This is what customers expect from supplementary dental insurance

What customers expect

Additional dental insurance: That’s why people take advantage of it

Additional dental insurance is very popular. A new survey now reveals the reasons for the high demand.

If the dentist uses a drill, it usually becomes expensive for the insured person. Because the statutory health insurance companies only pay part of the costs incurred – and only for the bare essentials. A new representative survey by the comparison portal Verivox now shows: Insufficient health insurance benefits are the main reason for many people to take out private supplementary dental insurance.

“Dental benefits have been increasingly reduced in statutory health insurance in recent years,” says Aljoscha Ziller, Verivox managing director. Health insurance companies only pay 60 percent of the so-called standard care for dental prostheses – bridges, crowns and prostheses. With a well-maintained bonus booklet, this subsidy can be increased to up to 75 percent. However, you only pay for medically sufficient, appropriate standard therapy.

This is obviously not enough for many insured people. 46 percent of the 1,051 Verivox respondents cited the limited health insurance benefits as a reason for having already taken out private supplementary dental insurance or for being interested in one.

High-quality dentures (86 percent) and high-quality fillings (83 percent) are therefore the most important performance criterion for supplementary dental insurance for most people. However, 40 percent of those surveyed also count prophylactic measures such as regular professional teeth cleaning as cost-intensive treatments that speak in favor of additional dental insurance.

78 percent also want existing treatment needs to be covered. “Supplementary dental insurance generally does not cover any costs for treatment needs that have already been diagnosed or ongoing treatments,” says Ziller. However, professional teeth cleaning is included in many tariffs. “However, it is also a common additional service provided by statutory health insurance companies,” says Ziller.

Purely aesthetic procedures, on the other hand, only play a minor role in taking out additional dental insurance. Only one in ten expects high costs for teeth whitening in the future, eight percent expect to spend on aesthetic tooth corrections. Bleaching is only considered a very important or important service for one in five people.

What the insurer pays in the end always depends on the tariff selected. While some providers only cover dentures, other tariffs also include inlays, teething guards, teeth cleanings and hypnosis treatments. As is often the case, the small print is crucial here. You can find out here when additional dental insurance is worthwhile for you.