The Hindu Business Line : Smile, dental drill will be less harsh!

In future, toothaches aside, they will at least be spared the agony of the deep cavities formed in their pockets by the prohibitive costs of dental treatment.

For the first time ever, dental-insurance as a full-fledged health care plan, will soon be introduced in the Indian markets.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India is understood to have given the nod in this regard, to public sector insurer, New India Assurance, which is working out the finer details of a comprehensive dental healthcare plan, to be sold as a scheme separate from `mediclaim', according to sources.

The insurer is understood to be working out four major plans, which will cover basic and major preventive treatments. When contacted, however, company officials were unavailable for comment.

Dr Ashok Dhoble, a leading orthodontist based in Mumbai, and closely associated with the Indian Dental Association, has been lobbying with the Government and the Ministry of Finance for introducing such a plan, for a while now.

Speaking to Business Line, Dr Dhoble said, "most dental treatments are expensive for the common man and cannot be covered under the traditional mediclaims. Mediclaim policies have a clause within them, according to which, if a patient has to make a claim, he or she will have to undergo hospitalisation".

This effectively means, that if you as a patient want to make a claim for expenses incurred for filling a tooth, you cannot, unless you were hospitalised for it. Which in most cases is not possible. So what mediclaim ends up covering in terms of dental treatment is only severe cases of dental fracture. This is where the new dental insurance plans come in.

However, to opt for such a plan, patients will have to prove that they have zero conditions; i.e., fairly healthy teeth and gums.

"Before opting for a new dental-healthcare plan, you will have to possibly update your teeth, by getting it cleaned and the cavities filled. It's like buying insurance for a second-hand car. You will have to get it serviced and in running condition first before you try and insure it," said Dr Dhoble.

Initially, it is unlikely that the new dental insurance scheme will cover `aesthetic' dentistry and implantations, which are generally perceived as higher end treatments. To start with, the insurance will cover the two basic afflictions, tooth decay and gum disease, which affect majority of the Indian population, sources said.

So those wanting to carve out beautiful smiles for themselves with `aesthetic dentistry' will remain out of the purview of such insurance and will have to continue to pay through their noses for it, at least for now.

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