In the past, dental insurance has been viewed as an after-thought. Perhaps this has to do with its classification as an ancillary benefit. Or maybe, because dental isn’t always grouped together inside a medical policy, it’s put at the end of the list of healthcare benefits.

But now, dental benefits are increasingly getting recognized as an important piece of the benefits puzzle.

Employees Want Dental

It’s true that sometimes the younger generation of employees may not place as much importance on medical insurance because they don’t anticipate getting sick. But dental insurance is important to all generations. In fact, 70% of all generations agreed that dental insurance is critical to deciding whether they’ll take a position at a company.

It reflects well on the company to invest in dental insurance because not only are they helping with lowering employees’ out-of-pocket dental expenses (which account for more than one-fourth of all healthcare out-of-pocket costs), but it also shows that they are investing in the company’s people in a way that is outwardly visible: employees’ smiles.

Small companies may be less likely to offer ancillary benefits like dental, but doing so can help level the playing field when competing with larger companies for top talent who value such benefits.

Wellness Strategy

Dental insurance is increasingly being considered a vital component of overall wellness strategy.

Over one-fourth of adults have untreated tooth decay, and if these problems remain untreated for too long, more serious issues can develop, like tooth and gum problems and other illnesses.

In fact, those without dental benefits are 67% more likely to have heart disease and 29% more likely to have diabetes.

Productivity

Adults lose 164 million work hours annually due to dental disease or visits. Similarly, putting off dental visits due to lack of insurance negatively impacts productivity. But providing dental insurance encourages preventative check-ups to reduce lost time in the future.

Ultimate Health

Our supplemental healthcare reimbursement plan, Ultimate Health includes dental coverage. As a supplemental plan, Ultimate Health sits on top of a company’s primary healthcare plan, but the primary plan doesn’t need to have dental insurance to qualify for Ultimate Health’s dental coverage! That means Ultimate Health will pay dental claims first dollar, even without a primary dental plan in place.

Sources:

Employer Benefit News.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Beam.

NFIB.