You’ve most likely heard of medical malpractice insurance. But you can also find products that are specific to dental malpractice claims. These often cover dentists or dental hygienists. So below we’ll look into what dental malpractice insurance is, how much it costs, and where you can find it.
- Top 5 Providers of Dental Malpractice Insurance
- What is Dental Malpractice Insurance?
- Types of Dental Malpractice Insurance
- How Much Does Dental Malpractice Insurance Cost?
- Does Dental Malpractice Insurance Cover Dental Hygienists or Dental Assistants?
- Dental Office Insurance: Cost, Coverage, and Providers
Top 6 Providers of Dental Malpractice Insurance
Here are the top 6 companies providing dental malpractice that we recommend after researching more than 15 companies in this industry.
- CoverWallet: Best for Comparing Online Quotes
- Medpro: Size and financial stability
- Proliability: Comprehensive hygienist coverage
- Dentist’s Advantage: Focusing on just dentists
- Professional Protector Plan: Customization of products
- BaxterPro: Variety of products
- Simply Business: Best brokerage firm to find cheap dental malpractice insurance
CoverWallet: Best for Comparing Online Quotes
CoverWallet is a digital broker specializing in business insurance. They offer a wide range of business insurance products and serve several business sectors. They work with several leading business insurance companies and are able to aggregate quotes from these companies.
If you provide your information on their quote form, they will be able to provide you with several quotes so that you can compare and select the best one for your situation. If you are new to obtaining malpractice insurance for your practice, you should definitely call their agents to discuss your case. Their agents are very knowledgeable in this field and will guide you to find the best policy for your and your business.
If you want to compare several quotes in one place, CoverWallet is a great option.
Proliability: Best for Comprehensive Hygienist Coverage
Proliability is one of the top companies that comes up when you search dental malpractice insurance for dental hygienists. It offers a comprehensive plan that covers limits up to $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate. The company also covers dentists.
We got a mock quote from the system for a dental hygienist (you can also list dental assistant or dental therapist). It gave us a $71 per year quote with a $1 million per incident and a $3 million aggregate coverage.
Dentist’s Advantage: Best for Focusing on Dentists Only
Dentist’s Advantage covers a wide range of professionals, from students to new graduates to dentists to practice owners. In addition to professional liability, it also offers a business owners policy product, umbrella coverage, and worker’s compensation, all with dentists in mind. In order to get a quote, you must contact the company’s 800 number or fill out a contact form so a rep can contact you.
Professional Protector Plan: Best for Customization of Products
Professional Protector Plan for Dentists allows you to fully customize your plan with a variety of products, like professional liability (AKA dental malpractice insurance), general liability, and property coverage. What’s really an interesting product is the additional coverages that can handle issues like cyber liability, HVAC and equipment breakdown, and employment practices liability. You can start the process by filling out a contact form and an agent will get in touch with you.
BaxterPro: Best for Offering a Wide Variety of Products
BaxterPro offers a wide variety of medical malpractice insurance products and includes dental malpractice insurance on that list. There are many different products available, like tail coverage to extend your policy active date, medical waste defense for if you’re charged with illegal disposal of medical waste and whole organization coverage. To request a quote, you must fill out a detailed information form about your practice.
Simply Business: Best brokerage firm to find cheap dental malpractice insurance
Simply Business is a broker specializing in small business insurance. They work with many carriers with a focus to help you find low-cost coverage, including dental malpractice insurance. They vet the carriers that they work with carefully to ensure that all of them have excellent financial ratings. They select the carriers that can offer low-cost coverage even if these carriers may not be well-known and small businesses may not have access to them otherwise.
Pros:
- Easy to get and compare several quotes online
- Able to get quotes from A-rated carriers which you may not be aware of and offer low cost
- Knowledgeable agents that are available to help you along the process
Cons:
- If you prefer a particular carrier that Simply Business doesn’t work with, you may need to look elsewhere
- Have to file a claim directly with the carriers
What is Dental Malpractice Insurance?
Dental malpractice insurance covers you as a dentist or dental hygienist, in the case of someone filing a claim against you for harm from the dental procedures performed. It’s technically a type of professional liability insurance.
Some examples of when you might have a claim are when a root canal leads to nerve damage, failure to refer for further testing on a cancerous tumor of the tongue or bite problems after a crown was placed. There have been cases that the people who filed the claims were awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some damages awarded go up into the millions.
The types of professionals who should consider dental insurance are:
- Oral surgeons: claims can be common, since they perform complicated procedures and use anesthesia, leading to greater risk
- Both general dental practitioners and specialty practices, like orthodontists
- Support professionals like dental hygienists or dental assistants
Dental malpractice insurance for hygienists is usually a separate product and also falls under the header of professional liability insurance.
>>MORE: Best Professional Liability Insurance Companies for Small Business
Types of Dental Malpractice Insurance
Like many professional liability insurance types, dental malpractice insurance falls under two main types, as listed by Trusted Choice:
Occurrence policies: These cover you for work that was performed when the policy was in effect, no matter when the claim was filed. It’s a favored policy type for dentists who are close to retirement, rely on employer-based insurance and then change employers, or who simply want more complete coverage.
