I was just doing some research and found out that apart from cleaning and regular check ups our dental plan doesn't cover much. I want to get rid of my wisdom teeth (i just got them!) and found out that our plan doesn't cover nitrous gas, only syringe anesthesia which doesn't help at all with impacted teeth. Plus the yearly max is $1000 which will be reached easily with the removal of 3 (I only have 3) impacted wisdom teeth. Later this year I wanted to exchange a crown which I got thankfully to a malpractice of a former dentist, grrrr. But I just calculated that this wouldn't be covered at all.
Now my question: is there any plan at all that covers anything beyond check-ups????? Or can I just renounce on the plan anyway? My preferred dentist is not in their list and I came to the conclusion to pay everything out of my pocket anyway (though I can file a claim, but they told me it is uncertain if they pay me any cent at all).....

I am happy about input

I really hear you on this. Our dental plan has a maximum of $1000 as well and will only pay a maximumof 80% on covered procedures with an approved provider. Unfortunately, there are very few approved providers in our area (in fact, none that I could locate when I phoned around) and the only ones listed on their website are over an hour's drive away. Well, I had a dental emergency a year ago February when an incisor fractured. I had no choice but to get treatment and crown for the tooth. Since the one next to it had had a root canal some years ago it was very fragile as well and they talked me into getting that one crowned at the same time. They told me that they did accept our insurance - but neglected to tell me that they were not on the approved coverage so we ended up having to pay a significantly greater amount of the bill. The $1000 was maxed out very quickly and we ended up with a bill for $1600 on top of that!

Good luck in finding a good and inexpensive dental plan in the US- personally, I don't believe they exist.

I can feel you, Most dental plan won't pay for a lot of stuff, specially with the HMO kind, I was with Delta Dental, Delta PMI. But there's a way to go around that. Right now it might be too late but it's something to keep in mind for the future. There's a Benefit at the workplace call

FSA
Flexible spending account: what it does, you set x amount of funds in there for the year. The Danger with that plan is USE IT OR LOSE IT. So if you know there are some major work you are going to do for the year, you can get a quote, then at open enrollment, set up that amount into your FSA account. So early on in the hear, have the Dental/Medical work done, then right away fill out your FSA reimbursement
AND VOILA

You have FREE Service, and FSA funds is not considered part of your income, as it's deducted from your paycheck on a pretax basis.

The best part of it, If you leave the company you don't have to return that fund.
An example

Set $2000 for the year
In March use $1900 plus leave $100 in case of emergency for the rest of the year. So if you lose or quite your Job, in February that's $1900 is yours to keep. FREE SERVICE. I hope that help

I believe strongly in any dental insurance at all. Andre came here from Jamaica in June of last year and had never seen a dentist. Since then, he has had a cleaning, 3 wisdom teeth pulled out (one which was impacted) and a filling. We opted for the nitrous oxide because of his reluctance to go in the first place-knowing we would have to pay for it. All in all, our out of pocket was only a little over $200 for all of it.

Dental isurance is usually pretty bad, in general. I still say opt for any if you can.

Thanks for your answers. I thought of a flexible spending account as well. Fortunately, my case is not urgent (I consulted with the dentist who btw does not offer nitrous gas!!!!), for now the wisdom teeth stopped pushing which means it bought me some time (nasty buggers by the way, though would never get them, now they come so late!!!!). We'll move soon and I will finally be able to get a job (where I am right now is no need for my expertise but in CA yeah it'll work) and open up a savings account. Hubbie is about to find out if he was accepted at officer training school for the Air Force (May 18) and if yes we also have to look into their plans, but I doubt that Tricare is that great. Anyway, since we'll be living at my mother-in-law's place we won't be spending much money and will be able to quickly save about $10.000 til the end of September which should be sufficient!!!!
I will keep a dental insurance for clean-ups etc, but I have to talk to my chosen dentist in San Francisco which insurance he works with (of course I will choose that one)!!!!
I am very picky about dentists since I encountered a malpractice before, and I must say some of the Delta dentists in my area (if you google them) even have ongoing lawsuits because of such reasons!!! I am willing to pay, but the dental insurance should be called "we cover check ups and cleanings only insurance"!

I hear you all about dental insurance. We too have $1000/person maximum benefit. I just wish there's a plan that will help pay for braces. Both our boys need it and the estimate for one is already at $5000++

Most medical insurances will cover wisdom teeth.

