Will Medical Insurance Pay for My Dental Implants?

Question submitted by Louis:

I have quite a few missing teeth. I’m also currently dealing with gum disease, but it is being treated aggressively so that shouldn’t be a problem for long. Most of my bottom teeth can be saved, but my upper teeth are a loss. My dentist gave me upper dentures. I am having trouble with the denture plate because it makes me gag. I’d like to get dental implants instead. Can you give me an estimate of what they’ll cost? Do you know how much of that can be covered with medical insurance?

Louis

Dear Louis,

While your general health is impacted by not being able to eat well, especially if you can’t keep your dentures in, medical insurance will not pay for dental implants. There is usually a clause in medical insurance that excludes dental procedures. They expect you to rely on your dental insurance for that.

If you don’t have dental insurance, you can’t just get some and expect the company to immediately cover an expensive procedure such as dental implants. They generally have a waiting period before allowing those type of large expenses. Otherwise, people would have a tendency to just get it for the big procedure then cancel their policy once that is done. If you already do have dental insurance, they will cover a portion of it but not all of it. How much they’ll cover varies from policy to policy.

The cost of dental implants varies as well. One of those factors is where you live. Not only will the state you live in make a difference, just like the variations in the general cost of living between states, it can even vary greatly between the part of town you go for treatment.  Sometimes a dentist on the wealthier part of town will charge more than the dentists in the low income level parts of town.

A second factor is the skill and training of the dentist. If they are new to placing dental implants, they may keep their prices a bit lower in order to draw in patients and give them more experience. If they’re one of the more experienced and advanced dentists, who have invested a lot in post-doctoral training in the procedure, they may charge a bit more. Sort of like the difference between a 5 star restaurant and a 1 star restaurant. Just bear in mind that, often, you get what you pay for.

This blog is brought to you by a prosthodontist in Tucson Dr. Howard Steinberg.