Medicare's Medical Dental Coverage

Medicare is a medical plan that the government funds, available to American citizens above 65 years old, the disabled, and those with end stage renal diseases. It usually covers the medical or hospital bills of their beneficiaries, though there are certain cases when it covers additional expenses.

Medicare doesn't cover dental expenses, however, unless they are those included as a significant part of a covered procedure or for the extractions done to prepare the patient for radiation treatments for diseases that involve the jaw. For example, Medicare will take care of jaw replacement if a person gets into an accident that destroys his jaws.

Medicare's dental coverage also includes dental examinations; however, the plan does not include treatments. The treatment can be covered by Part A if it is done by a dentist, while it can be covered by Part B if it is done by physicians.

Medicare excludes dental expenses in their list of services covered, although there are exceptions. Tooth extractions, treatment, care, filling, and replacements are not part of the coverage unless they are part of the an inpatient procedure that is under the coverage of Part A.

The dental services were excluded as a part of the original Medical program. However, the dental exclusion did not include dental examinations, so those are still covered by the plan. Foot care check ups, for example, were entirely excluded from the coverage.

If the dental procedures make it necessary for the patient to remain hospitalized, then Medicare will cover the expenses of that. In general, the coverage is not determined by the value or even the necessity of the care, but by the kinds of services were provided, and on which part of the body that the procedure was done.

What you will have to remember is that Medicare will take care of the expenses of dental treatment if it is included in a bigger procedure, like the removal of a tooth from a jaw that has been infected.

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