Definition: A dental insurance waiting period is a time period in which the dental insurance company will not pay for certain procedures. The dental insurance company chooses to use a waiting period so potential customers are not just buying dental insurance only when they have piled up a lot of dental procedures that they want to get covered and then later just drop the dental insurance after the dental insurance policy has expired.
A dental insurance waiting period can also be used as a way to curb dental insurance costs. The longer the dental insurance waiting period, the lower the dental insurance premium will be. There are other things to consider when choosing a dental insurance plan with a dental insurance waiting period:
Dental Insurance Waiting Periods:
are usually specific to certain procedures and not routine care
- dental insurance waiting periods vary depending on the company
- not all dental insurance companies have a dental insurance waiting period
- often employer based dental insurance does not have a waiting period
- sometimes one will pay more in premium than they would have paid for the procedure by the time the dental insurance waiting period is over
- if a dental procedure is required that is in a dental insurance waiting period, sometimes a dentist will give a cash discount or consider payment plans
Examples:
Joan needed a crown. She contacted her dental insurance company to see what coverage she had for the procedure. Her insurance company said that she did not have any coverage for that procedure since she only had her dental insurance for 3 months and any crown procedures had a 6 month dental insurance waiting period.
