Dental Insurance Articles

How Dental Insurance Rates Cost More For Tobacco Users

2010-11-05

If you are tobacco user, be it chewing tobacco or smoking cigarettes, it can affect your dental insurance rates in a big way. The main reason for this is that tobacco users are more prone to tooth loss and periodontal disease compared to non-tobacco users. In turn, the cost of dental care for tobacco users is always high.

Most insurance companies do not differentiate between occasional and frequent tobacco users. For example, anyone who smokes one cigarette a day is treated the same way as someone who smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day.

There are of course a few insurance providers that make a distinction between occasional and frequent tobacco users. With these insurance companies, the dental insurance rates are based on frequency and type of usage. They also have a clear distinction between chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, nicotine gum, pipes and smokeless tobacco.

Similarly, your dental insurance rates will be based on your tobacco usage and frequency. If you are a heavy smoker, for example, finding cheap dental insurance rates can be extremely difficult. On the other hand, if you smoke only one cigarette per day or if you have recently quick smoking, your dental insurance rates could be low. This is because those who have completely stopped using tobacco incurred lower dental care costs compared to frequent tobacco users. Hence, dental insurance rates are also low.

If you are a regular tobacco user, but are young and in good health, your dental insurance rates might be low. This will, again, depend on the insurance company that you approach. For example, a tobacco user whose blood pressure and cholesterol levels are normal and who is a healthy weight has better chances of getting dental insurance rates that are on par with non-tobacco users. On the other hand, a tobacco user who is overweight or is not in good health will have a hard time finding cheap dental insurance rates.

If you are regular tobacco user, it is better to be honest with your insurance company about your habit. In order to keep the dental insurance rates low some people tend to lie about their habit in the insurance application form. However, it is best to avoid doing this. Odds of nicotine showing up in the medical tests are quite high and it will affect the dental insurance rates.

Using tobacco on a regular basis is not only unhealthy, it can cost you a lot of money in dental care costs. If you are unable to quit the habit your only option would be to do a lot of research and find an insurance company that offers low cost dental insurance rates.