One thing you need to bear in mind is the standard of dental care in the country you live in or are moving too, as well as the prices that are charged in the private facilities. To begin with, you will need to find out whether you are going to have access to the public dentists, or whether you will be forced to go down the private route. Private dentists like Dr Alistair Graham tend to deliver much better quality. If expats do not have access to the public dental care that is offered in the country, you will have no choice but to add this to your international health insurance plan, unless you want to pay for the dentist each and every time you visit the private hospital or practice in question.
This is something that may appeal to you if you do not go to the dentist often. However, instead of simply assuming that this is the best approach, you will need to do a bit of digging to decipher the average prices that are being charged by private dentists in the country. One mere treatment could set you back a considerable sum of money, and this may not be something you can afford, which again highlights why it may be a good idea to add this benefit to your international medical insurance plan.
Aside from this, while you may have access to public dental treatment in your new location, you will need to discover whether this is actually of a high standard. A lot of expats make the mistake of assuming that health care is going to be of the same standard they are used to, but this is rarely the case. There are often limitations in place, whether it is in terms of a lack of staff training or poor quality equipment. Instead of taking the risk, you would be better off looking for a quality international health insurance plan that incorporates a level of dental care instead.
If you decide to add dental care to your global health insurance policy, another aspect you need to consider is the fact that you may be subject to a waiting period. A waiting period basically means that you have to wait for a specific period of time before your policy will cover the costs for the benefit in question. For example, most people who take out a worldwide medical insurance plan will have to wait between ten and 12 months before they can reap the rewards of maternity care. This is designed to ensure that people do not simply fall pregnant and then take out a health plan afterward to foot the bill. When it comes to dental care, you will often find that there is a waiting period, and this period can usually be anything from six to nine months. Therefore, let’s say you have a seven-month period, and you have a dental treatment three months into your policy, you will not be covered, and consequently, you will have to foot the bill yourself.
All in all, hopefully, you now have all of the information you need to decide whether you should add dental care to your worldwide medical insurance plan. As mentioned in the post, only you can decide whether this is the right or wrong approach for you.
However, don’t make your decision without exploring the dental care options that are available in your new location first. Simply assuming that you will benefit from quality dental care without requiring an international health insurance plan could be a costly assumption to make.
This is a collaborative post.
