Dental Savings Plans

By Kev Coleman Insurance Industry Expert & Author

Updated on May 22, 2023

Separating Fact from Fiction for Dental Discount Plans, Dental Discount Cards, & Discount Dental Programs

Dental savings plans, whether advertised as a "program" or a "card," have membership fees so low that it gives many a consumer hesitation because their prices seem "too good to be true." For example, there is one discount dental program (Careington 500) that charges only $8.85 a month. But what would such a small amount of money really buy? Is it fair to assume low-cost means low-quality?

We’ll answer those questions along with:

A dental savings plan is not insurance despite many people assuming it is. Instead, it is a fee-based membership program that allows enrollees to obtain dental services at discounted rates from a group of dentists who participate in the discount plan’s network. Over one hundred thousand dentists accept dental savings plan enrollees across the United States.

Dental Services Covered by Dental Savings Plans

A dental savings plan typically offers discounted prices for the same dentist services covered by comprehensive dental insurance. These services include:

Annual oral exams
Teeth cleanings
X-Rays
Amalgam fillings
Composite resin fillings (ie. white fillings)
Periodontal maintenance
Simple tooth extraction
Surgical tooth extraction
Root canal
Crown

In this way, a dental savings plan distinguishes itself for lost-cost insurance where only preventive or preventive and basic dental care is covered. Additionally, dental savings plans do not have waiting periods that delay access to expensive dental procedures.

Services Often Uncovered in Traditional Insurance May be Covered in a Savings Plan

One of the lesser known advantages of a dental savings plan is that the program may include discounts on services often uncovered by traditional dental plans. Examples of such services include:

Teeth whitening
Braces (adult as well as child)
Dental implant

The savings on these services alone may justify the cost of the discount plan.

The Rate of Discount for Participating Dentists

Price reductions for dental procedures vary by discount plan. Depending on the plan and the particular service, you may save 20 percent to 60 percent from a dentist’s retail prices. Dental costs are normally paid at the time of service unless the patient has worked our a payment arrangement with the dentist.

It should be noted that dental PPO plans, which is the most common form of dental coverage, often determine their out-of-pocket costs by charging an enrollees a percentage of the total cost of the service. For minor services like a filling, the percentage may be low such as 20 percent. For a major service such as a crown, the charge may be 50 percent of the service cost or higher.

The Difference between Discount Programs and Insurance

Aside from not being a form of insurance, discount programs have many differentiators from the majority of dental plans. For example, discount plans have:

No deductibles
No waiting periods
No maximum benefit limits on insurance spending
No restriction on the number of times a service may be used during a year

With respect to waiting periods, it is interesting to note that access to discounted dental services may be available in as little as two days after enrollment within the discount plan.

These features make discount plans especially appealing to consumers requiring immediate major dental work or who expect to have many procedures during the course of a year.

The Many Names of Dental Savings Plans

Dental savings plans have many names that refer to a similar value proposition. These names include:

Dental discount plan
Discount dental plan
Dental discount card
Discount dental program

What matters more than the name of the coverage are the:

Price reduction percentage
The location of the dentists (in other words, are they local and convenient to visit)
The services to which the discounts apply

Concluding Thoughts

Four percent of dental benefits are provided through dental savings plans, according to the American Student Dental Association (ASDA). Many industry watchers expect these discount plans to increase in popularity as product awareness increases, more dentists join these networks, and plan maximums on traditional dental insurance continue to resist growth.