{"id":427,"date":"2020-10-16T11:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T11:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/?p=427"},"modified":"2020-11-16T11:19:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T11:19:47","slug":"dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"Dental Insurance Basics: What Does Your Plan Cover?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"dental insurance paperwork on dark wooden table \" class=\"wp-image-428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">About three-fourths of Americans currently have some form of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/new-patients.html#insurance\">dental insurance<\/a>, according to the National Association of Dental Plans. However, many people aren\u2019t quite sure exactly how dental insurance works. As a result, they might end up overpaying for the care they need, or even not getting that care at all. Here are some dental insurance basics to help you understand how your plan works and what kind of coverage you can expect. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dental Insurance Terms to Know<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, the technical-sounding language your insurance company uses can be confusing. To make understanding your policy a little bit easier, here are a few important terms you should know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Premium: <\/strong>What you must pay every month to qualify for coverage from your insurance.<\/li><li><strong>Deductible:<\/strong> What you have to pay before the insurance company steps in and starts covering your care.<\/li><li><strong>Annual maximum:<\/strong> The highest amount your insurance company will pay for your dental care during a given period (usually a calendar year).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 100-80-50 Rule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every dental insurance policy differs, but most of them follow a similar basic guideline in terms of which services are covered and to what extent. You can typically expect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Preventive and diagnostic care<\/strong>, including cleanings, x-rays, and oral cancer screenings, are typically 80-100% covered.<\/li><li><strong>Basic procedures<\/strong>, such as fillings and gum disease therapy, are usually covered at 70-80%.<\/li><li><strong>Major treatments<\/strong>, like root canal therapy and dental crowns, are generally only covered up to 50%.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the details of your individual plan, some services may fall under different categories and qualify for different amounts of coverage. Your dental team can help you review your specific policy to understand your complete list of benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Importance of Maximizing Your Dental Insurance Benefits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multiple studies indicate that most Americans with dental insurance leave almost $1,000 of benefits on the table at the end of each year. More often than not, any unused benefits disappear once the year ends. To prevent whatever you have left of your annual maximum from going to waste, schedule any necessary dental work before 2020 draws to a close. Plus, utilizing the preventive care you\u2019re entitled to can net you long-term savings. Regular checkups and cleanings can detect and treat oral health issues before they become larger, more expensive issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These basics should be enough to help you get an idea of how your dental insurance works and what it covers. However, if you\u2019re still unsure about some aspect of your plan, feel free to call your dentist\u2019s office. Their team should be more than happy to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/meet-the-dentist.html\">Dr. L. King Scott<\/a> is a dentist in West Monroe, LA with almost 40 years of dental experience. In addition to earning a Mastership with the Academy of General Dentistry, he has achieved its highest honor: the Lifelong Service and Recognition Award. His family practice accepts all major dental insurance plans and will file claims on your behalf. To learn more about making the most of your benefits, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/contact-us.html\">call<\/a> Dr. Scott\u2019s office at 318-325-4600.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About three-fourths of Americans currently have some form of dental insurance, according to the National Association of Dental Plans. However, many people aren\u2019t quite sure exactly how dental insurance works. As a result, they might end up overpaying for the care they need, or even not getting that care at all. Here are some dental [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dr. King Scott&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kingscott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"kingscott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kingscott\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7\"},\"headline\":\"Dental Insurance Basics: What Does Your Plan Cover?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":512,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7\"},\"description\":\"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":533},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. King Scott&#039;s Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7\",\"name\":\"kingscott\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"kingscott\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drkingscott.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/kingscott\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott","description":"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott","og_description":"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/","og_site_name":"Dr. King Scott&#039;s Blog","article_published_time":"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"kingscott","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"kingscott","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/"},"author":{"name":"kingscott","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7"},"headline":"Dental Insurance Basics: What Does Your Plan Cover?","datePublished":"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/"},"wordCount":512,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/","url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/","name":"Dental Insurance | What Does Dental Insurance Cover | Dr. L. King Scott","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-16T11:19:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-11-16T11:19:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7"},"description":"What services does your dental insurance plan cover? Here\u2019s a basic rundown of how dental insurance works and the coverage you can expect.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/dental-insurance-basics-what-does-your-plan-cover\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/AdobeStock_94425459__1561152104_69527.jpg","width":800,"height":533},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/","name":"Dr. King Scott&#039;s Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/7d01827443aacf0104f1a130ca86d5d7","name":"kingscott","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/78cdaa0bb2098a41b8a08e14a5dee404ab69a3798b50c5a3a22292226b07c8b8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"kingscott"},"url":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/author\/kingscott\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":429,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427\/revisions\/429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drkingscott.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}