It’s super fun and cool that dentistry is controlled by a cartel and we just let it happen out in the open. It is NOT insurance, because there is no risk pooling or coverage for adverse events. It’s just a payment plan that sets prices unilaterally.
1. I found that different Dental Insurance companies have wildly different negotiated rates and there is no real standard. Delta Dental tends to have better negotiated rates in my experience and United Healthcare's dental plans seem like they don't negotiate at all and using a specialized Dental company results in the lowest rates overall as the large health insurers are simply profiting off the insurance and don't seem to care how much they pay, which sucks when you pay a percentage for a procedure.
2. The totally covered population for dental insurance is not big enough to control the market. Generally, I found that when I wasn't covered by dental insurance, dental costs were a lot higher and you do generally receive a savings from dental insurance and they really don't have enough market share to control the market.
3. The coverage for adverse events is mostly just limited, because if you go to the dentist regularly, you generally don't have tons of adverse events within one year. I think most people will find a decent dental insurance plan will mostly cover them. Even if you exceed the negotiated rate,
I just find that in general having dental insurance is beneficial to me as a person and not a scam like vision insurance where you are generally better off finding a coupon or deal, or ridiculous like health insurance where they have manipulated the networks and deductibles so that the average person has no idea what they are buying or how to evaluate it.
My criticism of dental insurance would simply be that I think that policy holders should benefit from company negotiated rates under a policy even when a particular item isn't covered under their policy. I find that is the one area where dental insurance in general is lacking, because dental insurance takes the negotiation out of pricing and gives you the benefit of the companies negotiated rates.
I have Delta Dental through my employer’s benefits and it covers all the types of operations that I’d expect: preventive, endodontic, periodontic, orthodontic, prosthodontic, etc.
If I need a root canal, it’s covered by Delta Dental (up to a point, given the deductible). If I chip a tooth, and get an inlay or onlay, that is covered. Is this not insurance? Why not?