Dental insurance
Whether you are an NHS or private dental patient, we have a choice of insurance policies to help you budget for your dental treatment.
What is dental insurance?
Dental insurance policies can cover routine check-ups, as well as the costs of dental work, including dental injuries and emergencies.
You pay the dentist first, then claim back your money. You can have the work done at either an NHS practice or at a private clinic. You can normally only start to claim between one and three months after you buy the insurance, but you can claim immediately for preventative treatments like routine exams, x-rays, and scale and polish by dentists or hygienists (Dental 20). Waiting periods apply on the other benefits.
Dental Cover is currently not available to new customers.
Visit Bupa Smile Plan for our consumer dental subscription product.
If you'd like to speak to us about your existing dental cover, call our team on 0333 920 2421^
Dental insurance for small businesses.
If you're a business with up to 249 employees, you can find more information about dental insurance on our dedicated page.
What you get with Bupa dental insurance
Preventative dental treatment
Preventative treatment is about keeping the teeth and mouth healthy to avoid any more serious treatment.
This includes routine examinations, X-rays and scale and polishing.
Restorative dental treatment
We provide cover for any clinically necessary treatment that has been recommended by a dental professional to keep teeth and gums healthy and free from pain.
Oral Cancer
Our dental insurance policies cover your people for oral cancer, so if they're diagnosed, we'll be able to help. Your employees can get around the clock access to expert advice from the comfort of their own home. We'll be there for every step of their cancer journey.
Orthodontic treatment
Orthodontics, also known as teeth straightening, involves wearing devices to straighten teeth. We offer a wide range of orthodontic treatments, including discreet braces and aligners.
Dental Plan and Dental Choice only.
Dental Injury
Accidents happen. If your employees teeth or mouth are injured, we'll do our best to get them smiling again with a range of treatments covered.
Dental Cover 20 only.
Dental emergency
Whether it's for severe pain, an inability to eat, or something causing a threat to general health, it's reassuring to know that your employees can see a dentist quickly in an emergency.
Dental Cover 20 only.
Benefits of using practices in the Bupa Dental Insurance Network
Instant claim†
Claim in an instant at selected practices in our Dental Insurance Network. After treatment, the receptionist will submit your claim and we'll pay the practice directly - up to your benefit limits. You'll need to pay for any dental treatment that isn't covered on your policy.
Up to 20% discount on general dental treatments††
We have a nationwide network of selected Bupa owned and Bupa approved dental practices. If your employees use a dentist in the Bupa Dental Insurance Network, they will get up to 20% discount^ on general dental treatment costs.
Within our network you’re entitled to discounts on the following treatments.
- Routine examination
- New patient/specialist examination
- Examination new patient (child)
- Small X-ray (bitewing or intra-oral)
- Other X-rays
- Scale and polish
- Silver/amalgam filling
- White filling
- Fissure sealants
- Topical fluoride solution
- Root canal treatment completed by a general dentist‡
- Simple extraction
- Surgical extraction (flap raised) apicectomy
- Inlay/onlay
- Veneer
- Crowns
- Bridges
- Repair of bridge or crown
- Post for crown/cast post and core/pre fabricated post and
core - Upper or lower denture (partial or full)
- Repair denture/reline denture
- Mouth guards
- GIC filling
- Orthodontic treatment completed by a general
dentist‡ - Periodontal treatment completed by a general
dentist‡
‡Any treatment provided by a specialist dentist as registered with the General Dental Council, or a dentist with a special interest in a specific treatment and only providing this service at the practice will not be eligible for a discount.
Our Dental Cover 20 only covers you for new conditions that occur once your cover has started. If you haven't had a dental examination in the 24 months before you joined the policy, we will not pay for any treatment identified as necessary, planned or that you receive at the first dental examination by a dental professional after joining the policy. Please also see the 'What isn't covered' question.
For all of our dental products you can start claiming for preventative treatments such as routine examinations, scale and polish and X-rays straight away.
There is a four month waiting period for restorative dental treatment, for example fillings, root canal work, extractions, crowns, dentures, bridges and other laboratory work. For oral cancer treatment, the waiting period is six months from the start date of the policy.
With Dental Cover 20, you are also covered for emergency dental treatment 14 days from when your policy starts, whereas dental injury treatment is available after four months.
Our dental insurance covers existing customers for routine treatments, clinically necessary dental treatments, orthodontic treatment, emergency dental treatments and dental injuries.
These is also unlimited cover‡‡ for oral cancer treatment if using a fee-assured consultant in a partnership facility.
Treatments and benefits allowances vary by product and level.
There are certain treatments not covered and these vary by product and product level. For example we do not cover cosmetic treatment or any restorative dental treatment that our Chief Dental Officer does not consider as clinically necessary. When we say clinically necessary, we mean any dental treatment, recommended by your dentist, that is needed to keep your teeth and gums healthy and free from pain. We also do not cover surgical implants, bridges or dentures when used to correct a pre-existing condition or pre-existing gap that occurred before the cover start date including replacement of a surgical implant, bridge or denture that has previously been fitted for a tooth that was extracted before the policy began. Orthodontic treatments are not covered with an IOTN rating 3 or below when aged 19 and over, or rating 2 or below when aged 18 and younger. Oral cancer treatment must be pre-authorised and carried out in a partnership facility under the care of a fee-assured consultant.
Full details of what is and isn't covered can be found in the Membership Guide. It's important that you read Section 3 of the guide to fully understand what is and isn't covered for each type of treatment.
We'll send your employees a welcome pack electronically or in the post, depending on the option you have chosen. If we re sending this electronically, we'll send them an invitation, by email. They can then register for a digital account via My Bupa so they can access their cover documents. If not, full details will be sent in the post.
The cover documents include their membership guide, and their certificate shows their policy number, level of cover, who is covered, cover start and end date.
For Dental Cover 20 you can continue to use your own dentist, but you can also benefit from using the Bupa Dental Insurance Network. Find out more about our dental cover options.
^ We may record or monitor our calls. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 12:30pm.
†Selected Bupa Dental Insurance Network practices forward claims and are agents of Bupa Insurance Limited. Any claims for dental injury treatment and oral cancer cannot be processed by the dental practice. You'll need to complete and send us a claim form for dental injury claims, which can be done through your digital account or by post. For oral cancer claims you will need to call us. You can download a claim form from bupa.co.uk/dental/dental-insurance/make-claim.
††If you use a participating dentist in the Bupa Dental Insurance Network, you will get up to 20% discount on general treatment costs, helping you make the most of your benefit limits.
‡You must inform the dentist you have Bupa dental insurance and provide your membership number prior to your appointment to benefit from this offer. 10% or 20% discounts are available depending on the practice and the dentist you are seeing. To find the selected Bupa owned and approved network dental practices where this offer is available, see finder.bupa.co.uk and search the Bupa Dental Insurance Network. Discount excludes laboratory fees and specialist treatment and cannot be used against NHS and Bupa Dental Essentials services. Discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount.
‡‡We do not cover oral cancer that was diagnosed or for which you had symptoms or investigations before your cover start date. If your group is transferring your dental insurance from another provider to us, we'll provide continuous cover so long as you had dental insurance via the previous provider and your policy covered against oral cancer.
Bupa dental insurance is provided by Bupa Insurance Limited. Registered in England and Wales No. 3956433 Bupa Insurance limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Arranged and administered by Bupa Insurance Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales No. 3829851. Registered office: 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ.
