It is important to understand what is a yearly dollar maximum limitation and to compare yearly maximum coverage on a regular basis before selecting any dental insurance plan. The dollar amount that a plan will pay you during one full year is very important factor to consider while choosing the dental insurance plan. For most PPO’s and Indemnity dental insurance plans they will have yearly maximum limitation, normally ranging from $500-$2000.  The yearly dollar maximums, renew on an automatic basis every year. You should be aware of that amount that is not used within a given year will not roll over into the next.

Example: Suppose you had $2000 yearly maximum for 2016 but you only spent $1500 of it. You may think that since you still had $500 at the end of the 2016 then for 2017 you are going to have $2000 + $500. Unfortunately that is not the case. Your funds are not cumulative. For 2017 you still will have the same $2000 as a yearly maximum for full year.

However the maximum is also per person so whether you have one person on the plan our four people on the plan each person has the 2000 maximum limitation per year.  When shopping dental insurance with a maximum limitation, you want to think not only of your current dental needs but future needs so you can get the right maximum limitation that best fit those needs.   Also make sure you work with your dentist when dealing with maximum limitation so that services could be scheduled out in a way that best saves you whenever possible.

Example: Going back to the same 2000 limitation, say in a given year your dentist says you need $3500 in dental services. See if it possible to have part of what needed towards the end of the year and the rest done in the being of the next. Doing so you will then receive benefits for the whole $3500 without going over your maximum in a given year.