A good smile delivers good impression. Smile with clean & healthy teeth makes it even better. You need a good dental insurance to take care of your oral health.

Unlike its medical counterpart, dental insurance emphasizes on preventive care. Because many of the serious dental problems can be avoided by receiving regular checkups, the benefits are structured to encourage the insured to do routine maintenance of their teeth.

There are different types of dental insurance to choose from, and here are some common ones:

1. Indemnity Plans
2. Dental HMOs
3. Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs)
4. Discount Dental Plans/Referral Plans
5. Direct Reimbursement Plans

Your preference determines which type of dental insurance you need:

1. the amount of coverage
2. types of treatments/services covered by the policy
3. list of dentists to choose from
4. amount of co-payment
5. share of your cost
6. others

Keep in mind that because dental insurance emphasizes on preventive care, insured’s share on dental disease treatment (e.g. surgeries) might be higher than the routine checkups.