And yes, dental insurance sucks.

When I was a federal employee, the dental insurance plan covered practically nothing....no exaggeration. The limits were things like $18 for a crown, to give an example. Eventually, I dropped the insurance entirely because the premiums were more than the maximum possible benefit.

@ meomix: yeah they cover wisdom teeth, but I need to get rid of all my 3 (have only 3), and two are impacted, and the total costs is more than the yearly maximum, also they do not cover anesthesia so that I have to pay for the nitrous gas and the doctor who administers it - which is frankly expensive!!!!

@akdiver: I will do some calculations. A cleaning twice a year and a check up probably won't be as much as the premium, especially since most insurances don't work with the doctors I work with. So maybe dropping at all might be a good idea.

You MEDICAL insurance doesn't cover it? My brother just got his out and it was almost fully covered. On my medical, it's partially covered. I'm not talking about DENTAL. If the cost of the wisdom teeth is more than your yearly maximum on regular health insurance AND it doesn't cover anesthesia, I'd find new insurance because what happens if you need surgery? Cut your leg off with no anesthesia?

How is it FREE SERVICE when you are taking the pretax money away from your paycheck and setting it aside for the service? Admittedly you're getting it at a discount because you save the 30% or so of taxes but it's still not free.

I would double check your MEDICAL insurance like the person above me said. Normally they cover impacted wisdom teeth. I had all four of mine impacted taken out with day surgery at a hospital and it was all covered by my Medical insurance.

Now you're getting me worried
My current medical covers everything (vision, dental included) and in most cases pays out 100% of all costs. Birth of child or adoption you get around 1200 Euros. If you have to go to the hospital for more than two days you just contact them in advance and they take care of everything!
For dental alone each year I have 7,500 Euros to spend (they just started with this this year). Now I'm scheduling to have all necessary dental work done while I am still in Bosnia and with my company.

How will I ever find this good medical benefits with an American company
And when we talk about the benefits we get 16 days of paid holidays plus 32 working days (6 weeks) paid vacation - which can be rolled over to next year (last date to use it Dec. 31st).

I'm gonna miss my current job!

My medical covers oral surgery, but the removal of wisdom teeth (even impacted) is not considered to be oral surgery by my medical (United, called them). So the Dental has to cover for it and they explicitly do not cover anesthesia with nitrous gas - even if it is needed and/or recommended. So no good luck here... That's why I'll wait until September and take matters in my own hands.

@ milimelo: Do what you can in your country, I have the impression all dental insurances have a 1000-1500 Dollar per year maximum, so you should always save money in case you need something done!

Are you gonna pull 'em yourself???

Oh god noooooo! I am saving enough money to pay for it without making debts!!!! And choosing a dentist of my choice and non in-network doctor!

Man, I knew there was a reason I didn't want to go with United. Good luck!

What do I MEANT BY FREE SERVICE

Let say you have to pay $3000 from your pocket for some medical work that's not covered by your insurance company.
This is money you would have to pay ANYWAY. by using your FSA you get to use that money TAX FREE. pretty much you get to a break even point. cost 3000, paid 3000. The benefit now your income for the year is reduced by $3000.

It may not fit everybody's needs but good piece of advice

It's still not a free service. That money that this person did not pay in taxes is money that the government will have to borrow to pay its expenses. All tax payers share in this added expense. So really, this person has just shifted their tax burden on to all the other tax payers. That's fine, that's legal, that's certainly what I would do given the chance, but let's call it what it is. There is no free lunch involved.

Cheers!
AKDiver

What happens if your dentist can't remove the tooth and you need a general anaesthetic? Does it then come under medical insurance?

I recently had a wisdom tooth removed in the UK. The dentist attempted to remove it with only local anaesthetic but it wasn't budging. I was booked into the local hospital's day surgery unit and they removed it under general anaesthetic. It was a massively better experience and if I had any other wisdom teeth left I'd have them all removed that way.

Well in the case of the OP's insurance I'd say that's when the doc breaks out the bottle of Vodka and gives it to you.

In that case it would be covered by my health plan since it would become an oral surgery. But their opinion on wisdom teeth removals was made pretty clearly to me on the phone: that's never gonna happen. E.i. nope whatever it takes, get through it.
So I end up paying for it besides having a health plan and dental.