5 Reasons To Add Dental Benefits To Your International Health Insurance

When it comes to choosing the right international health insurance policy, you may find yourself looking for certain things. At William Russell, our international health insurance policy offers a variety of optional benefits.

Perhaps one of the most important benefits we offer is dentistry. That’s because, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 50% of people in the world suffer from oral diseases, and these numbers are on the rise – especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Oral diseases such as tooth decay and gum disease are set to pose a massive health concern in the future. Not only can they affect your quality of life and well-being, they have also been linked to other diseases in the heart, brain and lungs. Yet despite this concern, 39% of people in the UK admit to not going to the dentist regularly.

Accessing dentistry services in a foreign country can be both difficult and expensive. That’s why it’s important to think about choosing a health insurance package that offers dentistry too. Let’s go over some of the benefits of adding dental health insurance to your international health insurance policy.

In this article

• Dental health benefits: what’s included?
• 5 reasons to add dental benefits to your health insurance
• Make sure you’re getting the most out of your dental benefits

Dental health benefits: what’s included?

As a William Russell member with international health insurance, your plan will always provide cover for emergency dental restorative treatment that you receive in a hospital (e.g. if you break your teeth in a road traffic accident and require hospitalisation). 

If you have chosen a Silver or Gold plan, you will also be covered for dental treatment following an accident that doesn’t require hospitalisation (e.g., if you break your teeth and later have them repaired at a dentist’s surgery).

You also have the option to add additional dental benefits to your plan, covering you for a wide variety of dental treatments.

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We offer two optional benefits plans, Dental Basic and Dental Plus.

Dental Basic is included as standard on all Gold plans, and is an optional extra for SilverLite and Silver plans. Dental Plus is an optional extra for Gold and Silver plans.

Our dental insurance benefits include cover for a variety of dentistry treatments administered at a private practice, including:

• Bridges
• Crowns
• Fillings
• Root canals
• Scaling and polishing
• Extractions
• Dentures*

Our optional dental benefits are not separate policies. Rather, they can be included alongside your international health insurance policy. That means you can make a claim for any dental treatments covered by your benefit through your health insurance policy.

*Some procedures are only included with Dental Plus. Click here to compare policy options.

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5 reasons to add dental benefits to your health insurance

Dental insurance can benefit your life and well-being in many ways. Here are five of the best reasons to consider choosing dental benefits:

1/ Dental health is slowly getting worse

Do you brush your teeth twice a day and floss regularly? It seems that oral health is generally declining around the world. Right now, nearly half the world’s population is suffering from some form of oral disability, including 34% living with tooth decay.

There are many causes for the declining standards of oral health. Chief among them seems to be the increasing amount of sugar in our diets, which is largely found in processed foods, fizzy drinks and alcohol. The Oral Health Foundation in the UK found that 79% of people in Britain eat sugary foods at least three times a day, with 45% also regularly drinking sugary drinks, including tea, coffee, alcohol and carbonated beverages.

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Another cause of poor oral health is smoking, and while the number of adult smokers worldwide has dropped significantly in recent years, around 1 in 5 – or 1.25 billion people globally – still use tobacco products regularly.

Another thing to consider is exposure to fluoride. Fluoride helps prevent your teeth from decaying by protecting and remineralising enamel, killing bacteria and stopping plaque from producing acid. Many communities around the world add fluoride to tap water to ensure people are regularly exposed to this helpful mineral. But, if you live in an area that does not add fluoride to tap water, you may need to supplement your fluoride intake in other ways, such as with dissolvable tablets.

All this being said, it’s easy to see why the quality of oral health seems to be declining around the world – and why it’s important for us all to take steps to help ourselves. Having access to the best quality dentistry, no matter where you move in the world, is one way to ensure you can mitigate the risk of oral health conditions. Your dentist will not only treat the symptoms of tooth decay, they’ll help you to take preventative action to protect your teeth too.

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2/ The cost of dentistry is skyrocketing

With the cost of living crisis stretching household budgets around the world, and with the cost of healthcare going up generally, it’s more important than ever to ensure you can afford healthcare as and when you need it – and this includes dentistry too.

Research in the UK found that the cost of dentistry has increased between 14–32% over the last two years, with all types of procedures now much more expensive. Even the cost of a routine consultation has jumped 23% from £65/US$80 to £80/US$100.

And based on current trends, it’s likely the cost of dentistry will continue to become more and more expensive. With dentists investing heavily in new technology, an increasing need for specialised treatment, and escalating overheads brought on by the cost of living crisis, your dentist is likely to charge even more in the near future.

That could make the cost of dentistry unaffordable for you and your family, pushing you towards lower-quality treatment or even causing you to avoid going to the dentist altogether.

Choosing dental insurance benefits can help to protect your budget while also ensuring you’ll always have access to high-quality dentistry. Employers can also support their teams’ dental wellbeing by offering group health insurance, which can include dental cover.

Worried about the cost of international health insurance?

