Dental Insurance as an Employee Benefit: 6 Must-Know Facts

NHS dentistry is in crisis. Millions are having to wait several months for a routine check-up. Delays are increasing even for urgent problems and many local practices are unable to take on new NHS patients. 

ONS data from October 2024 found that up to 97% of new patients who try to access NHS dental care are unsuccessful. Some areas of the country have become ‘dental deserts’—in parts of the East of England, such as Norfolk and Waveney, there are just 31 NHS dentists for every 100,000 people.

How have things got so bad? The COVID-19 pandemic created a backlog, but the larger problem is that there's simply too little money and too few dentists to cover everybody in the country. The vast backlog of work required has led to thousands of dentists either quitting due to overwork and exhaustion, scaling down their commitment to the NHS or going fully private. 

The cost of living crisis is also having an impact, with many people saying in future they would only seek treatment in an emergency, according to the GDC.

Tragic impacts

All this is likely to have a profound and potentially tragic impact on people's health. Despite popular belief, dentists aren't just there to prevent toothaches: they also spot serious medical conditions such as mouth cancer, which causes more deaths in the UK each year than road traffic accidents. 

If mouth cancer is spotted early enough, then treatment can be effective. But fewer dental checkups makes that less likely to happen, which may help explain why there's been a 49% rise in mouth cancer rates over the past 10 years.

It's not surprising, then, that the idea of dental insurance as an employee benefit is rapidly gaining ground. Here are six key reasons why organisations should provide Group Dental Insurance.

1) It helps your employees maintain their overall health

The most obvious reason to provide dental insurance as an employee benefit is that you want your workers to stay healthy and productive.

We don't often think about it, but dental health is closely linked to general health. Tooth decay, gum disease, and oral infection don't just cause pain and discomfort in themselves, but they can also lead to serious health issues such as heart disease and stroke. Regular dental check-ups can help prevent these problems, and early detection and treatment can stop them from becoming more serious. 

Additionally, dentists can help identify issues related to other health problems, such as diabetes or eating disorders, which can then be addressed by other medical professionals.

2) It keeps your employees loyal

Every employer wants their staff to be happy in their job, and job satisfaction doesn’t always come down to salary. More fundamentally, workers are looking for respect and appreciation at work; they don't want to feel like a replaceable cog in a machine, but a valued member of a team. 

In this light, providing dental insurance as an employee benefit is a great way to show you care about your staff's wellbeing. It shows you have their best interests at heart, and it can make a big impact on engendering loyalty, reducing churn and boosting retention. 

3) It helps reduce absenteeism

According to a 2022 survey, 50% of employees would visit the dentist more regularly if it was employer funded. That means dental insurance can make a real and measurable difference to an employees' health. And that's likely to seriously reduce the organisational costs of absenteeism. 

In other words, providing dental insurance as an employee benefit isn't just a nice thing to do. From a purely financial perspective, it will pay for itself, and potentially boost the bottom line by reducing the number of lost working days overall.

4) It also supports your employees’ families

Some of the most common causes of absenteeism include the need to care for sick children, or nurse a partner back to health, making the availability of family healthcare a worthwhile provision. 

The best Group Dental Insurance policies will typically cover the whole family (with no age limits), not just the individual employee.

5) It helps to recruit the best people

In a recent survey, 65% of employers said they view Group Dental Insurance as important to attracting and retaining the best talent. And that’s not surprising! 

For the same reason that this benefit can engender loyalty in existing employees, it's likely to sweeten the pot for new recruits too. And in an era where finding the best people is increasingly difficult due to the 'Great Resignation', that's a tangible benefit every employee will be attracted to.

6) It can save lives

Arguably the best reason overall to offer dental insurance as an employee benefit is that it can save lives. 

Mouth cancer is a disease that kills more than 3,500 people in the UK every year. Regular dentist check-ups help detect and prevent mouth cancer by identifying suspicious changes, such as sores, lumps, or discoloration. If this is done at an early stage, it can make a big difference to the success of treatment.

Group Dental Cover with YuLife

Providing Group Dental Insurance as an employee benefit is a no-brainer – and YuLife allows you to do so in a way that's fully flexible, with no hidden costs. 

YuLife allows you to choose between five cover levels, which include preventative and restorative treatment, emergency care and the option to add children and partners. Employees have a free choice of dentist (NHS or private) so they can continue to use their existing dentist or any other in the UK. There's also cash back towards virtual appointments if they can't get to see a dentist, and pre-existing conditions are covered too.

There's a simplified claims process, so employees can claim from their start date (for eligible claims) or settle claims instantly at participating networks. They can also benefit from exclusive discounts.

Most importantly, though, they'll have peace of mind knowing that they're covered for everything from accidental injuries, emergency cover worldwide — all the way to unlimited oral cancer treatment.

Learn more about Group Dental Insurance as an employee benefit with YuLife.