Dental Coverage for La Plata County Families
Durango and Fort Lewis College anchor La Plata County, a scenic mountain community blending outdoor recreation, tourism, and a growing professional class — many residents are self-employed or work for small local businesses without employer dental plans.
For a family, the rules differ for the kids and the parents. Health insurance and dental insurance are separate purchases for most adults, because adult dental isn’t an ACA essential health benefit. In La Plata County that means choosing a health plan on Connect for Health Colorado first and treating adult dental as its own purchase.
Adult Dental vs. Pediatric Dental in La Plata County
Kids 18 and under have a guarantee parents don’t: with Marketplace coverage, dental must be available for them, built into the health plan or offered as a separate dental plan. Check what your Connect for Health Colorado plan already includes for the children before you buy a separate plan for them.
Family plans put everyone on one policy but keep the benefits per person. On SecureDental PLUS, for example, each person has a $50 deductible, capped at $150 for the family, and cleanings and exams are covered in-network without it.
Choosing a Family Dental Plan in La Plata County
No website can reliably tell you which dentists in La Plata County take a particular plan. Offices join and leave networks, so search the plan’s provider directory by the family’s dentists’ name and ZIP code, then call the office to confirm.
If braces are likely, read the orthodontia terms first: plenty of dental plans leave them out, and SecureDental PLUS limits them to the Premium tier, paying 70% after 12 months up to $500 a year and $1,500 over a lifetime.
Waiting periods are the catch. On SecureDental PLUS, cleanings are covered right away, fillings after 1 month, and crowns, bridges and orthodontia after 12 months, and HealthCare.gov warns that separate dental plans in general can have waiting periods for adults.
Know where the line sits: a dental plan covers care in a dentist’s chair, while an emergency department visit for a dental abscess or a jaw injury is a health insurance claim. Animas Surgical Hospital, LLC is one of the 2 hospitals with emergency services that Medicare lists in La Plata County; check which of them your health plan includes.
Call (713) 575-9904 and Daniel will price the dental plans available at your La Plata County ZIP code and check the network for your family.