Dental Health Insurance Guide for Foreigners in Germany - 2024

Dental care in statutory health insurance

Public health insurance in Germany is based on the principle of solidarity. The contribution is based on income. The statutory health insurance funds provide the same benefits for all insured people.

In principle, public insurance in Germany only covers standard care. It covers only medically necessary and sufficient treatments that are economically justifiable.

Standard care has stringent financial limits for dental treatments and dentures. Anyone wishing for higher-quality treatment must bear the costs themselves. In this case, the co-payment is very high, especially for dentures (crowns, bridges, implants). Some dental services are generally not reimbursable.

Benefits provided by public health insurance for dental treatment and dentures

The statutory health insurance provider reimburses 100% of medically necessary dental treatments—but only if the treatment is approved as part of standard care. Insured people must pay for additional services themselves.

A bonus scheme applies for dentures. Those insured with a statutory health insurance fund must keep a bonus booklet and document dental check-ups. Anyone who goes for a check-up less than once a year will not receive a denture subsidy.

The subsidies for dentures amount to

• 60% without bonus
• 70% after 5 years of uninterrupted documentation of preventive check-ups
• 75% after 10 years of complete documentation of preventive check-ups

However, these subsidies are based on the standard benefit. The health insurance funds only cover the cheapest option for dentures. For other dental treatments, public insurance also covers only the most favorable service.

Status of dental care in public health insurance

1. Reimbursement only for standard services, but not for higher-value treatments
2. High co-payments, especially for dentures
3. Exclusion of many dental services from health insurance coverage

Dental care in private health insurance

Employees with an annual income of at least €69,300 (status 2024), freelancers, and the self-employed can take out full private health insurance.

Private insurance benefits depend on the selected tariff — all benefits covered by the contract are reimbursed. Benefits received are settled directly with doctors, dentists, or other medical service providers and reimbursed by the insurance company.

How much private insurance costs depends not on income but on the policyholder’s age and state of health when taking out the insurance, as well as the chosen tariff and any excess selected.

Dental coverage of private health insurance

Private-insured people can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with more extensive and higher-quality medical services than those with statutory insurance. This also applies to private insurance dental care. Reimbursement of costs for diagnostics, therapies, and materials is based on current medical standards, without cost-related reductions in service quality and considering aesthetic criteria.

Private health insurance fully covers most dental services. These include:

• Preventive check-ups
• Professional teeth cleaning
• Periodontal disease prevention and treatment
• Other preventive measures to maintain dental health, such as dental sealants
• Tooth preservation measures such as fillings and root canal treatment
• Dental crowns and inlay fillings
• Dentures: implants, bridges, partial or total prosthesis
• Partly purely aesthetic services such as bleaching

Age limits for orthodontic treatments

Age limits also apply to orthodontic treatment in private insurance. The costs are usually only covered up to the age of 21. Orthodontic treatment for adults is only reimbursed after severe illnesses or accidents.

Benefits of private supplemental dental insurance

Suppose you have statutory insurance and want high-quality dental care without high financial costs. In that case, you can take out private supplemental dental insurance, which offers you the exact scope of benefits for dental treatments as private health insurance.

As with full private health insurance, you will only be reimbursed for dental services expressly agreed upon in the insurance contract. High-quality tariffs reimburse between 80% and 95% of treatment costs. Depending on the provider, taking out a plan with comprehensive dental coverage is also possible.

By taking out a policy from private dental insurance providers, you do not lose your entitlement to public health insurance benefits. Your health insurance fund will continue to pay you the subsidies for standard treatment. You bill your dentist directly for additional services. You submit this invoice to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Tailor-made dental coverage for children and adults

As with comprehensive private health insurance, supplementary dental insurance has no family tariffs. A separate policy must be taken out for each person to be insured. It is important to choose a tariff that best suits your requirements.

Supplemental dental insurance for children and young people

Taking supplemental dental insurance for children and young people makes sense. The insurance should offer good conditions for orthodontic treatment. Around 50% of all children and young people need braces to correct misaligned teeth, which cost around 2,000 to 7,000 euros. Public health insurance only fully covers these costs once a certain degree of misalignment has been reached. With private dental insurance, such limitations are irrelevant. Prophylaxis and tooth preservation are also indispensable issues for children and young people. Dentures may be necessary after accidents or in the event of growth disorders of the teeth.

Supplemental dental insurance for adults

High-quality dentures are the main cost factor for adults — private dental insurance should be potent here. However, when selecting a tariff, you should also keep an eye on the benefits of prevention and tooth preservation, which can add up to larger sums without additional insurance coverage.

Criteria for choosing the right additional dental insurance

There is no way around comparing different offers for additional dental insurance to find a plan that best meets your personal needs. Many insurers also have several tariffs in their program, which differ in their scope of benefits. If necessary, you can also seek advice from an independent insurance expert to select an insurance pro and a suitable plan.

The following aspects are important criteria when choosing insurance:

Scope of benefits

Good tariffs cover 80% to 95% of dental treatment costs. Alternatively, you can also decide on a plan with comprehensive dental coverage, but then you will have to pay significantly higher premiums.

Billing conditions

It is ideal to have a plan that covers the actual invoice amount. If you choose a plan in which the public health insurance subsidy is included in the reimbursement, your costs per treatment will be higher.

Some providers define different treatment categories here: Certain services are billed based on the total cost, and others include the public health insurance subsidy.

