Dental Insurance Plans: Part of Your Healthcare?

Dental coverage is always that tricky question of whether or not it is included in your healthcare plan, or it requires its own special dental insurance plan. Additionally, is the dental coverage included in your healthcare coverage enough? Which services are included and which are not? There are a lot of important questions you need to understand about your health insurance policy so that you can explore the possibility of additional dental coverage. 

Let's take a look at the considerations that you, as a user, will want to take into account in order to make an informed decision about different health and dental insurance plans. 

Is dental coverage typically included in healthcare services? 

As a rule of thumb, dental coverage is not included in public healthcare or private health insurance plans in Spain. Via the state healthcare system, you will only receive dental care if it is an emergency. This means that you would be paying out of pocket for treatment unless you have private coverage. Via the private healthcare system, most medical policies do not provide dental coverage unless explicitly specified, and few offer full coverage with no exceptions. However, that doesn't mean you'll be left out in the cold. Many Spanish insurance companies feature policies that offer a number of preventive oral hygiene services (such as examinations and cleanings), as well as special treatments and extra services.

What are Caser's individual dental insurance plans?

Caser Expat Insurance is proud to offer two exceptional dental insurance plans to expats living in Spain. 

• Essential Smile Dental Insurance: This is Caser's family dental plan that is still offered at an affordable rate. The main advantages of this plan are the 40 free services without any additional costs, up to 50% discount on other treatments, and kids treatments for children younger than 15 years old (free access to the main odontological and paediatric treatments). Discover the full list of coverages by following the link. 
• Perfect Smile Dental Insurance: This is Caser's full coverage dental insurance. Like Essential Smile, it provides 40 free services, up to 50% discounts, and kids treatments, plus reimbursement of pharmacy costs and 24-hour emergency care for oral, medical and paediatrics over the telephone and online. Discover the full list of coverages by following the link. 

What is Caser's healthcare plan with dental coverage included?

Caser is also proud to offer the perfect combination of a comprehensive medical insurance policy plus dental insurance. Adapta + Dental is intended for families who are looking for good insurance at a good price and for whom the dental health of their loved ones is important. Plus, it has the added bonus of having no-copayments. Discover our extensive list of providers via our Dental Clinics. 

The Adapta + Dental insurance has extra perks:

• Valid for NIE, residency, and visa (Adapta + Dental + Repatriación) - a huge plus for expats moving to Spain
• Diagnostic Tests
• All types of hospitalisation
• Hospital emergencies and emergency home visits
• Prosthesis
• 24-hr medical assistance
• Support with travelling overseas
• Second medical opinion
• Special treatments including: psychology, chiropody, digital dermatoscopy, healthy breast surgery, Barrett's oesophagus surgery, therapeutic targets, robotic surgery in prostate cancer interventions, post-heart attack cardiac rehabilitation, bio-mechanical walking study, pelvic floor rehabilitation, and vestibular rehabilitation for inner ear pathology.
• Pregnancy and family planning services including: birth preparation program, harmony screening non-invasive prenatal test, and family planning via IUD. 
• Telehealth services including: Health assistance by phone, video calls, online medical chat, Selfie Health mobile facial recognition technology, speak to professionals or get tests/prescriptions online. 
• You can always choose from the best centres and specialists near you.

A dental policy that satisfies your needs and does not charge a co-pay is the best option, considering that if you don’t have dental insurance, most treatments will not be covered by the public health system. If you go to a private clinic with no insurance, the price will be out of reach for most people and you will not receive the discounts that you would get with a dental policy. That’s why Caser has combined the two – medical and dental – into a single policy.

Is it better to have a separate dental insurance plan or dental as part of your healthcare?

If you already have a health insurance policy, it will be more economical to add dental than if you didn’t have one.  The dilemma comes in if you do not have a medical policy, in which case there are two options.

- Dental insurance only: As far as medical coverage is concerned, a private policy that is specifically for a dental insurance plan covers a wider range of services than the public health system. Many people prefer to have their own private policy for the convenience and the speed that private insurance offers for some services, in particular the quick access to specialists. You may want to choose to take out dental insurance only, but this would mean you would miss out on the advantages that private health cover brings you.

- Dental and medical:  Bear in mind that the dental insurance will be less expensive in this case, because it is included in the price of the medical cover. Whilst paying a little more for both dental and medical cover, you will be completely covered, which brings peace of mind and also speed when treating possible unseen health problems.

To conclude, it is really up to you whether you want to take out dental insurance only, or a healthcare policy that combines the two. Of course, there are advantages of both and your decision will be based on your individual needs. In order to help you make up your mind, check out free downloadable resource about choosing a good dental insurance plan in Spain.