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• How long are waiting periods for dental insurance?
• Why do waiting periods exist for dental cover?
• Can I get dental insurance without a waiting period?
• What should I look at when comparing dental insurance?
• Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Long story short

Waiting periods are standard for dental cover on health insurance

How long you need to wait will depend on your insurer and the dental services you’re looking to claim for.

Dental cover can sometimes come without a waiting period

Insurers may waive dental waiting periods for a promotion or offer no waiting period for some basic dental services on a lower-level policy.

Consider more than just a policy’s waiting period when comparing

Limits, exclusions, premium costs and how much you can claim back matter, too. What suits you will depend on your unique situation.

How long are waiting periods for dental insurance?

Dental insurance waiting periods range from 2 months for general dental to 12 months or more for more advanced dental cover.

Extras cover – the kind that most dental services fall under – doesn’t have set waiting periods. Instead, insurers can pick how long these waiting periods are, including whether they’re longer or shorter for different types of dental cover. Having said that, insurers still want to be competitive, so you might notice that dental insurance waiting periods are similar between funds.

So, you’ll typically see waiting periods of:

• 2 months for general dental services like a check-up with scale and clean, simple fillings and simple tooth extractions
• 12 months for major dental services like crowns, root canals, bridges, implants, dentures, and endodontics and periodontics (although these last 2 can sometimes be a separate category of cover)
• 12 months to 3 years for orthodontics services like braces and retainers.

While most dental care cover falls under extras policies, in-hospital dental surgery, like complicated wisdom teeth removal and some implant services, is covered by hospital cover. Hospital waiting periods are mandated – typically, the maximum is a 2-month waiting period, unless the treatment is for a pre-existing condition and then it’ll be a max of 12 months.

Why do waiting periods exist for dental cover?

Health insurance waiting periods help keep premiums low, including for dental cover. Waiting periods deter people from signing up for a policy, making a big claim, and then lowering or even cancelling their cover, which could cause insurers to raise everyone’s premiums to fund the claim, particularly if lots of people are doing this trick.

Can I get dental insurance without a waiting period?

Some dental insurance includes some cover without waiting periods, particularly for basic or general dental, like routine check-ups and scale and cleans. More complex or expensive dental cover like major dental and orthodontics will always have waiting periods.

Sometimes funds offer no waiting periods for general dental insurance for a limited time to attract new members, so it might be worthwhile to keep an eye out for private health insurance offers popping up throughout the year.

Alternatively, some insurers may have no waiting periods as standard for some preventative dental treatments, such as dental check-ups, fluoride treatments or X-rays.

These kinds of preventative treatments could help you minimise the risk of needing more extensive (and expensive!) dental treatments. Plus, without that waiting period, you can start looking after your teeth sooner.

Helpful tip:

Unlike with hospital cover, if you’re changing funds for your extras, insurers aren’t required to honour dental waiting periods you’ve already served – but the good news is, they generally do. Even if you’re switching before the dental waiting periods are up with your old insurer, your new insurer may still count whatever time you served towards any of their dental waiting periods.

Importantly, though, you’ll need to be switching to equivalent or lower cover. For example, if you’d served the waiting period for general dental with your old fund but weren’t previously covered for major dental, then you’d have to serve out the full 12 months wait for major dental with your new fund.

Andres Gutierrez

General Manager – Health

What should I look at when comparing dental insurance?

For a more holistic comparison, look beyond waiting periods and review what’s included and excluded, how much you can claim back, any restrictions, any loyalty perks and how much the cover will cost. Balance all this information with your unique situation, like whether you’re working with a tight budget, whether your preferred providers are nearby and what other extras are included.

When you’re comparing health cover, check:

• the inclusions and exclusions, particularly when it comes to dental treatments or other extras services you need or want, like physiotherapy or chiropractic
• what benefits you’d receive for a claim and your out-of-pocket costs, including any annual limits and when they reset (or whether lifetime limits apply)
• whether there are restrictions, like getting more back for seeing certain dentists (preferred providers)
• whether there are any loyalty perks, such as extended limits if you hold your membership for a certain length of time
• how much your monthly premium would be and whether it fits your budget.

Taking the time to properly measure up policies can mean you find one that offers you great value for money with the dental cover you’re after.

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Starting a policy sooner is a guaranteed way to get that dental waiting period over and done with sooner. Luckily, iSelect is here to help you pick a policy without days, weeks or months of head scratching and procrastination. By using our handy online comparison tool or speaking with one of our friendly health comparison experts on 1800 784 772, you can compare a range of hospital and extras cover with dental insurance from different providers in a matter of minutes.