Dental work is often costly. There’s no point in arguing against that. However, your trip to the dentist in Seattle doesn’t have to break the bank.

It is possible to get dental insurance. Your employee benefits may come with it, or you may be able to get it privately. The question is whether you really need to invest in dental insurance.

There isn’t a straight yes or no answer. It’s going to depend on a number of factors, and here’s what to consider.

Use It Through Work If You Have It

If you already have dental insurance through your work benefits, there’s no point in even questioning whether you should have it or not. It’s going to be there, so you might as well use it!

In fact, the insurance can end up being cheaper because it’s through your work. That’s even if it’s one of the add-ons as part of your policy.

If you don’t have it through work, you’ll need to look at your private options before a trip to the dentist in Seattle.

Look at Your Family Budget First

Something to look at is whether the family budget can stretch for insurance when it comes to seeing a dentist in Seattle. You may be living paycheck to paycheck, and the last thing you want to think about is another expense.

However, insurance is worth considering. It can help to cover just your routine checks, which will help to get rid of many reasons for bad oral hygiene. With these checks, you can end up saving yourself a costly dental bill in the future. For example, you may be able to get a small filling instead of the full root canal and crown.

A Dentist in Seattle May Make a Deal

If you don’t have insurance, don’t worry too much. Some dentists are happy to work with people without insurance. They can create payment plans or offer some discounts to help reduce the cost of your treatments. The idea is that you get the checkups to prevent future problems that can leave you in further financial problems.

It’s worth being upfront about your insurance when meeting a new dentist. There will likely be a question on the new patient form that covers it anyway, including whether you worry about the cost or not.

Dental Insurance Can Be Good for Future Needs

Having dental insurance isn’t just for your regular checkups with your dentist in Seattle. That insurance can be useful for all your future dental needs.

For example, you may suffer an accident that leads to a number of teeth being removed. You’ll then need to look into getting them replaced, which is a costly thing to do. Would dental insurance cover some of that cost to help?

What about if your children need braces? What about needing your wisdom teeth extracted? It’s important to consider how you’d pay for them.

Dental insurance isn’t necessary, but it can be helpful. You may not need it for the current trip to the dentist in Seattle, but consider it for the future.