You can insure yourself for anything – there are also many supplementary insurances in the health sector, such as supplementary dental insurance. But when does it make sense to have additional dental insurance?
Why is additional dental insurance useful?
Supplementary dental insurance is often useful, as the statutory health insurance does not cover the costs of many treatments at the dentist. You must pay for high-quality services that are not included in the catalog of services provided by the statutory health insurance. With “high-quality measures” we mean plastic fillings or complex root treatments. In most cases, professional teeth cleaning is also a 100% private service. If you need dentures, the costs that you must pay out of pocket are often significantly higher.
Dental insurance protects you from those excessive costs. Compared to statutory health insurance, it covers significantly more treatment costs. Prophylactic measures such as tooth cleaning, but also high-quality measures such as expensive dentures outside of standard care, are fully reimbursed 100% or subsidized with at least 80%. Especially indentures, private insurance offers noticeable financial relief in the worst-case scenario.
Our dental experts have made it their business to offer patients additional dental insurance that offers all-round advantages:
- 100% reimbursement within the standard supply
- General anesthesia included
- Free choice of dentist
- No one-is-cheaper-guarantee
A big plus point: Supplementary dental insurance pays out, even if the statutory health insurance does not pay at all. Supplementary insurance also supports you if you decide on implants or inlays. Supplementary insurance enables patients to take advantage of high-quality care and then enjoy good chewing comfort.
The statutory health insurance companies often only cover part of the costs
The statutory health insurances have a fixed catalog of benefits. 100% of the costs for treatments listed in this catalog of services are covered.
Statutory health insurance benefits briefly:
- Amalgam fillings in the posterior area
- simple plastic fillings on the front teeth
- Metal crowns in the posterior area
- partially veneered crowns in the anterior area
- simple root canal treatments without additional services (such as electrical length determination, additional rinsing, and disinfection of the root canals)
- simple clasp prostheses
- in rare cases: dentures with double crowns
They cover these costs for tooth-preserving treatments
For tooth-preserving treatments, there is usually a cash benefit, which means: The statutory health insurance pays part of the treatment costs with tooth preservation if you choose the option suggested by the health insurance company.
The till filling in the posterior area is, for example, an amalgam filling. If you want a tooth-colored filling, you must pay the additional costs out of pocket. Other treatments, such as professional teeth cleaning, are not even included in the service catalog. Insured persons must pay for this completely privately.
Standard care: it covers these costs for dentures
With planned dentures, the health insurance company only pays part of the costs.
There are certain dental prosthesis measures that the statutory health insurance fund suggests and the costs of which it bears, the so-called “standard care”. This dental prosthesis is described as “appropriate, sufficient and economical “, and the costs for this standard care covers about 50% of the health insurance. If you have a complete bonus booklet, it will take over another 20-30% of the remaining 50% that you must pay yourself. But: you always end up paying some costs.
Dental prostheses are useful, sufficient, and economical if, for example, with crowns and bridges, they are played only by the visible side of the teeth veneers with white ceramic and metal crowns in the non-visible posterior areas. Ceramic crowns in the non-visible area no longer correspond to the standard care, so the additional costs are reimbursed by the health insurance.
They cover these costs for implants and prostheses
In contrast to crowns and bridges, the implants are not paid for by statutory insurance. If you choose implants, you will only receive the grant that you would have received for a bridge.
If you need a prosthesis, the health insurance will reimburse the cost of a simple clamp prosthesis. Mostly, higher-quality solutions bill to you privately.
For whom does private dental insurance make sense?
Not everyone needs additional dental insurance, but it still makes sense for most patients.
Supplementary dental insurance is useful if you are expecting dental problems
Especially for your teeth, you can easily assess the individual risk yourself: Are your parents already suffering from dental problems? Then it is likely that you too will suffer from similar symptoms at some point. Genetic factors often have a major impact on oral health.
Dental insurance makes sense if you treat often
Supplementary dental insurance is also useful for patients who already have many fillings, teeth that have been treated with root canals or old crowns. The likelihood is high that more expensive treatments will follow on these teeth. If you want a high quality, tooth-colored solution, it can be expensive. Supplementary insurance can protect you against these costs.
Supplementary dental insurance is useful if you value aesthetics and regular teeth cleaning
Do you already know that you have outrageous demands on chewing comfort and aesthetics? Do you already have professional teeth cleaning twice a year? Aesthetic restoration can be awfully expensive, professional teeth cleaning often cost over 100 euros. Bearing these costs can quickly become a burden, which is why private dental insurance is worthwhile in this case too.