Dental coverage

The three categories

• Dental accident — a broken or knocked-out tooth from trauma, covered on most accident and illness plans and often on accident-only plans
• Dental illness — periodontal disease, tooth resorption, extractions arising from disease, covered on some plans and not others
• Routine dental cleaning — preventive care, generally only under a wellness add-on

The clause that catches people

Many plans that do cover dental illness require documented routine dental care — often an examination or cleaning within a stated period before the claim, and sometimes evidence that recommended care was followed.

So a plan can cover dental illness in principle and decline your claim because the preventive care requirement wasn't met. If your plan has one, treat it as a condition of the coverage rather than advice.

Questions to ask

• Is dental illness covered, or only dental accident?
• Is there a routine care requirement, and what exactly does it require?
• Are extractions covered, and under which category?
• Is there a separate dental limit within the annual limit?
• Is there a longer waiting period for dental?
• Are pre-existing dental findings excluded — including notes on a prior examination?

The pre-existing problem here is unusually sharp

Dental disease is commonly noted at routine examinations, often years before it needs treatment — a note about tartar or early gingivitis is enough to establish it.

That means dental is one of the categories most likely to already be pre-existing by the time someone thinks about insuring it. Enrolling a young animal is the only reliable way round it.

Worth being realistic

Dental disease is common in adult cats and dogs, and treatment under anaesthesia is not cheap. A plan with genuine dental illness coverage is worth paying more for if you're enrolling early.

If your pet is older and dental notes already exist, price the plan on everything else and treat dental as a cost you'll carry.