The nation’s dentists are grateful that the Affordable Care Act specified child dental care as one of 10 core health benefits, but they bemoan the law’s conspicuous silence on the importance of adult tooth upkeep.

Some ACA health plans include dental coverage, while ACA customers can also buy stand-alone dental plans on the marketplace.

“(A)dult dental benefits are still optional, with one implication being there are fewer regulations governing how dental benefits are offered to adults,” states a recent report by the American Dental Association.

In a study of dental benefit use, the association found that among adults below the age of 65 who have private dental benefits, more than a third did not submit one claim during the entire year.

“Clearly, many adult beneficiaries, or employers on their behalf, are paying for a dental plan they are not using,” the report states.

Among those who do not have dental insurance, the percentage who go a year without a visit to the tooth doctor is undoubtedly far higher. The report did not include data, however, on overall dental care trends.

As is the case with basic medical care, people spend more per-year on dental care as they age.

Those between the ages of 19 and 34 with dental insurance spend an average of $492 a year on dental services. Those between 35 and 49 spend an average of $598 and those ages 50-64 spend $785 a year on average.

While dental care is universally recognized as an important component of staying healthy, dental insurance has plenty of critics. Whereas traditional medical insurance usually forces the patient to pay more at the beginning, and covers everything after a certain point, dental insurance will often only cover 50 percent of major procedures, such as crowns or root canals.

The only type of dental care that plans typically cover entirely are the two annual preventative check-ups. However, the cost of those two check-ups is usually roughly equivalent to the premiums a beneficiary pays throughout the year, which is why some argue that customers would be better off simply paying out of pocket for dental care.

Instant Insights /

Study: A third of those with dental insurance not using it

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