The short answer: on the Marketplace you can only buy a dental plan at the same time as a health plan, and a separate dental plan means a separate premium. Dental and vision plans outside the Marketplace are bought on their own. Choose on what each plan covers, its waiting periods and its yearly maximum, not on where the button sits.
How dental works on the Marketplace
- Bought with a health plan. You cannot buy a Marketplace dental plan unless you are buying a health plan at the same time.
- Built in or separate. Some Marketplace health plans include dental coverage. Others offer a separate dental plan, and if you pick one, you pay a separate premium on top of the health plan.
- Waiting periods. Some separate dental plans have waiting periods before adult services are covered.
- Children and adults are treated differently. Children's dental and vision care are essential health benefits. Adult dental and vision are not, and only some plans include vision coverage for adults.
Picture it
It is December 14 and you are clicking through the Marketplace. On the last page, a dental plan is offered, and you tick the box so it is done. In March your dentist says you need a crown, and you find out the plan makes you wait before it pays for major work.
Now picture the other version. Before you tick anything, you tell us about the crown your dentist has been watching and the glasses you replace every year. We show you the dental plan offered alongside your health plan and the plans you can buy on their own, with the waiting period and yearly maximum next to each one. You pick the one that pays for the work you already know is coming.
When buying them separately can make sense
- You chose a private health plan. Private health plans are not bought through the Marketplace, so dental and vision are added on their own. They are inexpensive to add and easy to enroll in.
- You know major dental work is coming. Waiting periods for crowns, root canals or implants are often 6 to 12 months on plans that have them. Most dental plans on our site have no waiting periods, and some waive the wait if you had prior coverage. How to plan around a waiting period.
- You want dental, vision and hearing in one plan. Several all-in-one plans bundle the three. Some are designed for 55+, some for families.
- Your teeth are healthy. Sometimes a discount plan, or paying cash for two cleanings a year, is the better math. A discount plan is not insurance, and we label it that way. Dental insurance vs. a discount plan.
Is the vision plan worth it?
Vision plans cover a yearly eye exam and give an allowance toward glasses or contacts. Whether that beats paying cash depends on how often you buy glasses or contacts and which eye doctor you see. How to do the math on a vision plan.
How to decide
- Settle the health plan first. Medical decides the most money, so pick it, then add the lines around it.
- Check what the health plan already includes. Especially for your children's dental and vision.
- Compare both doors side by side. The dental and vision offered with your health plan, and the plans you can buy on their own, on coverage, waiting periods and yearly maximums.
Want a starting point? Draft My Plan lays out options for health, dental, vision and all-in-one bundles together, and the dental and vision finder shows plans with benefit details from each carrier's own documents.
This is general education, not tax advice and not a guarantee of coverage. Benefits, waiting periods, yearly maximums, start dates and availability depend on the plan, the carrier and your state, so check the plan details before you enroll.