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3/ Dental emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere

Whether it’s a dental abscess, an infection, gum bleeding or a toothache, you’ll know when a dental emergency strikes – the pain is enough to keep Britons off work for a combined 23 million working days a year, with 10% saying they have had to take a whole week off due to toothache.

In fact, according to the British Medical Journal, one in every 140 medical emergencies is for a dental problem, making them one of the most common causes of acute pain.

Experiencing a dental emergency can be even more concerning if you are living and working in a foreign country. You may not be able to find a dentist who can provide the treatment you need, and you may be liable to pay huge costs if you require an emergency appointment. Even if you are seen, you may then encounter long waiting lists before you are able to receive the necessary treatment.

While your international health insurance policy always provides cover for restorative treatment received in a hospital, our optional dental benefits ensure you’ll be able to cover the cost of non-restorative emergency dental surgery too. With the option of worldwide coverage, you can even be sure that you’ll be able to visit a dentist for an emergency appointment when you’re travelling abroad.

All William Russell plans come with medical evacuation as standard

Learn more about emergency medical evacuation insurance here

4/ Our dentistry needs are becoming more complex

Not only is the population of earth still growing, many of us are now living longer into our old age. The global life expectancy is now around 73 years, and is expected to increase another five years by 2050.

With so many aging people in the world, dentists are finding themselves under pressure to meet the more complex needs of older people. For instance, around 19% of us now wear dentures – that’s almost 1.6 billion people on earth. Older people are also more likely to experience tooth decay and gum disease.

Furthermore, more people than ever are developing long-term conditions associated with aging. Arthritis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, for example, can make it harder for older people to care for their teeth and visit their dentist.

Thankfully, dental technology is evolving to meet the ever-growing needs of an older population. Artificial intelligence, 3D printing, teledentistry and advanced laser treatments are just some of the innovations on the horizon. But these technologies require dentists to invest considerable amounts of their time for advanced training, to adapt to new regulatory frameworks, and of course huge financial sums too.

As such, it’s likely that you will start to notice waiting lists growing longer at your local dentist’s surgery, not to mention increasing fees. Choosing dental insurance benefits today can therefore help to ensure you won’t be impacted by these trends – that you can continue to access dental services when you need them, and that the cost of your dentistry can continue to be covered by your health insurance policy. 

This may become especially important as you grow older, and your own dental needs start to become more complex and more frequent.

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5/ Dental cover gives you flexibility

One of the reasons many of us put off going to the dentist is that we simply forget. Scheduling regular dentists appointments into our busy schedules can be difficult, especially for expats living abroad. In the UK, 15% of people admit they only go to the dentist for ‘occasional’ check-ups, while 18% say they only go when they have an immediate need, such as toothache.

If a lack of flexibility is stopping you from visiting your dentist more often, dental insurance benefits help to ensure you will always be able to access dentistry services as and when you need them.

At William Russell, our dental insurance gives you an annual benefit that you can spend on a range of treatments, such as regular check-ups, routine cleaning, dental screenings, and dental procedures such as fillings, extractions and root canal treatments. If you choose our Dental Plus plan, you will also be able to use your budget towards new dentures, dental implants, crowns and dental bridges.

Your dental benefits entitle you to choose any dentist within your coverage zone. You can also opt for a private dentist, ensuring you won’t be subject to long waiting lists. Even in some parts of the UK, the average waiting time to see a public dentist can be as high as four years.

With so much flexibility in your policy, you’ll find it easy to visit your dentist more regularly and get the treatment you need – even when you are living abroad.

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Make sure you’re getting the most out of your dental benefits

Despite rising costs and an ever increasing number of patients with oral health problems, William Russell data shows that our members around the world are actually using their dental benefits less.

Since 2020, the percentage of claims we’ve processed related to dentistry has dropped from just 2% to 1%.

Year

% of total claims related to dentistry

2020

2%

2021

2%

2022

1%

2023

1%

2024

1%

As a William Russell member, you may not realise you are entitled to claim against dental expenses if you have added dental benefits to your policy. Be sure to check your policy wording or contact our award-winning customer service team if you’re not sure.

And remember, with our dental insurance benefits, you are free to visit any dentist at any time and file a claim with us after the work has been completed. So long as the type of procedure is covered by your plan, and your claim is within your annual benefit cash limit, we’ll cover the cost of any dentistry work you’ve had done. All you have to do is fill in our claims form and submit it to us.

This is an especially important time for dental health around the world, with more people than ever suffering from tooth decay and gum disease. Make sure you’re taking care of your oral health by making the most of your dental health insurance benefits from William Russell.

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Dental health insurance, tailor-made for expats

At William Russell, we have over 30 years’ experience providing international health insurance to expats like you.

Our optional dental health insurance benefits give you access to the highest-quality dental care around the world, covering both the costs of regular check-ups and many common procedures. With the option of Dental Basic and Dental Plus plans, you are free to choose a policy that suits your needs and your budget.

Find out more about our dental health insurance benefits, available with our international health insurance policies, and get a quote online in under two minutes.

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