Here is a rundown of the 6 best UK Dental Insurances policies for you to get you a healthy mouth.
** We do not provide or sell Dental Plans, this is just our findings, we are not able to advise**
What is dental insurance?
Broken down, dental insurance is essentially a policy that covers your dental treatment. In the UK, this can either be with the NHS or privately. You pay for the dental treatment then claim the money back from your insurers.
You may be thinking, what is the point of dental insurance if we have the NHS?
A common misconception – well, unless you’re under 18, in full time education or pregnant, you still have to pay for your NHS dental treatment. For example, the cost for a simple dental examination within Band 1 for the NHS is £22.70.
Moreover, the whole point of dental insurance is to cover the NHS treatment or cover part of private treatment costs.
Benefits of dental insurance:
- Useful in times of emergencies or accidents – most insurance companies usually cover emergencies and accidents within their policy. Most likely, this would save you dramatically in terms of cost
- Flexibility in payment – depending on you, payments can be monthly or annual (they work out what is best for you)
- Prices can be negotiated depending on the type of cover and whether the policy is for one individual or a group such as family
- Dental insurers help you with the cost – NHS treatments usually claimed back in full or almost fully, private treatments partly paid for by your insurance company
- Dental insurance provides more options for treatments
Drawbacks of dental insurance:
- Can be very expensive if it is not a necessity for you – for example, if your teeth are in a really good condition and well looked after, you would be paying for an insurance you would not use much (costing you more!)
- Most policies state that you are unable to claim in the beginning – on average 3-6 months typically
- Not all treatments are covered i.e. cosmetics – if a specific treatment you want is not covered, you have to pay for it yourself
- Usually a limit each year – you can claim up to a certain amount for the year, which resets annually
Overall, dental insurance is good to buy to be on the safer side or if you need the dental cover without having to pay in full for all the expenses. Almost all policies cover general dental treatments, emergencies, accidents, oral cancer treatment and some cover hospital cash benefit.
Top 6 Dental Insurance policies in the UK
AXA:
Axa cover a range of healthcare covers for personal use, small businesses or corporate. They have two dental care policies.
Core dental plan:
- NHS treatment
- Routine examinations, hygiene treatments, periodontal treatments
- Treatments and dental x-rays on NHS (claim after 1 month)
- Treatments on the NHS to repair any damages such as fillings, crowns etc. (after 1 month)
- Worldwide dental cover – up to £2500 dental accident (for 4 accidents)
- Oral cancer cover
- Hospital cash benefit – up to £60 per night for 3 nights
- Annual premium = £119.58
- No limit on check-up claims
Premium dental plan:
- Private treatment
- 50% towards the cost of private dental treatment (after 3 months)
- Annual premium = £256.04
Boots:
Boots offer three different dental insurance plans.
All plans cover:
- Routine treatments i.e. check-ups, fillings, dentures
- Contribution towards the cost of NHS treatments
- Hospital cash benefit
- Emergency dental treatment
Core:
- Individual cover starting price = £10.82 per month
- NHS treatment only
- 1 = up to £500
- 2 = up to £500
- 3 = up to £5000
- 4 = not covered
- Claim after 3 months
Level 1:
- Individual cover starting price = £15.82 per month
- NHS treatment and contributions towards private treatments
- 1 = up to £750
- 2 = up to £1000
- 3 = up to £5000
- 4 = up to £5000
Level 2:
- Individual cover starting price = £23.02
- NHS treatment and higher contributions towards private treatment than level 1
- 1 = up to £1000 2 = up to £1500
- 3 = up to £5000
- 4 = up to £10,000
Bupa:
Bupa offer two different dental policies.
Dental cover 10:
- NHS treatment
- Routine dental treatment = 100% reimbursement for NHS treatments
- Dental treatments = 100% reimbursement for NHS treatments
- Emergency cover = 100% reimbursement for NHS treatments
- Injuries = 100% reimbursement for NHS treatments
- Oral cancer treatment = no annual limit – paid in full, all expenses covered if treated at a partnership consultant (claim after 6 months)
Dental cover 20:
- Private dentist
- Routine dental treatment = £150 per year (claim after 4 months)
- Dental treatments = up to 75% off treatment costs, total of £700 per year
- Emergency cover = up to £600 per year
- Injury = up to £5000 per year
- Oral cancer = no annual limit – paid in full, all expenses covered if treated at a partnership consultant (claim after 6 months)
WPA:
WPA offer two different dental plans.
