Our goal: Lanmark360 not only wanted the best dental insurance possible for our employees, but we also wanted to encourage our employees to place importance on their dental health as part of their overall health and wellness by giving them easy access to affordable preventive care.

Choosing the perfect dental plan for Lanmark360 employees was a very important part of our benefits package. To begin, I polled the employees to see what their needs were and what kind of dental insurance would be ideal for the employees and their families. Next, I matched up their needs with coverage available to a company of our size.

Lanmark360 decided to choose Principal Dental Insurance as our company-offered dental plan. The plans offered by Principal are customized to meet the needs of a business our size. All the plans give members access to the largest dental networks in the country. The preventive care is excellent and the cost is right.

Benefits are reviewed every year before renewing, and so far Principal Dental Insurance has been a winner each year!

Principal dental insurance is offered by Principal Life, a national insurance company known for its solid network and sophisticated and prompt claiming process. The company is backed by the Principal Financial Group, which also means it has a solid financial ground and is one of the most stable insurance providers around.

Principal Life aims to encourage citizens to place importance on their dental health as part of their overall health and wellness by giving them easy access to affordable preventive care.

The Principal dental insurance benefits are offered primarily to organizations who wish to provide affordable dental care support for their employees. By doing so, organizations get the best productivity from their healthy employees by reducing the risks of missed work hours and extremely expensive dental procedures.

Options available at Principal dental insurance include:

• Principal Dental Insurance PPO Plan
• Exclusive Provider Organization
• Employer-Paid Dental Insurance
• Voluntary Employee-Paid Dental Insurance

1. Principal Dental Insurance PPO Plan

The Principal Dental Insurance PPO Plan is the main dental insurance plan offered by Principal Life. This PPO plan operates under a PPO or Preferred Provider Organization network. Under this type of plan, the employees of the client organization can choose their own dentist and enjoy the benefits of the plan, such as discounted rates for most dental procedures.

If the employees choose a dentist who belongs to the network, they are entitled to increased benefits. If not, they still get discounts, but at a lesser percentage. Discounts average around 25%.

2. Exclusive Provider Organization

Principal Life also offers an Exclusive Provider Organization dental plan in selected markets in California. In an exclusive provider arrangement, the clients are only allowed to seek dental care from dentists within the network in order to avail of discounts.

For those enrolled in this type of dental plan, there’s no need to worry since Principal Life ensures that dentists are chosen through a proper credentialing and practice pattern to make sure members get the best quality of professional service they deserve. In fact, members can choose from one of the largest dental networks in the nation. The Principal Life dentist network’s selection of dentists exceeds 100,000 different locations scattered throughout the country.

3. Employer-Paid Dental Insurance

The company’s main product is a dental insurance to be paid by employers in a cost-sharing arrangement. The dental insurance plans are very flexibly designed to meet the specific needs of employees. This type of Principal dental insurance allows employers to choose from different contribution arrangements so they can decide whether to pay 100% or just a part of the premiums.

This type of dental plan covers all preventive services, such as cleanings and exams, as well as basic and major services. If employers enroll more than 10 employees, additional benefits can be received, such as the chance to choose the correct level of benefits that matches their needs.

4. Voluntary Employee-Paid Dental Insurance

As for employees who do not receive dental insurance as a benefit from their employers, they can avail of a voluntary type of Principal dental insurance. This dental plan is available for all employees who are willing to pay for their own dental insurance. This package, however, can stand alone, or can also be used in combination with employer-paid plans.

The voluntary dental insurance offers affordable group rates for groups of employees and can be on a payroll deduction basis for easy payments. The different benefits are offered so flexibly that employees can receive the right kind of help that they need.

Principal dental insurance is not the only offer Principal Life has to give to the dental field. The company offers consumer-driven dental care, which focuses on bringing down costs and allowing plan holders to decide the right package for them.

Principal Life also offers the Principal Dental Health Edge, which offers reliable dental information to help instill proper dental care discipline among plan holders.

Members of the Principal Life dental plans can also look for their preferred dentists by using the provider directory that will help them find the right dentist or specialist who can help them with their needs for treatment.

-Tracey Clayton, Lanmark360 Director of Operations

Here’s a subject that comes up from time to time: Is it necessary to have dental insurance? I spoke to a good number of people and this is what I found… the majority of individuals I talked to said they were not covered by dental insurance; they’d rather deal with problems as they arise instead of paying a monthly rate for coverage they may never need or use. The rest of the people said dental insurance is just that, insurance in case of an emergency, and they feel it’s worth having for peace of mind.

But isn’t there a third point of view? Shouldn’t we be using dental insurance as a preventive measure? Keeping up with your dental hygiene and visiting your dentist for checkups has been proven to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Isn’t that reason enough to participate in a dental insurance plan? Insurance carriers typically pay a higher percentage to the dentist for cleanings and x-rays, with little or no out-of-pocket cost for the patient. By contrast, when problems are detected, insurance carriers usually pay only about 50-60% of the bill, and the patient is responsible for the balance. For some procedures, this can turn into quite a bit of money, so the percentage paid by insurance is not as helpful.

In summary, if dental hygiene is maintained throughout the year, most tooth and gum catastrophes can be avoided, proving that dental insurance is money spent wisely. Right?