Sumit recently discovered the excruciating pain of when one’s wisdom tooth starts to come in. Having endured it for quite some time, he decides to get the tooth extracted before it gets even worse. After asking around a bit about the possible dental options he could take up, he realizes having this surgery will be expensive. Looking at his health insurance plan, he realizes he never opted for the dental cover.

Which insurance companies offering dental insurance in India can Sumit opt for? Are there insurance plans that cater solely to dental health?

When it comes to standalone dental insurance plans in India, there aren’t that many options to choose from. Previously, Pepsodent (HLL) in partnership with New India Assurance had offered dental insurance worth Rs. 1000 on purchase of certain Pepsodent products. This covered only teeth extraction procedures and certain other specific dental issues; no cosmetic dental surgeries were included under this.

However, the good news is that various general health insurance plans do cover oral health or dental care as part of their coverage options. These companies offering dental insurance in India structure their general policies to include health advantage schemes or Mediclaim covers where oral care is covered. At times, one will be able to claim dental expenses along with other reimbursements like cost of hospitalization and cost of medicines. These will also fall under tax benefits up to a specified amount under the Income Tax Act.

What are the types of general insurance policies that may cover dental insurance plans in India?

• Individual Health Policies: These insurance policies will have dental insurance covered under their basic plan, additional benefits or premium covers wherein the customers will have to pay additionally to acquire this benefit.
• Surgery and Critical Illness Policies: This can be seen as a standalone policy that specifically caters a particular kind of illness. Some policies may offer dental surgeries that fall under critical medical procedures as part of their plan.
• Family Floater Health Insurance Policies: Since most of these plans are linked with Mediclaim’s cashless benefits, dental insurance is generally covered as part of the plan for the insured and the family members covered in the plan.
• Preventive Healthcare Policies: Sometimes, policies that cover preventive care like regular medical check-ups, consultation costs can also cover dental requirements.
• Travel Insurance Policies: A few policies may cover dental costs and this can include dental treatments required due to any accident caused during the travel period.
• Personal Accident Cover: Like travel insurance, sometimes personal accident cover will cover dental expenses in the form accidents that may have caused injury to one’s teeth.

Let’s look at a few of these health insurance policies that also accommodate dental insurance plans in India:

Policy	What is it?	Dental Insurance Cover
Bajaj Allianz Health Guard Policy	This individual health insurance package covers in-patient hospitalization costs that may occur due to illness or accidents.	This policy covers dental surgery or treatment of all sorts. This, however, does not cover hospitalization costs for accidents that caused harm to one’s teeth.
Apollo Munich Maxima Health	This individual plan takes care of certain out-patient benefits to take care of illnesses and other regular ailments.	Under its Specialist Cover, this plan aims to take care of specific dental treatments as long as they have not been caused by any accident. This cover also provides treatments for contact lenses and spectacles.
Bharti Axa Smart Health	This is a family health insurance plan which covers costs and expenses by the entire family. This can be for hospitalization, domiciliary treatment, pre and post hospitalization costs, critical procedures, and more.	Unlike the previous two insurance policies, this one covers dental care only when caused due to some kind of accident.
BSLI Saral Health Plan	This has an entry age for up to 65 years and is an individual health plan. This covers regular medical expenses provided the insured supplies the company with the required bills.	Very briefly, this policy mentions under its OPD section that dental expenses incurred for medical check-ups, surgeries, treatments, etc, will be covered.
ICIC Prudential Health Saver	This individual policy will cover claim reimbursements for health care expenses in the form of medicines, diagnostic expenses, and more.	Dental expenses incurred in the form of treatments, consultations, surgeries are covered under this policy.
LIC Health Protection Plus	This is a long term plan for the entire family with hospital cash benefits, major surgery benefit and a ULIP investment component.	This plan does cover all dental expenses incurred.
SBI Life Smart Insurance	This is a comprehensive policy that provides a list of health benefits like hospitalization cum surgical benefits, day care treatments and more.	This covers dental expenses as long as it has not been caused by an accident.
Chola MS Travel Insurance	This policy is taken up for those who want to be insured while they travel. This has different plan types from basic to comprehensive coverage.	Dental expenses incurred while on travel is covered by this policy, under all types of plan (Gold, Silver, Annual Multi-trip) listed.

 

Over to You!

While there are many plans that will provide dental coverage, standalone dental insurance plans in India are yet to be set off. Thankfully, most general insurance policies will ensure different dental coverage is provided either in the form of hospitalization and surgical costs or in the form of personal accident cover.

Make sure to read the fine print before selecting one’s health insurance to ensure your teeth are insured.

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