Berlin (dpa / tmn) – Dentures can quickly turn into money – because statutory health insurances do not cover all the costs of the treatment. Supplementary dental insurance can be useful to cushion your own contribution. The problem: the variety of offers is huge.
A test by the Stiftung Warentest for the magazine “Finanztest” of 244 tariffs and tariff combinations shows: Only a thorough comparison helps when choosing. “Finanztest” expert Ulrike Steckkönig explains what is important in an interview with the dpa topic service:
Question: For whom is additional dental insurance worthwhile?
Ulrike Steckkönig: It is particularly worthwhile for those people who also want more expensive restorations for dentures, for example who want to have an implant inserted instead of a bridge. Or who want completely veneered teeth instead of metal crowns. Because then there are considerable costs, in which the health insurance company still only contributes with a fixed subsidy.
Question: What benefits should a solid dental insurance cover?
Steckkönig: We clearly focus on dentures – crowns, bridges, implants – and not on other services that are sometimes also included in supplementary dental insurance. For example, that any costs are covered for professional teeth cleaning or periodontal treatment.
When it comes to insurance, we always approach it from the perspective: What costs can cause major financial difficulties in an emergency?
And there is an implant that can, for example, sometimes exceed 4,000 euros if bone augmentation is required beforehand, which is a different number than a professional tooth cleaning, where you pay around 70 to 120 euros. Anyone who then values any particular thing can still include that in their considerations.
Question: At what age does the degree make sense?
Steckkönig: Our model customer is 43 because most people around the scene take care of such an insurance. Actually, it would be wise to set off when you are in your mid-30s, because insurers have staggered benefit limits in the first years of the contract.
If you had a bigger thing in your early 40s, then, if you had finished in your mid-30s, you could then access the full range of services. Anyone who is already burdened, for example with a lot of fillings or gum problems, should actually take care of them early on.
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