In the United States, approximately 2 million visits to the emergency room each year are for non-traumatic dental problems. Most of these visits could be prevented with a dental insurance plan allowing people to get help as soon as a dental issue arises.

Americans hesitate to turn to dental insurance plans — or avoid them altogether — because choosing the best one can seem too complex.

It’s true — finding reliable and affordable dental insurance plans is not easy. The right option can depend on the specific needs you and your family have and the costs you can afford. You may be worried about hidden fees or complex contracts that promise a lot and provide little coverage.

For many people, having a dental insurance plan means choosing a stand-alone option because their general health care plan doesn’t offer this type of coverage. But how can you choose, and where do you begin? Learn about 7 of the best dental insurance plans to help you get the coverage you need.

1. Best for Major Work: Guardian Direct

Guardian Direct stands out because it offers 50% coverage on all major dental work for the majority of its plans. It has a large network size, too, with over 120,000 providers, making it easier to find the care you need.

Keep in mind that Guardian Direct does not offer orthodontic coverage for adults.

It has several plan levels; the highest coverage available is the Diamond Plan, which begins with a maximum payout limit of \$1,500.

2. Best for Affordable Premiums: DentaQuest

With DentaQuest, you can pay as little as \$15 a month and get complete coverage for preventive services, 50% of basic care, and 30% coverage of major procedures.

By choosing a higher level of insurance coverage with DentaQuest, you can also get more coverage for major dental work, up to an annual limit of \$1,500. There are no waiting periods for preventive services, while you may have to wait up to 6 months for basic services and a year for major work.

3. Best for Braces: Delta Dental

Delta Dental not only has wide availability, offering nationwide coverage, but it also has no upper age limit for braces. If you need orthodontic care at any age, Delta Dental can help. With a choice of over 155,000 providers, you can get coverage from the best in any state. Do remember that plans vary depending on your location.

Two of the best Delta Dental plans that include braces coverage are the Delta PPO premium and the DeltaCare USA (HMO). The latter offers fixed copayments for preventive, basic, and major work.

4. Best to Avoid Waiting Periods: Spirit Dental

You don’t have to worry about any waiting periods with Spirit Dental, no matter what type of dental work you need. Spirit Dental has plan options that fit into two groups:

• Network plans
• Choice plans

Network plans offer the most affordable rates for in-network providers, while choice plans allow you to pick your provider with no network requirements.

5. Best for Nationwide Coverage: Cigna

Cigna offers a network of 92,700 dentists in over 300,000 locations, making it one of the most widely available options in the country. It offers the same coverage plans throughout the 50 states, providing preventive, basic, and major dental coverage.

Another Cigna benefit is that it offers immediate coverage for older adults and those who retired and no longer benefit from an employer’s insurance.

6. Best for Plan Options: Humana

Humana offers the most dental plan options, with seven to choose from. Five of them cover in-network as well as out-of-network dentists, a low-cost HMO plan, and a dental savings plan.

One of the best options is the Loyalty Plus PPO, which doesn’t require any waiting periods, even on major work. It can be a bit expensive, however.

7. Best for Short Waiting Periods on Major Work: United HealthCare Dental

This is the right option if you need major dental work and don’t want to wait a year for coverage. United HealthCare Dental has three plans that require a waiting time of only six months.

If you can’t afford a plan that offers no waiting periods, this is the next best thing.

Getting the Right Level of Coverage

Your dental health is crucial to your overall health, so you want to know that you have the coverage you need to prevent major dental issues. By considering the various types of dental insurance plans out there, you can find the one that offers help without completely upsetting your budget.

Resource Links:

• “Emergency Department Visits for Nontraumatic Dental Problems: A Mixed-Methods Study” via the National Institutes of Health
• “Factors Associated with Preventable Emergency Department Visits” via the National Institutes of Health
• “The Reason Your Dental Work Isn’t Covered by Medical Insurance” via NBC News
• “Preventive Care and Oral Hygiene” via the Oral Health Foundation