Medicare Dental Coverage: Does it Exist?

Medicare covers many things for the people it is intended to help and this helps our country to run a bit smoother.  Though Medicare does do a good job on the whole of keeping people well and happy it does drop the ball in one area, dental coverage.  Medicare will only cover you in very rare instances when a procedure is necessary, not routine.

Here is the few exceptions to the rule:

1) A non-covered dental service MAY be covered if it is the result of a covered dental service, a necessary part of the same covered dental service, and performed by the same Medicare approved dentist.  This covers the bases as you would have to have a procedure already.

2) Extraction of teeth to prepare the jaw for radiation treatment secondary to cancer.  Medicare does think about some long-term effects and tries to plan for them. 

3) Dental examination prior to kidney transplantation as this is a completely necessary procedure. 

If you feel like you have a situation in which Medicare should pay for your dental work you should contact Medicare offices first to see if any other exceptions exist.

Entry Filed under: Enrollment Questions