Dental Supplementary Insurance: What Does It Cover?

1. What is a dental supplementary insurance?

A dental supplementary insurance, also called dental insurance, is a voluntary supplementary insurance of the Swiss insurers under the Insurance Contract Act (VVG). It covers costs for dental treatments that are not covered by mandatory basic insurance, disability or accident insurance. The coverage is 50 to 90 % of the treatment costs up to contractual limits.

Unlike with basic insurance, no acceptance obligation exists. The insurer can reject your application or set policy restrictions, above all if you already have dental problems. The health questionnaire at conclusion decides on admission and conditions.

2. Which benefits does the dental supplementary insurance cover?

The exact benefits differ between insurer and tariff. Insured persons have entitlement to:

• Prophylaxis and dental hygiene: Professional dental cleaning, tartar removal, fluoridation.
• Conservative treatments: Caries treatments, fillings, root treatments, tooth extractions.
• Dentures: Crowns, bridges, prostheses, implants (tariff-dependent).
• Orthodontics: Medically necessary braces, aligners, retainers.
• X-ray diagnostics: Panoramic X-ray and individual tooth images.
• Emergency treatments abroad: Pain therapy and acute caries treatments.

Scope of benefits and limits differ by tariff. For orthodontics, age limits up to 20 years and annual upper limits between CHF 1'000 and 15'000 apply. Larger treatments are fully covered with some products only after two to three insurance years.

More about braces

Braces in Switzerland: What does the insurer pay?

When braces are medically necessary and which models the insurer co-bears is shown by the overview of brackets, aligners and retainers.

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of dental supplementary insurance?

Whether a dental supplementary insurance pays off depends on personal need. The overview shows the most important advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

• Coverage of the KVG gap for caries, dentures and orthodontics
• Annual dental hygiene covered at 50 to 90 %
• Protection against high costs for implants or braces
• Family upper limit and family discounts possible
• Combinable with other supplementary insurance
• Emergency treatments abroad covered

Disadvantages

• Obligation for health questionnaire before conclusion, admission not guaranteed
• Policy restrictions possible with pre-existing conditions or existing dental problems
• Waiting periods of 3 to 36 months differentiated by benefit
• Annual and lifetime limits limit reimbursement
• Cosmetic treatments such as bleaching are not covered
• Rejection possible with documented tooth misalignments or jaw anomalies

For policy restrictions, the insurer excludes individual teeth or findings from insurance protection. The dental supplementary insurance complements basic insurance with treatments that KVG does not cover. For children, dental supplementary insurance and braces costs complement each other. Orthodontics is often the largest item in the family budget.

4. What does a dental supplementary insurance cost in Switzerland?

A dental supplementary insurance for children you receive from CHF 10 per month. For adults, the premium lies between CHF 20 and CHF 120 per month. The amount depends on age, canton of residence, insurer and chosen degree of coverage (basis, comfort or premium).

Reference values 2026 (CHF per month):

The tariff differences show themselves above all in degree of coverage and annual limit. Basis tariffs cover dental hygiene 50 to 70 % up to CHF 200 per year and fillings up to CHF 500. Comfort tariffs reach 70 to 80 % up to CHF 3'000 per year. Premium tariffs cover up to 90 % with annual limits of CHF 10'000 or more.

Besides the premium, providers also differ in waiting periods, practice with policy restrictions and family discounts. A combination with other outpatient modules can lower the premium.

5. When should I take out a dental supplementary insurance?

You should take out a dental supplementary insurance if possible before the occurrence or medical documentation of dental or jaw problems. With age, the risk of policy restrictions or rejections rises significantly. How the dental supplementary insurance can be combined with other supplementary insurance depends on the provider.

Admission chances 2026 (by age):

With the prenatal registration of the baby, dental attestations and health questions are omitted at many insurers. Via insurers for families, discounts between 5 and 25 % for several children are possible.

After contract start, waiting periods apply, in which you cannot yet receive benefits: dental hygiene 3 to 6 months, fillings and dentures 6 to 12 months, orthodontics 12 to 36 months. The exact deadlines are in the AVB. With provider switch, a new waiting period begins. Terminate the old policy only after written acceptance confirmation.

This article was first published on 12/02/2026