There are so many choices for dental insurance out there that trying to pick a policy can seem totally overwhelming. However, if you have a good dental insurance plan, you can count on these 4 things being covered:

1. Your entire family

Sure, there are plenty of choices for individual dental insurance out there, but you also need plenty of family dental plans to choose from, too. If you’re a single person who is shopping for individual dental insurance now, you may want to make sure that your insurance company makes it easy for you to expand to a family dental plan later.

2.Treatments, dentists, and facilities that aren’t included in your network

Most dental insurance companies will give you a list of approved dentists, specialists, and facilities. By going to the people on this list, you will get to take full advantage of your insurance benefits, and you will get to minimize your out-of-pocket expenses.

But what happens if an emergency pops up and you can’t find a dentist or a facility that’s in your network?
If you have a dental PPO plan, you are not totally out of luck. Under a dental PPO plan, you can still get coverage if you go to a dentist or a facility that is not in your network; however, your insurance company will not pay as much if you do. With other types of dental insurance – like HMO’s – you won’t get any financial help from your insurance company if you go out of your network.

3. Basic services and procedures

If you’re like most people, you probably only go to the dentist when you need a check-up, or, at the very worst, a filling. But if you get dental coverage that’s only designed to pay for major procedures, you will be wasting your money. Before you sign on the dotted line, you need to make sure that your dental coverage includes all services and procedures – both big and small. That way, you won’t be paying premiums every month for dental coverage that isn’t helping you.

4. Trips to specialists

The last thing you want to discover is that your 11-year-old needs braces and your dental insurance doesn’t cover the cost of a trip to the orthodontist! When you first get your policy, read the fine print, and make sure that your coverage doesn’t just apply to general dentists. After all, you never know what kind of specialist you may need!