Does Health Insurance Cover Dental?

Health Insurance and Dental Coverage: Usually Separate

Most health insurance plans — including ACA marketplace plans, employer group plans, and private individual plans — do not include comprehensive dental coverage. Dental insurance is typically purchased as a separate policy from a dental carrier (Delta Dental, Cigna Dental, Guardian, Aetna Dental, and others) either through your employer or the marketplace.

This surprises many people who assume health insurance covers everything health-related. The insurance industry has historically treated dental care as a separate product line, and the ACA did not change this fundamental separation for adults.

What Health Insurance Does Cover for Dental

While health insurance doesn’t cover routine dental care, it does cover dental treatment that arises from accident or injury:

• Emergency dental care from accidents: A broken tooth from a car accident or fall may be covered under your health plan’s emergency or hospital benefits
• Oral surgery billed as medical: Some oral surgeries (jaw reconstruction, removal of tumors, sleep apnea-related surgery, medically necessary extractions) may be covered under health insurance if the procedure is medically necessary and billed through a hospital or medical billing code rather than a dental code
• Cancer treatment: Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and related oral care for head/neck cancers is covered under health insurance
• Children’s dental: ACA marketplace plans are required to include pediatric dental as an essential health benefit for children under 19

Pediatric Dental: Different Rules

For children under 19, pediatric dental care is an ACA essential health benefit. Most marketplace plans either include pediatric dental or are sold alongside a dental plan that satisfies this requirement. Adult dental coverage remains optional.

Getting Dental Coverage

Options for dental coverage include standalone dental insurance, dental discount plans (not insurance, but reduced-fee networks), and community health centers that offer sliding-scale dental care. Standalone dental plans are available through the ACA marketplace dental section or directly from carriers.