Affordable Dental Plans for Arkansas

Options for Coverage

Being a state with a smaller population, Arkansas' market of dentists and dental plans is more modest as compared to its neighbor Texas. With respect to oral health trends in the state, a 2015 paper from the Health Policy Institute of the American Dental Association found that among people living in Arkansas:

• Only 63 percent said their teeth and mouth were in "good" or "very good" condition
• For those whose household income is low, that percentage dropped to 40 percent
• 35 percent avoided smiling due to the condition of their teeth and mouth
• For those who did not visit a dentist in the past 12 months, the number one reason for not having a dental appointment visit was cost

Proper dental coverage can alleviate the financial challenges many consumers face regarding dental care. A review of 20 dental plans in Arkansas (from seven different dental benefits companies) found coverage options for a single person as low as $15.26 a month for insurance with a preferred provider organization and $8.95 a month for a Dental Discount Program. A dental preferred provider organization (DPPO) has a collection of covered benefits that, when used inside its network of dentists, offers lower out-of-pocket costs. These plans also allow an enrollee to receive care from a dentist outside their network but the out-of-pocket costs are higher. A dental discount program is different from insurance. In exchange for a monthly membership fee, a consumer can receive dental care at discounted prices within the network of dentists belonging to the savings program. Care received outside of this network does not receive any discount.

Premiums and Deductibles

The average premium for dental coverage was $32.29 in 2021. This average is lower than the average premiums found in similar state reviews performed for plans in California, New York, and Florida. Among DPPO plans, premiums ranged from $15.26 to $46.23. For indemnity dental plans, prices ranged from $64.23 to $68.72 among the plans belonging to the review.

The lowest deductible among the Arkansas insurance plans studied was $0 for Nationwide's PPO Advantage. The discount program also had a $0 deductible but this plan is a savings instrument rather than true insurance. The remaining deductibles moved from $25 for an individual to $150. Family deductibles reached as high as $450 (as a single unit) or $50 per family member. There was a plan with a $100 deductible per family member but it was capped at a maximum of three $100 deductibles per family.

Charges for Common Dental Services

Most of the plans reviewed for Arkansas paid 100 percent of the cost of dental cleaning at an in-network dentist. In some cases there was a fee charged to the enrollee of 20 percent of the cleaning cost. One option charged 50 percent. The dental discount program charged a flat fee of $41.

For almost every plan, the out-of-pocket costs for a filling was based on a percentage of the total cost of care. The majority of plans paid 50 percent or more toward the cost of a filling with the remainder paid by the enrollee.