Dental Benefits Expiration Dates

Your dental insurance is designed to help you prevent common oral health problems. That’s why your routine preventative care services — like cleanings and exams — are usually covered twice per year. But if you need a filling or other type of restoration, it’s important to be aware of the technicalities when your benefits run out.

Each year, everyone’s dental benefits coverage resets. For most of us, it’s on January 1^st. So that means if you have unused benefit amounts that you wanted to apply to a procedure, you lose them if you don’t use them. Sadly, they do not “roll over” into the next year and accumulate into a larger amount.

If you’ve already met your deductible, it’s a smarter choice to go ahead and use your benefits before they run out. Otherwise you’ll have to meet the deductible again before you can start treating existing decay or other needs.

Better yet, it can help to tackle active tooth decay now, then allow your benefits to re-set on January 1^st and apply your new benefit allowance toward other restorative work. If you have a longer list of treatment needs, prioritizing them around the end and beginning of the calendar year can be beneficial.

At Elegant Smiles, we work closely with your insurance carrier to help you get the most out of your coverage. Any time you require treatment — be it something small like a filling or a larger restoration case — our care coordinators will break down the benefit schedule so that you understand what’s expected to be covered and what isn’t.

Don’t let your dental benefits expire and go to waste! Call Elegant Smiles today for an exam.