Are test winners the best solution?
How to find the best supplementary dental insurance for your needs
There are many supplementary dental insurance policies in Germany, many of which are even chosen as test winners by trade journals and awarded the top grade "very good". In the last issue of "Finanztest" alone, more than 70 of them were awarded the grade "very good". Are these tariffs therefore the most sensible supplementary dental insurance for everyone? Can these tariffs be taken out without hesitation?
Not necessarily! Because which supplementary dental insurance is best for you depends on various factors. The insurance cover is always suitable if it covers your needs and takes into account your current dental health and life situation.
Why test winners are not automatically the most sensible dental tariffs
Test winners are based on test assumptions and test clients. In the "Finanztest", for example, the criteria are limited to a customer who places a high value on the assumption of costs for dental prostheses and does not have to disclose any relevant health information.
Does this also apply to you? Would you like more extensive services? What about your dental health? All these questions are important and need to be answered individually when taking out dental insurance. Therefore, test winners are not automatically the best insurance!
Because there are customised solutions for every wish that contain exactly the service you want and are significantly cheaper than general test winners.
1. what benefits should a sensible supplementary dental insurance include?
First ask yourself what services you have used at the dentist in the past. Have you ever had a tooth replaced? If so, was it important for you to choose an aesthetic and high-quality treatment option or did you go for the standard statutory treatment with a 'statutory crown' without thinking twice? Do you have prophylactic measures such as professional tooth cleaning carried out once or twice a year? Do you value high-quality plastic fillings or is it amalgam?
Once you are clear about exactly what you want when you go to the dentist, you can determine what the supplementary dental insurance that makes sense for you should cover. Most dental tariffs are based on these four building blocks:
- Dentures (implants, crowns, bridges, prostheses)
- Dental treatment (root or periodontal treatment)
- Dental prophylaxis (teeth cleaning, fissure sealing, etc.)
- Orthodontics (children and adults)
2. how high should the reimbursement of the supplementary dental insurance be?
The second issue is the level of benefits. From doubling the statutory fixed cost allowance to 100 per cent cost coverage on almost all treatment measures by the dentist - this is how different the range of benefits of dental insurance can be. In principle, the higher the percentage reimbursement, the higher the insurance premium. Those who attach particular importance to prophylaxis should also pay attention to the annual maximum limits for tooth cleaning, fissure sealing and the like.
Our recommendation: A good insurance cover includes at least 90 percent cost coverage for implants & other dental prostheses, 100 percent for fillings & dental treatments and an annual reimbursement of 150 euros for dental cleaning & prophylaxis.
3. current dental health: important criterion for sensible supplementary dental insurance
It is particularly important to know your
current dental health when choosing the right tariff. Every company and sometimes even the individual tariffs have different acceptance criteria. In the worst case, the best supplementary dental insurance is no longer available to you because you already have two missing teeth and this is not accepted. In other cases, missing teeth lead to a risk surcharge being added to the premium. The best dental insurance may then quickly no longer be the one that makes the most sense in terms of price.
Depending on your dental health, it is advisable to compare only those tariffs that can be taken out without any problems. If you have healthy teeth, you can choose freely from the entire tariff landscape; if you are already undergoing dental prosthesis measures, the choice is most limited.
4. Price as a decisive criterion for supplementary dental insurance?
The price or the price-performance ratio is one of the most important decision-making criteria when it comes to finding the best individual supplementary dental insurance. The high-end tariffs cost a lot of money and, with premiums often exceeding 50 euros per month, are no bargain. However, a tariff with a low premium but only doubling the standard allowance for dental prostheses is not necessarily advisable either, as it only covers a fraction of the dentist's bill. If you buy cheap, you buy twice: this principle also applies to supplementary dental insurance.
When considering the premium, another factor plays a role: Do you want stable premiums in old age? Or asked the other way round: Do you want to keep the supplementary dental insurance in the long term? A decisive difference with supplementary dental insurance is the premium development in old age. There are tariffs that increase regularly when certain age limits are reached and tariffs that do not. These tariffs are called insurance policies with an age provision.
To sum up
The most sensible and best supplementary dental insurance
Test winners are not always the best solution for individual insurance needs. They provide a rough guide and an initial overview. It is also important to tailor the insurance to your individual needs. Only then can a good dental plan become the most sensible and best supplementary dental insurance for you personally.
FAQ: Frequently asked questions
How do I find the best supplementary dental insurance?
Unfortunately, there is no such thing as the ONE best supplementary dental insurance. Rather, the tariff must perfectly fit your wishes and your current situation/dental health. Blind trust in the test winner does not make sense, because it is only the optimal coverage for the test customer. The latter may not have any missing teeth or the price may not matter. Rate selection is always an individual task. This is how you proceed:
• Define scope of benefits (dentures, PZR, KFO, etc.)
• Determine the level of reimbursement (e.g. 90% assumption of costs).
• Determine current dental health (e.g. patient file at the dentist).
• Consider price range (What can the tariff cost?)
• Tariff comparison/individual advice
What benefits should a sensible supplementary dental insurance include?
A good supplementary dental insurance should cover the following four components:
• Dentures (implants, crowns, bridges, prostheses)
• Dental treatment (root or periodontal treatment)
• Dental prophylaxis (teeth cleaning, fissure sealing, etc.)
• Orthodontics (children and adults)
How high should the reimbursement of the best supplementary dental insurance be?
A good insurance cover includes at least 90% cost coverage for implants & other dental prostheses, 100% for fillings & dental treatments and an annual reimbursement of 150 euros for dental cleaning & prophylaxis.
