Open Season: Does my baby need dental insurance?

[germin8]

My DD is 4.5 months old.  She is our only child...

It's open season, and we're wondering if we need to add our baby to the dental policy.

At what age do babies need coverage?  At what age is their first dental visit?  Could we wait 2 years & 2 months before adding her?

I'm not excited about my toddler getting fluoride either (maybe they don't do that to toddlers)... especially since their livers are not ready to detox yet...  Hmmmm, maybe we can't even detox fluoride... I don't know.

[angelpie545]

I think the most dentists want to see the child by age one, although I personally think it's OK to wait until the child is older if there are no visible issues (discolored teeth, obvious cavaties, ext.).  My two older kiddos didn't see a dentist until they were five.  One nearly always has had cavaties and the other doesn't. 

[Oliver's Mama]

I thought the general guideline was 3 years? That's what we did, and the first few visits are really just to get aquainted with the dentist and the procedures... actual cleaning isn't really a priority.  Our dentist didn't even bill the visit to insurance. Up until we saw the dentist, our pediatrician always checked his teeth/mouth briefly at visits, so if he saw any cause for concern, he would have suggested an earlier visit to an actual dentist.

On the off-chance you had to take the baby in, it wouldn't cost much out of pocket. (it's not like she'll have a root canal...)

[dakotablue]

Our dentist told us 1 year. DS Will be 15 months when he is actually is added into our plan and able to go. Our dentist said that was fine. (Side note our dentist isn't the one DS will actually see, but the one we had access to ask) 

[BlueLeaf]

Double check your plan and make sure there's not a penalty if you don't add your baby right away. My dental is only $13 a month for both of us (up from $10 for just me), so I just added her when she was born.

[chattyprincess]

Check your health insurance first. Ours covers 2x yearly dental visits and cleaning as well as bite wings if needed. There was no need for us to put her onto our dental insurance since the likelyhood of her needing major work or anything expensive was very minimal. I would also call your local pediatric dentist, or whomever you want her to see and find out what they charge for 2x yearly visits without insurance vs. with your insurance then do what works out to be cheaper.

[sunflower.mama]

My FIL is also our dentist...and he never saw the kids until they were 3+ (at least as patients!)  Even then it's a quick clean and an intro to the office, chair, etc.

[Ninetales]

Our open enrollment is in late February, which will be right after the baby's first birthday.  I plan to add her, since our dental is so inexpensive.  She also has seven teeth already so I may start having her go just to get her used to the process.

[CallMeMommy]

With our dental insurance they have graduating coverage, so right away they'll cover exams and such, but the more expensive things they won't cover unless the patient has had continuous coverage for at least 3 years.  I added all of my kids right away (but I had family coverage already with the last two so it didn't cost anything extra to add them).

[sept04mama]

I take my kids when they turn 3.  My dentist doesn't even do much at that point- I can't imagine a baby needing to go to the dentist.

[ecoteat]

DD is 4.5 and has only been to the dentist once. We paid out of pocket instead of adding her to insurance--it was cheaper that way. I was planning on adding her to my dental this spring, but I recently discovered that our health insurance includes dental for children. So she's covered anyway!

[freestylemama]

I started taking my daughter when she was 18 months.  We have great insurance and I love our dentist.  Our dentist sees tons of kids with Medicaid, so I felt like it was a win for her to get paid well and a win for us to get our daughter used to going and to create as many positive associations with the dentist as well.  Another reason why I wanted her in there early is that I know 3 children who've had to have major dental work done by the time they were 2.  I was really paranoid about that, so I wanted to establish care asap.

ETA: One of our friend's whose child had cavities at age 2 required over $1500 worth of work.  They're a "crunchy" breastfeeding, organic eating family too. 

[Catubodua]

to add my son to our dental insurance will cost $41.36 per month, so almost $500 per year.  there is no way i am doing that until he's older.  if he needs to go in, i'll pay the $100-ish or so for the visit.

[Channelle]

Butting in, but my doctor AND my dentist said they tell people to bring babies in 6 months after their first tooth comes in, or one year of age, whichever comes first. We went at 10 months and all they did was "talk" to her and do a quick look in her mouth, and ask about nursing, bottles, sippy cups, etc.

[earthmama369]

Around here, dentists recommend starting formal visits sometime between ages 2 and 4. The recommendation really varied depending on the individual dentist I spoke with. DD ended up needing dental work a few months before her second birthday, due to a genetic condition affecting her enamel, but ds didn't need a check-up until he was closer to 3, and just for a regular cleaning. However, I always brought them with me to my own appointments as babies and my dentist would check out their gums and play with them for a minute, getting them used to seeing a dentist and having him check inside their mouths. He never charged extra for that. I wouldn't worry about adding a child to a dental insurance plan until age 2 or 3, unless there are added health issues that might indicate a need for care earlier.