Claims-made policies: These cover you as long as the claim was made and the malpractice event was performed during specified dates. It’s a more limited type of coverage, but tends to cost less than occurrence policies.
Dental malpractice insurance can also be divided between which types of professionals it covers. As mentioned above, dental malpractice insurance for hygienists is its own product.
According to insurer Proliability, this type of insurance for hygienists can be used while employed or carried as a self-employed worker. Dental hygienist insurance products cover a wide variety of risks specific to dental hygienists, like HIPAA fines, licensing board investigations, and first aid reimbursement when you have to give first aid to someone, as a few examples.
Dental malpractice insurance for doctors, on the other hand, covers risks related to that profession, like when oral surgery is performed improperly or a wrong tooth is extracted.
>>MORE: Malpractice Insurance Costs for Different Professions
How Much Does Dental Malpractice Insurance Cost?
How much this type of insurance costs can vary significantly based on which profession you are part of, how long you have been in the field, and whether you choose an occurrence or claims-made policy.
According to Trusted Choice, recent graduates of dental school can pay anywhere from $300 to $1,000 per year. After five years of practice, premiums may go up to $2,000 to $3,000 per year.
However, professional liability insurance for hygienists tends to be less expensive, with premiums as low as $69 per year, according to Proliability.
In order to get the best price or quote for your situation, you should always compare quotes from a few companies. One convenient way of comparing several quotes is to work with a digital broker like CoverWallet or Simply Business. After providing your information, they will be able to provide a few quotes from the companies they partner with so that you can compare and select the best one for you.
>>MORE: Top 4 Providers of Nursing Malpractice Insurance
How to Find a Dental Malpractice Quote Through a Broker
In order to compare quotes through an online commercial insurance broker, you would need to search under professional liability insurance. That’s what we did through CoverWallet to see what the process is like.
We entered an LLC dental practice with six employees that has been in business since 2016 and makes $100,000 in annual revenue. The system wants you to call their number, since this a more involved type of small business insurance.
Does Dental Malpractice Insurance Cover Dental Hygienists or Dental Assistants?
Dentists and dental hygienists or dental assistants work in the same space and often take care the same patients. It can be argued that they are probably exposed to similar risks. However, the level of risks they have are very different. At the end of the day, dentists usually perform much riskier work or operation like root canal or crown placement, which, if problems incur, can be very damaging to the patients. On the other hand, dental hygienists or dental assistants perform much simpler work like cleaning or assisting the dentist during the treatment. If problems incur to a dental hygienist, the damages should be much smaller and less serious.
Even they might be exposed to similar risks, their risk levels are very different between a dentist and a dental hygienists, that is the reason why dental malpractice insurance for dental hygienists or dental assistants is often a separate policy on its own. And it should usually be much cheaper compared to the malpractice insurance policy for dentists.
>>MORE: The 4 Best Malpractice Insurance Companies for Dental Hygienists
Dental Office Insurance: Cost, Coverage, and Best Providers
If you run a dental office or a dental practice, you will need more than just a malpractice insurance policy. Your dental office or dental practice is a small business location and it should be insured properly.
Most dental offices should have a Business Owners Policy (BOP), which includes the coverages of three common policies that are needed by most small businesses: general liability insurance, commercial property insurance, and business income interruption insurance. Learn more at the best BOP insurance companies.
In addition to that, if you have employees, even just one and part-time, you will need to buy workers compensation insurance, which is required by all states, except Texas. Workers comp insurance will pay the medical costs and lost wages if your employees are injured or become ill at work. Learn more at the best workers comp insurance companies.
Learn more at business insurance for dental offices: cost, coverage, and best providers
Dental Malpractice Insurance in New York
Dental malpractice insurance isn’t required in New York state. However, it is highly advisable that you have malpractice insurance before practicing in New York.
Medical malpractice insurance is very expensive in New York. In fact, New York is one of the top 3 states with the most expensive malpractice insurance. And dental malpractice insurance isn’t an exception. One of the reasons that it is so expensive in New York is that there is no limit in malpractice payout if you lose a dental malpractice law suit in New York.
Shopping dental malpractice insurance in New York can be complicated. The best way is to work with broker so that he can help you find the best policy for your situation. Working with a broker that works with several companies is even better since he can help you get several quotes at once and you can compare them to get the best one.
How to Find Affordable Dental Malpractice Insurance?
The best way to find affordable dental malpractice insurance is to shop around with a few companies. Choosing 3-4 companies from the list we provide above and getting quotes from them is a good way to compare quotes. You can also work with a digital broker like CoverWallet or Simply Business. They partner with several insurance companies and are able to provide quotes from these companies after you provide your personal and business information. You will be able to compare several quotes in one place conveniently.
Final Thoughts
- Dental malpractice insurance covers you in the event that someone claims damages in relation to a dental procedure performed. It covers a wide variety of professionals in the industry, including dental hygienists.
- This type of insurance can cost anywhere from around $70 per year to thousands, depending on the type of practice, profession within the industry and time practicing.
- There are a number of companies that offer this type of insurance directly, from larger companies to smaller specialized companies that just focus on the dental industry.
