Self-employed, needs advice about dental insurance

April 26, 2004 3:34 PM

Anyone (in the US) have any suggestions/war stories for dental insurance? Self-employed now, gotta shell it out. And, um, what exactly constitutes a previously existing condition in your experience?
posted by gottabefunky to health (2 comments total)

I used ehealthinsurance.com recently to sign up for basic health insurance, and have been very happy with the results.

I believe they also offer dental insurance.

If you fill in the forms, they give you a price quote and send you detailed documents about the plan they are offering. You then can choose whether to accept it or not. And they offer major insurers--I ended up with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 4:47 PM on April 26, 2004

I am also self-employed, and after looking around decided that dental insurance is a rip-off unless you routinely need LOTS of dental work.

Most plans don't cover the entire cost of a visit, and after you add in the premiums you have to have a root canal and a new crown each year to come out ahead. I just pay the dentist the full price when I get the work done. By the way, just about every dentist will be happy to give you at least a 10% discount if you pay in full when the work is done... it's worth it to them to avoid the insurance hassle.
posted by Daddio at 2:32 PM on April 27, 2004