What Is a Dental Savings Plan?

A dental savings plan is a membership that offers discounts on dental care in exchange for an annual fee of around $100 to $200. Once you sign up and pay, you can print your membership card and visit an in-network dentist to get care at reduced rates. While that may sound similar to dental insurance, dental savings plans are much simpler. They don’t involve many of the typical components of insurance such as annual benefit limits, waiting periods, deductibles, claims, and reimbursements. 

How Dental Savings Plans Work

A variety of companies offer dental savings plans that can serve as an alternative or supplement to dental insurance. To sign up, you need to find a plan that suits your needs and pay the annual fee. You’ll then gain access to discounts from dental practices within the provider’s network. 

For example, the Aetna Vital Dental Savings plan requires you to pay an annual fee of $159.95. In exchange, you get discounts of 15% to 50% at more than 160,000 U.S. dental practices. Routine six-month checkups, for instance, are estimated to cost $105 without the plan and $34 with it. So, as a member, you’d pay $159.95 to start the plan and $34 when you go in for a routine checkup. 

What Is the Difference Between a Dental Savings Plan and Dental Insurance?

Dental savings plans and dental insurance policies serve the same purpose—they reduce the cost of dental care for patients. But beyond that, there are a few key differences. With dental savings plans, you pay the annual fee to access a schedule of discounts from in-network dentists. When you go in for a visit, you get the care you need and pay the dentist the discounted rates directly. 

With dental insurance, it’s more complex. You sign up for an annual policy, which gets broken down into monthly premium payments. Then, there are typically waiting periods for non-preventive services like fillings and root canals. You also usually have an annual deductible to pay before coverage begins, and you may still have to pay a coinsurance or copay out of pocket for the part of the cost that’s not covered. On top of that, you may have an annual limit on expenses the insurer will pay. 

As for the dental providers you can use, different insurance policy types have different rules. Dental health maintenance organizations (DHMOs) require you to see in-network dentists, while preferred provider organizations (PPOs) may offer reduced coverage for out-of-network dentists. Further, the dentist typically bills your insurance and then you receive a bill for the amount you owe. 

In exchange for these extra rules, dental insurance typically offers more coverage than dental savings plans. For example, dental insurance might fully cover the cost of preventive care like annual cleanings and screenings.  A dental savings plan would give you a discount, but you’d still need to pay every time you see a dentist. Dental savings plans usually cost less than dental insurance because they offer less coverage. A dental savings plan costs between $100 to $200 per year while dental insurance can cost up to $600 per year for an individual plan, depending on the amount of coverage.

Dr. Michael Gorlovsky, an orthodontist at Windermere Orthodontics in Suwanee, Georgia, said that insurance companies vary in terms of the services they cover and when copayments or waiting periods apply. To figure out what’s covered, when, and in what capacity requires a careful review of your insurance policy’s terms and conditions.  Here’s a summary of the key differences between dental savings plans and traditional dental insurance. 

	Dental Savings Plans	Dental Insurance
Plan Cost Billing	Billed annually	Billed monthly
Annual Maximum Benefit	No	Yes
Deductible	None	Usually; many policies have annual deductibles
Waiting Periods	No	Usually for non-preventive care
Network of Dental Providers	Yes	Yes (HMOs); with PPOs, in-network dentists are cheaper but out-of-network providers are still discounted
Additional costs	Yes—you pay the difference between the service cost and the discount	Coinsurance/copays may apply on certain services; you’ll also be responsible for expenses that exceed your plan’s maximum coverage limit

Advantages of Dental Savings Plans

Dental savings plans offer a few key advantages over traditional dental insurance policies. 

• Affordable annual fees: The annual plan fee is typically $200 or less.
• No deductibles: You don’t have to pay full price on services up to a certain dollar amount before getting discounts. 
• No waiting periods: You can seek care right away and get discounts on all of the available services.  
• Streamlined process: The sign-up process is fast and convenient. Payments are simple and are made directly to the dentists. 
• Large networks: Many providers have large networks of dentists that span the U.S.
• No maximum limits: You don’t have to worry about hitting a maximum policy limit. You continue to get the discounted rates for the whole plan year. 

