Introduction
Dental health is an integral part of our overall health. It is a significant factor in how healthy we are. But it can be hard to maintain good dental health when we are always on the go and living a fast-paced lifestyle. A good dental insurance plan can ensure access to regular, high-quality care.
What is Dental Insurance?
Dental insurance is a type of insurance that helps pay for dental care. A dental insurance policy may cover preventive care, such as routine cleanings and checkups, and more extensive treatments, such as fillings, crowns, and root canals. Some policies even offer coverage for orthodontic work and cosmetic procedures like teeth whitening or veneers.
It is essential to note that most dental insurance includes a waiting period. The waiting period prevents people from only purchasing insurance when they have a medical need. Preventive care, such as cleaning and x-rays, is often available without a long wait. But most expensive procedures such as orthodontics and oral surgery include it. Sometimes, they last for two years.
The Best Dental Insurance Policies in Canada
Dental insurance is commonly sold as a part of health insurance policies. However, our focus will be on dental insurance.
Here is our list of prominent health and dental insurance companies:
Blue Cross Dental Insurance
Depending on your health needs, Blue Cross has three different health insurance packages, each of these offers add-ons for dental benefits:
- Entry
- Essential
- Enhanced
ENTRY: Blue Cross’ Entry Package includes the following to cater to your dental health:
- Dental Maintenance
- Dental Examinations
- Cleaning
- X-rays
- Fillings
ESSENTIAL: In addition to the Entry Package, Blue Cross’ Essential Package includes:
- Extractions and;
- Root Canals
ENHANCED: The Enhanced package adds:
- Periodontal Services
- Major dental
- Orthodontics – braces
Manulife Dental Insurance
Manulife packaged its dental insurance in the Flexcare Health and Dental Insurance policy. Like most policies, the cost of Manulife’s Flexcare varies based on the number of people covered, your age, and the type of coverage you bought.
These are Manulife’s health insurance that includes dental insurance:
- DentalPlus Basic
- DentalPlus Enhanced
- ComboPlus Starter
- ComboPlus Basic
- ComboPlus Enhanced
These policies cover:
- Dental Examinations
- Cleaning
- Scaling
- Polishing
- Fillings
- Extractions
SunLife Dental Insurance
SunLife packaged its dental insurance in three plans, varying in cost and coverage. These are the:
- Basic Plans
- Standard Plan
- Enhanced Plan
SunLife’s Basic Plan caters to preventive care such as:
- Dental examinations and diagnostic tests.
- X-rays
- Lab tests
- Fillings
- Scaling, and
- Extractions
The Standard Plan reimburses more of your preventive dental-care expenses than the Basic plan.
If you choose dental insurance with the Enhanced Plan, it covers preventative care, restorative care, and orthodontics – braces.
Desjardins Dental Insurance
Desjardins allows you to supplement your Basic or Enhanced Health Insurance Plan with dental coverage.
The basic dental maintenance plan only caters to preventive services, such as:
- Dental Examination
- Fillings
- X-rays
- Cleaning, among others.
In addition to the provisions of the basic plan, the Enhanced Plan includes:
- Extractions
- Periodontal Treatment
- Orthodontics
- Root Canals.
CAA Dental Insurance
CAA includes three dental insurance provisions in its health insurance policy that cater, in part or whole, to all your dental procedures.
CAA Dental 1 plan makes provisions for preventative treatment like:
- Dental Examination and Diagnosis
- Tests
- X-rays
- Lab Examination
- Fillings
- Scaling
- Extractions
In addition to what is covered in the Dental 1 plan, the Dental 2 plan reimburses more of your preventative dental-care expenditures.
The Dental 3 Plan is the most comprehensive, comprising preventive care, restorative treatment, and orthodontics (braces).
Canada Life Health Insurance
Like every dental insurance provider on this list, Canada Life includes dental insurance in its health insurance policies. However, a 3-month waiting period applies to all plans.
Currently, Canada Life has three health plans with dental insurance provisions.
- The Core Plan.
- The Core Plus Plan and
- The Elite Plan.
With the Core Plan, Canada Life caters to:
- Dental Examinations
- Cleaning
- Scalings
- Fillings.
In addition to this, the Core Plus Plan makes provisions for:
- Endodontics
- Periodontics
- Oral surgery
The Elite Plan, being the most comprehensive, adds:
- Crowns
- Bridges
- Dentures
Dental Insurance for Individuals in Canada
Having got an overview of what prominent dental insurance plans entail, let’s look at the details of some of the best options for individuals.
For comparison, we would assume a 22-year-old resident of Ontario, seeking basic dental insurance coverage and covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
For this individual:
- Blue Cross offers an insurance plan priced at $36.51. This package features the following:
- Preventive care coverage is at 80%.
- Coverage for basic health care at 50%.
- First-year coverage of $500.
- Second-year coverage is $1,000.
- $50 deductible.
- Manulife, however, offers three different options, as highlighted below:
- The first is the FlexCare DentalPlus Basic Plan, priced at $55.15, with the following features:
- Preventive care coverage is available for up to $750.
- The first year’s coverage is priced at about $575.
- Second-year coverage costs approximately $750 and
- Checkups are scheduled every nine months.
- The second option is the FlexCare ComboPlus Starter Plan. This promises:
- Preventive care coverage at 70% – Up to $400.
- And checkups are scheduled every nine months at $56.35. However, this is recommended for basic care only.
- The third plan is the FlexCare ComboPlus Basic Plan featuring:
- Preventive care coverage is at 80%. – Amounts up to $750
- Checkups are scheduled every nine months, all priced at $63.20.
It is a reasonably priced insurance policy. However, it excludes periodontics, endodontics, and oral surgery, and the level of coverage is rather limited.
- There’s also a comprehensive basic dental plan that is available for purchase. You can purchase in addition to your supplemental health insurance offered by Odyssey financial group under their Dental Care Plan 1 Basic policy. It promises good coverage levels with no deductible required. This policy is priced at $54.02 and provides:
- Preventive care coverage at 80%
- Coverage for basic health care at 80%.
- The first-year coverage at $500 and $1,000 for the second year of protection.
Conclusion
Insurance policies are always difficult to understand. Dental insurance, even more. At Best Insurance Online, we understand how difficult it can be to find the right dental insurance for you. We have a dedicated team of experts who are available to assist you. For more inquiries, call our toll-free hotline at +1 877-611-6722, request a call back, or email hello@bestinsuranceonline.ca.
There’s a free Insurance Quotes Calculator available at Insurance Direct Online, plus, the advisors there can provide you with more personalized insurance advice.
For further reference, please refer to our reviews on companies offer best life insurance Canada: Sun Life review, Manulife review, ivari review, CPP review, Foresters Financial review, and more.
