I use Assurant Employee Benefits You don't have to be employed anywhere. Its a good discount plan and very affordable For just me it's about $109. a year maybe $160 for family (a guess) My dentist's clerk said it was one of the best paying one's. check it out

Here is a link that might be useful: Assurant Employee Benefits

Before buying any dental insurance, be sure your dentist will take it. Most dentists seem to take Delta Dental and it is very good insurance.

Beware of dental plans that require you to go to a certain dentist or group. Dentists that participate in those plans are not the best.

Many good dentists accept those dental plans for discount services, which is not an insurance.

I think checking with your dentist is a good idea.
My sis-in-law has retiree (teacher) Delta Dental & I would say it is not the best paying (at least compared to ours that is thru a retiree union pkg.) & has an annual cap, so it probably varies, i.e. not the same coverage across the board.

I can't find any dental insurance worth buying. Many cover so few things, then cover small percentages of actual costs. We dropped Met Life; just wasn't worth it.

Years ago DH's employer used Cigna. I was afraid to park my car where their providers were located. We complained and got our (admittedly small) premium refunded.

We had Delta..our dentist called and said they no longer would accept it. The last year we had it they reimbursed our dentist less than ten per cent compared to what we paid in premium for the year.
We called around, no dental practice here accepts Delta. We just pay cash now.

DH went to the dentist this week and asked about insurance. His dentist said it was hard to find a really good individual plan due to the exclusions. Many of them cover routine care- annual check-up, cleaning, or a cavity filled and exclude the costlier items. He said group plans tended to provide better coverage.

The billing clerk gave DH the names of a few plans that they take but also warned him that he'd find the fine print excludes most services.

When I was working for the California State University system, I knew that our retirement plan included them paying our medical and dental for life but I didn't realize what a big savings that would be. They reimburse me for my Medicare payment by adding that amount to my monthly pension check. They also pay the premium on my Blue Cross/Blue Shield secondary insurance and my Delta Dental. The dental isn't as good a coverage as when I was working but it sure helps.

Unlike medical insurance, dental insurance is more akin to prepayment for services than classical "insurance". It's probably cheaper for most people to just pay for services as needed. If your coverage is only what you use from year to year, you're probably not getting much out of it.

The cost of employer-provided plans is much higher than what's typically offered to individuals, and the pricing is really an aggregation of costs of covered services with a slight discount factor. Many dentists are starting to offer their own "insurance" coverage to their patients, and they're really nothing more than a flat amount prepayment for normal recurring services.

Linda, you earned your retirement benefits and are more than entitled to them. Future retirees from government agencies like yours and others at all levels will have skinnier coverage (if any) because the costs are too high and so the programs are unsustainable.

I dislike Cigna and love Delta dental. I went through the connect for Colorado portal....like the Obama health care plan. The cost was $33 a month for 2 of us.

We have/had Delta through my husband's work..and added Ameritus from my work this year.
We will find out how it all shakes out..Kellan has just started with an orthodontist.. We also have flex spending..so I hope we will have very little "out of pocket"..

Delta is very picky about things, so if you do have it and need more than the "cleaning and minor repairs" make sure you find out your coverage prior to things being done.. We got clobbered a few years back when I had some extensive work done.

I'll tell you what I learned as an industry insider. Dental insurance is a waste of premiums, unless you want to consider it like a savings account. You're better off saving the money yourself and paying cash. But I see most people here are already learning that.