Dental HMO insurance plan should have a fixed copay at most of $40 for each filling. For a quick review, a DPPO plan, in general, has a large network of providers you can see, deductibles, coinsurance, waiting periods, and annual maximums (we search for the best plans and most of our plans have no waiting periods). A DHMO plan, in general, has a smaller local network of providers you must see for coverage. They should have $0 deductibles, no annual maximums, and no waiting periods. If you have a DHMO plan or are looking at one that doesn’t have these minimum coverages, again you should be contacting us at 800-910-3382.
How Much Do Dental Fillings Cost?
A dental filling usually costs between the range of $125 to $182. Your exact cost will obviously depend on your area and the dental provider you choose. This is the price you would receive without any discounts from your dentist or receiving any cost-sharing or discounts from your insurance. This price will give you a good idea to start to base how much your insurance will pay. If you have an average DPPO dental plan, the gross cost for a filling should be in the range of $100. Now you can figure out how much you will owe for the filling by applying the cost-sharing of your dental insurance plan. I have talked about waiting periods in other blogs and there is very little reason to buy a dental insurance plan that has any waiting periods for fillings and most other services. There are many dental plans that have 6 month waiting periods just to get a filling. All of the plans from many different companies we provide have no waiting periods for fillings. The plans with no waiting periods are, in general, a few dollars a month cheaper than the plans with waiting periods. If you just bought or can only find a dental insurance plan with waiting periods, it is a good idea to give us a call or fill out our contact form so we can get you help.
How Much will DHMO Dental Insurance Pay for A Filling?
If you have a DHMO plan your plan should pay all costs except your fixed copay amount. What your copay is easy to figure out. You just need a digital copy of the evidence of coverage from your plan, have the billing specialist provide you the dental code, and simply look it up in the chart. Here is the evidence of coverage https://trustedbenefitsdirect.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Blue-Shield-of-CA-Dental-Evidence-of-Coverage.pdf
from our best DHMO plan that is available in California. For a filling, the dental code is from D2140 and D2394. The filling most people receive is from dental code D2150. This is an amalgam filling with two surfaces. If you have this plan and the dentist wants to give you a filling. You ask for the code of your procedure and you can look up your copay. You can see the copay on this plan is $18. This is also an excellent way to double-check that your dentist is billing you correctly.
It is our job to do all of the research for you in advance to help you find the exact right dental plan for your exact needs. Many times we have spouses on different dental plans with different companies, because their needs are different. Remember, all of our services are free and the prices are the exact same whether you use our service or go directly to the insurance company.
How Much will DPPO Dental Insurance Pay for A Filling?
If you have a DPPO plan, your plan will pay a fixed percentage of the lowered negotiated cost and you will pay the rest. For example, if the lowered negotiated cost for a filling is $100, and your plan play 90% of the cost. You are responsible for 10% or $10 in this example. To know how much percentage your plan pays and how much you are responsible to pay is easy to figure out as well. In general, you will only need a summary of the benefits of your specific plan. The trick is to find out how much the lowered negotiated cost of the filling is from your dentist. This can also be called usual, reasonable, and customary. The dentist should be able to tell you this price and you can apply the percentages to learn what your cost will be. When your dentist gives you the costs, I suggest contacting your insurance company to make sure they are billing it correctly. Mistakes happen.
GIve us a call, 800-910-3382 so we can compare the best plans that are available to you in your specific area.
Best Insurance Plans to Pay for Fillings
The best insurance plans to cover fillings are those with first-day coverage and no waiting periods. Many of the Google searches you will do will give headlines for “no waiting period dental insurance.” Do a Google search for “no waiting period dental insurance.” You will find the top search results after the advertisements for something similar to this.
It is easy to start to think that a plan like this will have no waiting periods for all services. If you dig a little deeper you will see the plan has waiting periods for basic restorative services. Fillings are considered basic restorative services.
No Reason to Buy Dental Insurance With Waiting Periods
We shop all of the plans that are available, and there are very little or no reasons to buy a dental insurance plan with waiting periods on fillings. Fillings, at least in my opinion, are basic needs to achieve the best oral care. Also, correct oral care is the gateway to the overall health of the rest of our bodies. If you buy a dental insurance plan you should never have a waiting period even if it is as little as 3 months in order to get a filling. All the plans we recommend have no waiting periods for exams, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, and simple extractions. During the first year of coverage, a PPO plan should at least pay 50% of the bill for fillings. We have plans to pay up to 80% of fillings on the first day of coverage and 90% of fillings after having the policy in force for only 1 year.
How Much Should Good PPO Dental Insurance Cost?
Good PPO dental insurance should cost about $60 a month or less. Here are the minimums you should be getting for your coverage. First of all, you should have no waitings periods for services like exams, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, extractions, root canals, crowns, and deep cleanings. The plan should at least have a network of 90,000 PPO providers and a $100 deductible. During the first year, the plan should cover a minimum of 50% for basic services (example: Exams, Cleanings, X-Rays, fillings) during the first year of coverage and increase starting the second year. Major services like root canals, crowns, deep cleanings, and more should have at least 10% coverage for the first year of coverage and increase to at least 50% for the second year of coverage and thereafter. In addition, the plans may cover hearing aids and have the option to add vision coverage as well.
How Much Should Good HMO Dental Insurance Cost?
Good HMO dental insurance should cost about $30 a month or less. We have plans available starting at less than $15 a month depending on the area of the country you live in. It should also have no waiting periods for all services except orthodontics. A good DHMO plan should not have any deductibles or annual maximums. In general, an office copay should be $20 or less. Exams should have a copay of less than $10 and cleanings should have a fixed copay of about $20.
Fillings should have a copay of around $60 or less, a Tooth removal copay should be around $230, and a root canal copay should be around $400. There should also be first-day coverage for dentures. Ideally, the plan should cover implants, however, it is difficult to find many DHMO plans around the country that cover implants. We do have DPPO plans that cover implants and we have plans available that do so on the first day of coverage.
Key Takeaways of Does Dental Insurance Cover Fillings
- A dental insurance expert can help you find the right insurance for you free of charge.
- Dental insurance advertised as no waiting period may have a waiting period for fillings and other services (be careful).
- Good dental insurance shouldn’t have waiting periods for fillings.
- A good dental PPO plan should be about $60 per month.
- A good dental HMO plan should be no more than $25 per month.
- The deductible for a dental PPO plan should be $100 or less.
- A good dental HMO plan should have no deductible ($0 deductible).
- A good dental PPO plan should have at least 50% coverage for a filling on the first day.
- A dental HMO plan should have a copay for a filling of $60 at the most.
- When your dentist gives you an estimate, check that it is consistent with what your insurance says it will cost. Mistakes Happen!