DrDental, Supplemental Dental Insurance
Supplemental dental insurance is an individual or family insurance policy purchased to cover a portion of the dental costs generally up and above or beyond the primary dental plan. Supplemental dental insurance will normally not cover the entire dental care procedure. But instead is synchronized or works hand-in-hand with your basic dental policy.
If you have a primary dental insurance plan that you purchased or your employer provided, the supplemental dental policy typically covers the remaining dental bill.
For example, if the dental plan policy covers half of the dental cost, the secondary or supplement dental insurance plan should cover the remaining balance of your dental procedure subject to any co-payments or deductibles already included in the policy.
A supplement dental insurance plan may also be purchased to cover the dental charges when there are annual dental benefit plan limits or exclusions. Say your primary policy has an annual maximum benefit of $1000 you may be able to purchase a supplemental dental plan to extend this benefit.
Most importantly you need to check with your dental office to see if they will coordinate the dental coverage since the dentist is the one most likely to bill the insurance company and ask you to pay any difference or the co-pay. Thus, a supplemental policy can come in handy.