Level 1:
- From £2.55 per week
- NHS treatment only
- General dental treatment = 100% costs claimed back (after 30 days)
- Emergencies = 75% of costs up to £500, only 2 claims (after 14 days)
- Injuries = £10,000 (claim after 14 days)
- Oral cancer = £10,000 (claim after 90 days)
- Hospital cash benefit = £200 per day/night, up to a maximum of £2000
Level 2:
- From £3.63 per week
- NHS or private treatment
- General dental treatment = 75% of treatment costs up to £250
- Emergencies = 75% of treatment costs up to £1000 – maximum 4 claims
- Injuries = £20,000
- Oral cancer = £10,000
- Hospital cash benefit = £200 per day/night, maximum of £2000
Dencover:
There are 5 different dental insurance plans available; NHS, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Wherein the price increases as the benefits of the package increases.
NHS:
- Cover starts from £6 per month
- Routine dental treatment = £22.70 annual policy limit, claim 100% back – claim back immediately
- Scale & polish = £22.70 annual policy limit, claim 100% back – claim back immediately
- Fillings, extractions, dentures etc. = £124.20 annual policy limit, claim 100% back (after 60 days)
- Accident = £2500 annual policy limit, claim 100% (after 15 days)
- Emergency = £425 annual policy limit, claim 100% back (after 15 days)
- Oral cancer = £2500 annual policy limit, claim 100% back (after 60 days)
Gold:
- Cover starts from £9 per month
- Routine dental treatment = £55 annual policy limit, claim 100% back – claim back immediately
- Scale & polish = £65 annual policy limit, claim 80% back – claim back immediately
- Fillings, extractions, dentures etc. = £410 annual policy limit, claim 55% back (after 60 days)
- Accident = £7500 annual policy limit, claim 100% back (after 15 days)
- Emergency = £850 annual policy limit, claim 100% back (after 15 days)
- Hospital cash benefit = £50 per night, claim 100% back (after 90 days)
- Oral cancer = £7500, claim 100% back (after 60 days)
Simplyhealth:
Simplyhealth offer different dental policies, ranging in price.
Level 1:
- £9.55 per month
- Claims must be made after a 3-month period
- Dental check ups = £45
- Scale & polish = £35
- Treatments = £200
- Emergency = up to £500
- Accidents = up to £5000
- Hospital cash benefit = £50 per day/night – up to 20 days/nights per year
- Oral cancer = £5000
Level 2:
- £15.92 per month
- Claims must be made after a 3 month period
- Dental check ups = £75
- Scale & polish = £65
- Treatments = £400
- Emergency = up to £500
- Accidents = up to £5000
- Hospital cash benefit = £50 per day/night – up to 20 days/nights per year
- Oral cancer = £5000
Level 3:
- £22.56 per month
- Claims must be made after a 3-month period
- Dental check ups = £105
- Scale & polish = £95
- Treatments = £600
- Emergency = up to £500
- Accidents = up to £5000
- Hospital cash benefit = £50 per day/night – up to 20 days/nights per year
- Oral cancer = £5000
Conclusion:
In summary, dental insurance takes a fair amount of consideration depending on how necessary it is and the type of insurance you are looking for. Personally, I would choose Bupa dental insurance as it is very straight forward and I know exactly what I would be getting into, whether I want NHS or private dental treatment. The prices they offer are good which is something that is important when deciding which policy to buy.
Conversely, the insurance provider I am most likely not to buy would be Boots as the first policy they provide does not cover emergency dental treatment. This is something I expect all policies to cover as this is one of the main reasons I am considering dental insurance. Therefore, I am less likely to consider this provider, although they do cover this in their other, more premium deals.
Overall, these are just my honest reviews on what I would personally choose. Despite this, all of the insurance providers listed are highly successful so it is important that you decide what policy is the best for you personally.
What to do next?
Hopefully, this blog has given some insight into the different dental insurance policies available in the UK. For more information please do not hesitate to contact the dental insurance companies listed above. We are unable to advise, sell or promote any specific dental plan, we are in fact a marketing agency for dentists in the UK.
Here is another blog that you might be interested in:
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