... by paying a monthly or annual premium. If during the insurance coverage period, the individual incurs costs on dental treatment, then the insurance company reimburses that costs to the individual.

There are a variety of dental insurance plans available in the market. A search on the internet will give hundreds of results. It is easy to get confused with so many options. However there are basic principles of insurance which when applied can reduce the overall costs to the individual. Some of them are explained below.

Deductibles. When you take dental treatment while under the coverage of a dental insurance plan, you can claim the bill from the insurance company. The company will deduct the deductible and pay the rest to you. Deductible is predefined, so choose a dental insurance plan giving due thought to deductible. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium.

Co-insurance. Co-insurance is the percentage of the dental costs that you will pay and the rest is paid by the insurance company. The higher the co-insurance the lower is the premium.

Individual dental insurance plans are available to individuals only and not through employers, hence they tend to be expensive. If you are a frequent visitor to the dentist, then keep co-insurance and deductibles low, but if you are an occasional visitor, select a plan which has co-insurance and deductibles on the higher side and premium on the lower side.

Individual dental insurance plans are available to lawyers, artists, writers, software freelance programmers, small businessmen, self-employed etc.