Dentistry is physical work built on years of expensive training. Disability insurance replaces your income if an injury or illness keeps you from practicing, so your loans, your mortgage, and your family’s life stay on track.
Why own-occupation coverage matters
The policy pays because she can’t work as a dentist in her specialty, whatever she earns elsewhere.
Because she can still work, the carrier may reduce or deny her claim.
Start with what your household needs each month to live normally if you couldn’t practice. Make that your minimum, then increase coverage as your income grows.
Enter your monthly costs. The numbers below are examples.
Carriers limit how much coverage you can buy based on your income and career stage. This is a planning estimate, not a quote.
Disability policies look alike until you read the contract. These are the terms that decide whether a dentist actually gets paid.
Some carriers offer graded pricing, which can be about 40 percent cheaper at first but rises every year as you age. Level pricing locks your rate for the life of the policy. If you need to start smaller, buy less coverage at a level price and increase it later.
You’re paid if you can’t work in your own dental occupation, even if you earn income doing something else. Carriers also call it regular, true, or pure occupation.
The carrier must renew your policy and can’t raise your price or change your benefits. Your contract stays as written even when carriers rewrite their plans.
Pays a portion of your benefit when you lose part of your income, time, or duties, typically 15 to 20 percent or more. Most dental claims start as partial claims.
Lets you add coverage as your income grows without a new medical exam, at the rates and contract you locked in. Carriers may call it a benefit increase or benefit update rider.
Raises your benefit each year while you’re on a long claim, often by 3 percent, so payments keep pace with inflation.
How long you wait after becoming disabled before monthly benefits start.
How long benefits are paid once a claim is approved.
Every carrier also includes some riders at no cost and offers others for an added premium. There is no single best plan. Each has advantages that may or may not matter to you, so your advisor compares them side by side.
We learn about your career, your goals, and your finances, then put the differences between carriers into plain terms so you can make an informed decision.
Your advisor reviews each approved plan and lays out the pros and cons of each one for your situation.
Carriers we compareAs early as you can, ideally in dental school or residency. Students and residents often qualify for preferred pricing, and that discount stays locked into the contract. Buying early with a future increase option lets you add coverage later even if your health changes.
If you pay the premiums yourself with after-tax money, benefits are generally income-tax free. If an employer pays the premiums, or you pay them with pre-tax money, benefits are generally taxable. Confirm your situation with your tax advisor.
Usually not on its own. Group coverage often uses a looser definition of disability after the first couple of years, caps the benefit, may be taxable, and typically ends when you leave the job. An individual own-occupation policy goes with you for your whole career.
Guaranteed renewable means the carrier must renew your policy as long as you pay. Non-cancelable adds that the carrier can’t raise your premium or change your benefits. Dentists should look for both, so the price and the contract stay exactly as purchased.
About 1 in 4 dentists file a disability claim during their careers, and most claims involve the hands, neck, or back. These often start as wear and tear that cuts your hours or procedures before stopping you completely. Partial disability coverage pays during that stage.
A longer waiting period lowers your premium but means covering more months from savings. A longer benefit period costs more but protects you for more of your career. Your advisor will weigh both against your savings, loans, and plans.
Book a one-hour consultation. Your advisor will review any coverage you have now and compare own-occupation plans side by side.
