In our last post we talked about the importance of routine dental care and the benefits for dental scaling and polishing under the PurinaCare Plus Preventive Care policy.
The short answer is yes. But the longer answer is that dental disease won't be covered if it had been preventable in the first place. That may seem confusing to some people so let me explain.
Lets say that an owner decided not to take their veterinarian's recommendation for periodic dental scaling and polishing. And let's assume they have a valid PurinaCare Without Preventive Care Policy. Over time this dog or cat develops gingivitis that progresses to
periodontal disease that requires treatment including the removal of several teeth.
In this situation the dental disease would not be covered because the owner had failed to provide the routine preventive care that would have prevented the periodontal disease. If the owner had insured the dog at an older age where the periodontal disease was already in evidence it would not be covered either because if would fall under the pre-existing condition definition.
The message is simple. Make sure that you follow your veterinarian's recommendations for preventive care, including routine dental care even if you have insurance.
So, what types of dental disease would be covered under a PurinaCare Without Preventive Care policy? The simple answer would be dental disease that is not preventable. Let me explain and give you a few examples.
Let's assume you have a dog that likes to chew sticks, or rocks, or ice cubes or maybe even big juicy
soup bones. It's nor uncommon for chewers to fracture their teeth, especially the upper fourth premolar. These fractures can go all the way down into the root of the tooth and require extensive treatment to save the tooth including
root canal or endodontic therapy.
As you can imagine this will not be inexpensive and in most cases would require seeing a specialist in veterinary dentistry. If the fracture was caused by trauma and not the result of preventable periodontal disease, it would not be excluded under your PurinaCare Without Preventive Care policy. Tooth fractures in both dogs and cats are fairly common and might result from falls, fights or encounters with cars. These would not be excluded under the PurinaCare Without Preventive Care policy.
Cats suffer from a condition called Feline odontoclastic resorption lesions or
FORL for short. The neck or upper part of the tooth is affected with erosion or absorption of the outer layers of the tooth. This can be very painful and owners will often notice that their cats are reluctant to chew hard food. While FORL can be complicated by periodontal disease it does not appear to cause it and there are no good prevention strategies at this time. As such, this fairly common condition would not be excluded under your PurinaCare Without Preventive Care policy.
There are a number of other dental or oral disease conditions that don't result from lack of good preventive care. Oral cancer is fairly common in both dogs and cats and is an example of disease that would not be excluded under the PurinaCare Without Preventive Care policy.
Insurance can be a great idea for pet owners. It provides peace of mind and allows you to make decisions from the heart as opposed to the pocket book providing access to the best care possible. But it's best to know the
details of your particular policy and the coverage it provides. In any case make sure that you do everything you can to keep your pets healthy by following your veterinarians suggestions for routine preventive care including routine dental scaling and polishing.