Disadvantages of Dental Savings Plans

There are also a few disadvantages to consider. 

• In-network dentists: Unlike some dental insurance policies, you can’t use a dentist who’s not in your provider’s network. 
• No free visits: All services come with out-of-pocket costs, whereas insurance may cover 100% of select dental care procedures. 
• Costly procedures: Plan discounts typically range from 10% to 70%. Some expensive procedures will still be costly.

Coverage, Services, and Limitations

Dental savings plans tend to offer discounts on a wide range of procedures, including basic preventive care, restorative services, cosmetic procedures, dentures and bridges, oral surgery, and braces. However, the offerings can vary between individual dental providers, so it’s important to check the discount schedule of any dentist you’d like to visit before signing up for the plan. 

As for the limitations, you only get discounts from dental providers that are part of a plan’s network. Unlike some PPO dental insurance plans, there aren’t partial discounts for out-of-network providers. So if you want to use a certain dentist, you should contact the office to see if they’re part of any dental savings plan networks. Alternatively, you can use your plan provider’s dentist network directory to find a dentist near you. 

How to Find the Right Dental Savings Plan

If you’re interested in a dental savings plan, it’s a good idea to shop around and browse the different plans to find the best fit for your situation. The key factors you’ll want to review as you’re comparing plans include:

• Annual cost: The amount you’ll have to pay upfront to join the plan for one year. If you’re covering two or more people, check for family plan discounts. 
• Dental network: The number of dental providers in the plan’s network and if desirable providers are available in your local area
• Services covered: The individual dental procedures covered under the plan
• Discount percentages: The average percentage of savings you can expect for each dental procedure, especially those you plan to get in the upcoming year
• Extra benefits: Discounts on other types of coverage such as vision, hearing, and prescriptions

	Annual Membership Fees	Average Savings and Discounts	Coverage for Dental Services and Treatments	Network Size and Availability of Dentists	Additional Benefits and Perks
Aetna Vital Dental Savings	$159.95	15%-50%	Covers preventive services, restorative procedures, cosmetic procedures, dentures, bridges, oral surgery, and braces	161,000+ dental practices nationwide	Vision and LASIK
CignaPlus Savings	$174.95	37%	Covers preventive services, restorative procedures, cosmetic procedures, dentures, bridges, oral surgery, and braces	110,000+ providers listed	Vision, LASIK, and hearing
iDental Discount Plan by United Concordia	$144.95	10%-50%	Covers preventive services, restorative procedures, dentures, bridges, oral surgery, and braces	Not listed.	None listed
Patriot Plan Plus	$159.95	10%-50%	Covers preventive services, restorative procedures, cosmetic procedures, dentures, bridges, and oral surgery	3,600+ participating dentists	Vision, LASIK, hearing, prescription drugs, and chiropractic care
DenteMax Discount Dental Plan	$144.95	10%-40%	Covers preventive services, restorative procedures, cosmetic procedures, dentures, bridges, oral surgery, and braces	61,000+ general dentists and specialists	None listed

How to Enroll in a Dental Savings Plan

The enrollment process for dental savings plans is pretty straightforward. Here’s how it works:

1. Assess your needs. Determine your needs and the needs of any family members you want to add to the plan. Identify the dental services you expect to need in the upcoming year. 
2. Shop around. Check out different dental savings plans. You can find them directly from popular providers like Cigna, Aetna, DenteMax, and iDenta, or browse platforms like dentalplans.com. 
3. Join the plan. When you find a plan that’s a good fit for your needs and budget, join online or by calling the company. The process typically involves creating an account, paying the annual fee, and printing your membership cards. 
4. Get dental discounts. From there, you can start using your savings plan within one to three business days. In some emergency cases, same-day activation may be possible. 

The Bottom Line

A dental savings plan can provide a quick and easy way to save on your upcoming dental care needs. After you join, you can get access to discounts ranging from 10% to 70%. Plus, you won’t have to worry about maximum limits, deductibles, or waiting periods. But will it be cheaper than dental insurance overall? The only way to know is to run the numbers for your situation. Add up the total estimated costs of both options for the upcoming year to see what will be the most cost-effective. The answer may be dental insurance, a dental savings plan, or a combination of both.