What is Dental Insurance?
Dental insurance is a type of employee benefit that helps cover the cost of dental care, including preventive services like cleanings and exams, as well as treatments like fillings, crowns, root canals, and orthodontics. It can be offered as a standalone policy or bundled with other health benefits.
For small businesses, offering dental insurance—even as an optional benefit—can boost employee satisfaction, support recruitment and retention, and promote long-term wellbeing.
What Dental Insurance Typically Covers
Dental plans vary, but most divide coverage into three main categories:
- Preventive care: Exams, cleanings, x-rays (often covered at 100%)
- Basic services: Fillings, extractions, root canals (typically covered at 70–80%)
- Major services: Crowns, bridges, dentures, and sometimes orthodontics (usually covered at 50% or with higher deductibles)
Some plans include orthodontic care (e.g., braces) or cosmetic procedures, but these are usually offered at an additional cost or under separate riders.
Employees may also encounter:
- Annual maximums: The total amount the insurer will pay in a year
- Deductibles: The amount an employee must pay out of pocket before coverage starts
- Waiting periods: For certain procedures, especially major dental work
Why Offer Dental Insurance To Employees?
While dental insurance may seem less popular of a benefit compared with others, here are some reasons you should offer it to your team:
- Improve recruitment and retention: Dental coverage is one of the most-requested employee benefits, second only to medical insurance. Offering it can make your business more attractive to job seekers and help retain your existing team.
- Support employee health: Preventive dental care can reduce absenteeism, lower long-term health costs, and catch serious issues early.
- Provide cost-effective value: Dental insurance is generally more affordable than medical insurance, making it a cost-effective way to expand your benefits package.
- Boost employee morale: Show employees that you care about their wellbeing with dental insurance, which can increase loyalty, engagement, and workplace satisfaction.
- Stay competitive with employers: If other businesses in your area or industry are offering dental benefits, skipping it may put you at a disadvantage when hiring.
How Dental Insurance Works for Small Businesses
Different kinds of dental insurance can offer your team different benefits, while varying in cost for your business. Here’s the breakdown of how it works:
Employer-paid vs. voluntary plans
- Employer-paid: You cover all or part of the monthly premium. This can be bundled with your medical insurance or offered separately.
- Voluntary plans: Employees pay 100% of the premium, but benefit from group rates. Your role is to offer access and handle deductions through payroll.
- Cafeteria plans: Through a Section 125 plan, employees can pay dental premiums with pre-tax dollars—saving money for both them and your business.
Group dental insurance options
Group dental insurance for small businesses is typically available through:
- Insurance brokers or benefit consultants
- Health insurance carriers
- Professional associations or chambers of commerce
- Payroll and HR software providers with integrated benefits services
Plans are usually available for businesses with two or more employees, and premium costs vary based on the level of coverage, provider networks, and geographic region. With HR & compliance tools, you can manage documentation and deductions with ease.
How To Choose a Dental Plan
Once you’ve decided to offer or change your dental insurance plan offerings, here’s what to prioritize when choosing the right plan for your team:
- Cost per employee: What’s your budget for contributions?
- Provider network: Are local dentists covered?
- Coverage limits and waiting periods: Do they align with your employees’ needs?
- Plan flexibility: Can employees add dependents or opt out if they have other coverage?
- Administration: How will enrollment, deductions, and communication be handled?
Offering a simple, clear plan with no hidden costs or long waiting periods is key to employee satisfaction.
How Homebase Helps You Manage Employee Benefits
While Homebase doesn’t sell insurance directly, it supports small businesses in managing and documenting employee benefits efficiently.
With Homebase, you can:
- Collect digital benefit elections and enrollment forms
- Track employee eligibility based on hours worked
- Sync payroll with benefit deductions
- Keep employee documents stored securely in one place
- Send announcements about open enrollment or benefit updates
- Support compliance with ACA and state-level mandates
Whether you offer dental insurance now or plan to in the future, Homebase helps you stay organized and compliant without the need for a full HR team. Sign up for Homebase today to simplify benefits documentation, automate employee tracking, and manage your small business with confidence.