Limitations on benefits

We strongly recommend that you select a plan without significant benefit limits to obtain truly comprehensive dental cover:

It would be best if you steered clear of plans with the following benefit limits:

• Maximum premiums for annual reimbursement
• Upper limits for dental prostheses, for example, for a maximum number of reimbursable implants
• Limits on material and laboratory costs

Some tariffs provide benefit limits for professional dental cleanings or fillings. You can safely select such plans as the costs for these dental services are affordable.

Waiting periods and dental scales

Waiting periods of up to 8 months apply to private additional dental insurance in Germany. There are also tariffs without waiting periods.

However, in the first 4 up to a maximum of 7 years, you must expect dental scales with all insurers. Initially, the policy only covers treatment costs up to a limited amount — for example, €800 or €1,000. In subsequent years, these limits increase until full insurance coverage is reached.

There are generally no waiting periods or benefit tariffs for dental treatments following accidents. Treatment costs are reimbursed from the start of the insurance.

Costs for private supplementary dental insurance in Germany

The following factors influence private dental insurance cost:

• Conditions and scope of benefits of the tariff
• Deductibles
• Age and dental health at the start of insurance

When you take out private dental insurance, the younger you are, the cheaper the premium. However, depending on the insurance provider and tariff, it increases with age. There are also tariffs without premium dynamics. If your dental health is already impaired at the start of the insurance, you must expect risk surcharges or rejection of the insurance application.

Insurance companies offer tariffs for younger children from as little as €3 per month—however, the premium increases with age. Older teenagers pay the same premiums as adults.

Adults with good dental health can get private dental insurance for as little as €8-10 per month.

Insurance costs for older adults are higher but remain affordable for seniors. A 75-year-old can take out affordable private dental insurance for as little as €25 per month.

Best dental insurance in Germany

You can find the best dental insurance in Germany by comparing different insurance companies and tariffs.

The dental tariffs from FinTech providers ottonova, Feather, and Getsafe are particularly recommendable. All three offers are high-performance tariffs with transparent, favorable conditions and excellent dental coverage.

All insurance matters are handled completely online with these insurance companies. Their websites, mobile apps, and personal advisory services are available in German and English.

ottonova

ottonova’s dental insurance is our editorial recommendation.

Its benefits include no waiting times, no age restrictions, and high-speed insurance claim processing. A concierge service is available for arranging dentists, booking appointments, and consulting.

The insurance is available in 3 tariffs. Since 2019, it has regularly received top marks in the highly respected independent product evaluations by Stiftung Warentest.

ottonova Tooth 70 — from €8.80 per month

• Professional dental cleaning: €70 per year
• Dental treatment: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist without public health insurance authorization)
• Dentures: 70% (40% for treatment by a private dentist)
• Functional analysis and functional therapy services: 70%
• No orthodontics for children and adults
• No additional anesthesia services
• Dental scale: maximum of €3,200 in the first 4 years

ottonova Tooth 85 — from €11.12 per month

• Professional dental cleaning: up to €100 per cleaning, up to €170 per year
• Dental treatment: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist)
• Dentures: 85% (55% for treatment by a private dentist)
• Functional analysis and functional therapy services: 85%
• Orthodontics for children: 100% (55% for treatment by a private dentist), severity 3-5, up to €1,500 in 10 years
• No orthodontics for adults
• No additional anesthesia services
• Dental scale: maximum of €4,000 in the first 4 years

ottonova Tooth 100 — from €15.42 per month

• Professional dental cleaning: up to €90 per cleaning, maximum €180 per year
• Dental treatment: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist)
• Dentures: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist)
• Functional analysis and functional therapy services: 100%
• Orthodontics for children: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist), severity 1-5, maximum €2,000 in 10 years
• Orthodontics for adults: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist), if public health insurance is liable to pay or after accidents
• Additional anesthesia services: 100% (70% for treatment by a private dentist), up to €300 per year
• Dental scale: maximum of €5,000 in the first 4 years

Feather

Feather offers 2 dental tariffs, starting with €10.90 (Basic) or €28.55 (Advanced) per month, without age restrictions or waiting periods. They include:

• Professional dental cleanings: €150 per year (Basic), unlimited reimbursement (Advanced)
• Dental treatments, including preventive dental care: 100% (Basic: dental scale in the first 2 years, up to €150 per year)
• Dentures: Basic — up to 60%, Advanced — you can opt for 80%, 90%, or 100%
• Orthodontics: until the age of 21, in addition to public health insurance payment, up to €2,000, dental scale in the first 3 years (1st and 2nd year: each €150, 3rd year: €1,700)
• Teeth whitening: Advanced only, €200 every 2 years

Getsafe

Getsafe currently only offers one dental insurance plan at a monthly premium starting at €9.38 per month, without waiting periods or age restrictions. Covered are:

• Professional dental cleanings: up to €80 per year
• Dental treatments: 100%
• Periodontal treatment: 100%
• Dentures: 75%
• Dental treatments/dentures by private dentist: fillings — 70%, dentures — 45%
• No orthodontics
• Dental scale in the first 4 years

Conclusion

If you are covered by public health insurance, it is worth taking out private dental insurance. Private insurance provides access to comprehensive, high-quality dental care in line with the latest medical standards without additional costs. You have to pay for many of these services with standard public insurance.

We recommend private dental insurance from FinTech insurers such as ottonova, Feather, and Getsafe. All three insurers offer high-performance dental plans at transparent and favorable conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions — FAQ