Live Life Team
Finding the finance for full mouth dental implants can be difficult. The treatment can be life-changing, taking the stress out of eating and drinking and restoring your confidence in your appearance. However, it’s not easy for most people to get the money together and paying in instalments, despite being a practical option, ends up costing more in the long term. Can your insurance help? The answer is a bit more complicated than you might think.
Fully supportive policies
Some people in this situation will be lucky enough to find that dental implants are fully covered by their insurance plans. That is rare however, and it generally only applies to more expensive plans – i.e. the sort taken out by people who would find it less of a struggle to pay for implants anyway. It’s worth checking your dental and medical policies to see if this applies to you.
Partial payment
Some insurance policies don’t cover implants but do cover the cost of the artificial teeth fitted to them. Although the implant is the most expensive part, this can still save you a fair amount of expense. What’s more, it means that you won’t have to worry about the potential future expense of replacing a damaged crown, as long as you stay with the same insurer. These can last over 25 years if properly looked after but, just like regular teeth, they are susceptible to damage.
Tooth loss caused by illness
Some medical insurance policies cover the cost of full dental implants if you’ve lost your teeth due to illness or the treatment you needed for an illness. Radiotherapy, for instance, can weaken teeth and cause them to fall out, just as it causes hair to fall out, and in this situation your insurer may be as happy to help with implants as with a wig, helping you to feel like yourself again. This kind of help isn’t always obvious when reading through insurance documents so if you think you might qualify, call and ask for advice.
Tooth loss due to accident or injury
A few medical insurance policies will cover dental implants if you’ve lost your teeth because you had an accident that wasn’t your fault or you were assaulted. This sometimes applies only if you are making a related compensation claim which could ultimately end up covering the cost of treatment you will want as soon as possible. Again, call and seek advice if you’re not clear about your position from reading your policy documents. If you can’t get help from your insurer to cover the cost of full dental implants, don’t give up. By searching different dental practices in your area you may be able to find a better deal than the one your own dentist is offering. There’s also the option of traveling to a South American country where implants are cheaper. Just be sure to check thoroughly that you’re getting reliable, high quality treatment, because implants are always going to be a big investment, so you need to make sure they last.
