There’s no denying that dental care for your pets can be quite expensive, potentially putting a strain on your finances. For instance, a visit to the veterinarian for a dental cleaning, especially if tooth extractions are required, can cost $1,000 or more. But there’s a way you can save on these expenses with pet dental insurance.
This insurance can help cover dental cleanings, accidents, and illness. It can also help manage your pet’s dental care and protect against expensive surprises. If you would like to know more about this insurance, read through this article till the end.
What is Pet Dental Insurance?
Pet dental insurance is designed to cover the cost of dental care for your pet, including dental illnesses, injuries, and cleaning. In addition, this insurance also offers preventive care such as dental checkups and diets.
As you know, dental diseases can lead to infections and inflammations that can stress the rest of your pet’s body and make other illnesses worse.
Signs of dental disease in your pets can be subtle; thus, you must purchase this insurance. With a pet dental insurance policy, the cost of your pet’s dental treatment, procedures, diagnostics, and medications is covered.
What Does Pet Dental Insurance Cover?
It is important you know what this insurance covers and what is not covered to enable you to make an informed decision. While your pet insurance covers your pet’s dental accidents or illnesses, this depends on the plan you choose.
Purchasing an accident-only plan will provide coverage for dental accidents but not illnesses. However, when you purchase comprehensive pet insurance, it covers both dental accidents and illnesses. Hence, your pet’s dental insurance will generally cover:
- Crowns
- Permanent and deciduous tooth extractions
- Damaged teeth
- Root canals
- Stomatitis
- Dentigerous cysts
- Dentistry anesthesia
- Gum Disease
- Dental malocclusion
Ultimately, you must check your policy for the exact coverage offered, and also coverage may differ from insurer to insurer.
What Isn’t Covered Under Pet Dental Insurance?
This section of the article will outline some of the exclusions in this insurance. Below are some of the most common exclusions:
- Routine pet dental care, including teeth cleaning procedures
- Cosmetic, endodontic, or orthodontic services, including caps, fillings, and implants
- Pet pre-existing conditions that occurred before pet dental coverage began.
The above are some of the exclusions of pet dental insurance.
How Much Does it Cost?
The average cost of pet insurance is $17 for an accident-only plan and $56 for an accident and illness plan monthly for dogs. However, the average cost for cats is from $10 for accident-only to $32 for accident and illness plans.
It is important to know that these accident or accident and illness plans have limited dental coverage for pets such as dogs and cats. However, preventive care and wellness plans offer extra dental coverage, with some companies having specific dental illness add-ons.
Lastly, the average cost might also be determined by factors such as the age of the pet, breed, your insurer, and more.
What are the Best Pet Dental Insurance Companies?
If you’re searching for the best pet dental insurance company that offers both accident and illness coverage, then you need to check out this list. We have outlined some of the best dental insurance for your dogs and cats. Below are the companies to check out:
- Embrace
- Figgo
- Fetch
- MetLife
- Healthy Paws
- Pets Best
- Pumpkin
- Trupanion
- Spot Pet insurance
- Progressive
How To Find Cheap Pet Dental Insurance
Finding cheap dental insurance for your cat or dog can be taxing and overwhelming. However, in this section of the article, we have outlined some of the steps and guidelines:
Shopping for Pet Insurance
Before committing to a pet insurance plan, determine if it makes financial sense for your situation. Start by getting quotes from at least three different companies.
Exploring options like the most affordable pet insurance providers can help. Remember, not all policies offer the same coverage, so it’s not always straightforward to compare them.
Prioritize Preventive Care
Research shows that many pets start to show early signs of dental disease by age three.
To avoid complications that might affect their kidney or liver, make dental health a priority as your pet ages. Regular checkups and preventive care are essential.
Explore Wellness Plans
Adding a wellness plan to your pet insurance policy could raise your premiums, but it might help cover the cost of dental cleanings.
Depending on where you live, these cleanings can range from a few hundred to over $1,000.
Consider financing options like CareCredit
CareCredit is a special credit card designed for veterinary expenses, including routine checkups, emergencies, and surgeries.
As a bonus, if you have a CareCredit card, you might save 5% on a Pets Best insurance policy. However, ensure your vet accepts this card before applying.
Set Aside Savings
Pet insurance usually involves deductibles and co-insurance payments. Setting aside savings in advance can help you manage unexpected veterinary expenses with less stress.
Conclusion
Pet dental insurance is an ideal coverage that can help cover your dog or cat from the cost of dental care, including dental illnesses, injuries, and cleaning.
However, if you’re still wondering whether this insurance is worth it, you can explore alternative financing options such as pet loans, pet savings accounts, and more.
Nonetheless, you must make an informed decision that is beneficial to your pet’s dental and overall hygiene while also considering your financial well-being.