Dental Insurance Claim Statistics

Dental Insurance Claims Stats 2025-2024

As 2024 ends, one of the items on your list may be considering whether or not to get new veneers, crowns, or implants. There’s even a chance you simply want to visit your dentist for a checkup just to see how your pearly whites are doing.

Whichever one of these tasks you’re looking to tick off your dental resolutions list, one thing is certain — the need for dental insurance.

Dental coverage has made dental care affordable for over 240 million Americans. And if that statistic interested you, here are 10 other dental insurance claim statistics for 2025.

• Over 79% of Americans have dental insurance.
• 69 million people don’t have dental insurance.
• Dental insurance premiums cost up to $150.
• Dental insurance claims can take 15 to 60 days.
• 15% of dental insurance claims are denied.
• Incorrect information is one of the top reasons for claim denials.
• Lengthy approvals cause 30% of delayed payouts.
• 29.2% of elderly patients have dental insurance.
• Medicaid shoulders less than 61% of claim amounts.
• The average claim collection rate for dentists per year is 84%.

More Dental Claims Facts and Statistics

Over 79% of American Adults Have Dental Insurance

General healthcare is important, but based on recent data, dental care also takes priority for a large percentage of the U.S. population.

How much of the population exactly?

According to the latest data cited by WebMD, over 79% of American adults have some form of dental care coverage. Of this proportion, up to 20% of beneficiaries have coverage thanks to employer-based dental insurance.

With these figures, you can easily see how much people value their oral health in the country.

Meanwhile, there’s still a significant segment of the population who don’t have access to dental insurance. For more on this, read on to the next statistic.

At Least 69 Million People Lack Dental Insurance Coverage.

Indeed, the vast majority of the U.S. population is dentally insured. However, there are still millions of Americans who don’t have access to dental insurance, as shown by this statistic.

The latest 2024 data from CareQuest shows that nearly 70 million people don’t have dental insurance. This means that nearly a third of the U.S. population may either need to pay out-of-pocket for dental care or — more likely — abandon dental care altogether.

We can attribute the lack of access to numerous factors. The most salient one seems to be cost, and the next statistic will tell you why.

The Average Family Needs To Pay $150 Monthly for Dental Insurance

Healthcare coverage comes in numerous forms, but few have a higher cost barrier than dental insurance.

Data from Consumer Shield show that dental insurance can cost a family up to $150 in monthly premiums. While this may seem reasonable, there are numerous other costs to consider like co-pays and deductibles.

These expenses atop the monthly premium can easily add up and amount to hundreds if not thousands of dollars — even with dental insurance coverage. As a result, it’s easy to see why many families have a challenging time justifying the cost of additional dental coverage.

Besides cost-related factors, there are other reasons why some families and individuals may be on the fence about dental insurance claims. The next statistic will reveal one of them.

Average Dental Insurance Claim Timelines Can Take 15 to 60 Days

Besides being costly for some families and individuals, filing dental insurance claims can also take a while — up to two months, to be exact.

Based on recent industry data, it can take 15 to 60 days before you receive a decision on your dental insurance claim. Why does it take this long? It comes right down to pre-approvals and eligibility screening.

For dental insurance companies to prudently grant coverage, they strictly review and vet all claims. The number of claims received by these firms can be high, meaning there can be backlogs that contribute to delayed decisions on your claim.

Take note that even after 60 days, there’s no guarantee that your claim will be approved. In fact, there’s a high number of claim denials in 2024, as you’ll see in the next statistic.

15% of Insurance Claims Are Denied

Filing a dental insurance claim after receiving a cleaning or a set of veneers won’t guarantee coverage, as shown by the most recent dental insurance claim denial figures.

Recent figures show that, on average, at least 15% of received claims are denied by dental insurance companies. This denial rate is significantly higher than that of 2022 where the rates were lower by roughly four percentage points.

A trend emerges when you compare the denial rates between 2024 and previous years. Given the percentages, dental insurance claim denials are on the rise, much to the dismay of many patients.

“Why are denials happening?” you ask?

The next statistic may give us some answers.

Incorrect or Incomplete Information Is One of the Top Three Reasons for Denied Dental Insurance Claims

There are numerous reasons why a dental insurance claim can be denied. According to a recent report, one of the top three reasons behind why claims face denials is incorrect or incomplete information.

With this in mind, you can easily reduce your chances of a claim denial just by ensuring that your information is complete and up-to-date.

Besides incomplete and faulty information, other reasons were identified in the report, namely (in order):

1. Insufficient documentation
2. Lost claims or X-rays
3. Coding errors
4. Late submission of claims
5. Patient ineligibility

Lengthy Approvals Cause 30% of Delayed Payouts

If you’ve ever used health or dental insurance, you’re likely no stranger to the length of time it takes before you get reimbursed by your provider. This next statistic can shed some light on why delayed payouts happen, especially when it comes to dental insurance coverage.

Data cited by Sprout found that lengthy pre-approval and approval processes are to blame for 30% of delayed reimbursements.

Luckily, if you’re about to file a dental insurance claim, you can potentially speed things up by making the approval process easier. There are numerous things you can do, like ensuring your records are complete and correct and attaching sufficient documentation to your dental insurance claim.

Only 29.2% of Elderly Americans Have Dental Insurance

Dental insurance is critical for at-risk populations, particularly the elderly. Unfortunately, this segment of the population seems to have the least access to dental insurance, as indicated by 2024 data from the CDC. According to the data, only 29.2% of elderly Americans have dental benefits.

We can attribute this to numerous factors. However, once again, cost is the most prevalent barrier to accessing dental insurance, even in this age group.

Medicaid Shoulders Only 61% of Claim Amounts

Yes, you can get by without dental insurance. Dental coverage is also part of Medicaid policies, so if you have Medicaid, you’ll be able to get dental benefits for cleanings and procedures.

Just be aware that you won’t be fully covered. Medicaid can only shoulder around 61% of your dental expenses. Hence, if you’re looking for reduced co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses, you may be better off with private dental insurance.

On Average, the Claim Collection Rate for Dentists Is Roughly 84% Yearly

A dental insurance claim collection rate shows how much money a dental practice actually collects from insurance companies compared to what the practice billed patients. It’s a metric that measures how successful the practice is at getting paid for the treatments covered by insurance.

A high rate means the practice is good at handling claims and receiving payments, while a low rate might indicate issues like denied claims or errors in billing.

On average, dentists in the country have a claim collection rate of 84% yearly. This means that if a dental practice billed a total of $121,546 in a year, it’s likely to get back $102,546 from insurance providers.

84% is a decent dental insurance claim collection rate. However, experts say that practices should strive towards a rate of 98%.