Does health insurance cover dental work?

Usually, no.

Standard health insurance policies usually do not provide dental insurance or dental benefits. You will need to add a rider to your existing health insurance plan or buy a separate dental insurance plan altogether. Either way, you will need to pay additional premiums for dental coverage.  However, it will be cheaper to just ask your insurance company to include dental coverage (as you pay additional premiums) than to buy a separate dental plan.

If you already have an existing health insurance plan, it is best to check whether it covers dental insurance, just to make sure.

Please note that the healthcare reform bill that was recently passed aims to improve the access people have to dental insurance by enabling more people to be eligible for dental coverage, particularly by way of Medicaid. For one, the bill will extend eligibility for dental coverage to children up to 21 years of age. Adults may also have more chances to be eligible for Medicaid and dental insurance through expanded eligibility rules. Thus, if you are eligible for these benefits, you may not need to have it included in your health insurance cover.

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