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A dental insurance PPO is a specific dental insurance plan that will allow dental patients to get dental care at more cost effective prices than paying for everything out of pocket.

If you’re not familiar with the term PPO it stands for preferred provider organization. Basically that means that you will get the dental insurance coverage but the insurance company writing your dental insurance policy is going to have their preferred network of providers that they will want you to stay within. This allows the insurance company to obtain the best possible pricing and allows them to extend you the coverage.

There are many dental insurance PPO plans that will allow coverage for even the routine things like your annual dental exam.

PPO Versus HMO

The dental PPO is going to be different then the HMO you’ve likely heard of with health insurance. The difference comes with the securing of dental services.

When you’re within the PPO plan you do have the preferred providers but you’re not automatically limited to the professionals that are in your network like in an HMO, (Health maintenance organization.) the one thing to keep in mind though is that if you do go out of network is that you’ll most likely get a reduced coverage amount so if your dentist is someone that isn’t in network and you wish to continue to see him or her you’ll have to expect that coverage difference from the outset.

With an HMO though you’ll likely never see any coverage whatsoever if you go out of the HMO. The reason for this is the HMO has contracts with the dentists that are within the HMO network.

Lastly, one of the other core differences is going to come when you need to see a specialist. With your PPO plan you may not have to go through your PCP (primary care provider) before you can go and see a specialist. If you go through a dental HMO you’ll have to get a referral and have to go to someone within the HMO network.

PPO Plan Options

You’ll find that there are a lot of plan options that are available. There are plans that will just offer the most basic services that would include:

• Annual checkups
• Fillings
• Your teeth cleanings

If you get just the basic kind of plan like this you’ll find that the premiums are going to be comparatively inexpensive compared to a large scoped plan.

If you go with a plan that is more comprehensive it will cover the basics plus more like an oral surgery that wouldn’t have coverage under the other types of dental insurance plans. It would also include some additional support services when it comes to your general dental health.

You’re going to find that when you’re exploring plan options they’ll be offered as both standalone policies and bundled as part of a broad healthcare policy.

Advantages of a PPO

When you make the decision to go with the PPO it’s going to allow you to take advantage of a much lower deductible as well as a higher level of coverage when it comes to procedures if you go to someone that is within the PPO network.

Basically when you go to an in network provider the reason that you’re going to get a lower level of cost is that the in network providers since those providers have agreements with the PPO to have established payment limits as well as schedules for services rendered.

Out of Network Compensation

Like mentioned above you might get some level of compensation when you go to an out of the PPO network provider. You’re going to run into a higher deductible and the percentage of the overall cost is going to be reduced.

With that said there are some exceptions when it comes to some plans. One of these exceptions is when the insured needs to have dental care when visiting an area that has no leg of that PPO network in which they are a part of.

Talk with your insurance agent and compare all of the policies to make sure that you’re getting something that will suit both your needs and your budget.