If you are looking for dental insurance for self employed individuals there are a few things that you need to know before you buy. If you haven’t actually looked into these types of individual dental insurance plans you may be in for a bit of a surprise. The reason that I say this is not just because of the price, which can be quite expensive, but also for the coverage that these plans actually provide.The biggest issue that most people are not aware of when they go to buy dental insurance is the fact that “insurance” of any kind will not cover pre-existing conditions. This means that if you have caries (cavities), are in pain right now, need a root canal or any other existing condition, you’re on your own because the policy won’t pay one cent. Actually, if you think about it for a moment this really makes sense. If you have a dent in your car door and buy a new insurance policy, they won’t cover the existing dent. As a matter of fact, they’ll take pictures of it from all angles to make certain that they have a proper record of the fact that it was already there when you insured the vehicle. Well, your teeth are no different.You may want to buy a discount dental plan, instead of insurance. These plans are a bit similar, but discount dental plans are not insurance. Many self employed individuals have gone this route and it’s worked out very well for them because, even though they don’t have actual insurance coverage, they can still save a substantial amount of money, in the event that they need to visit a dentist for any reason.Discount dental plans provide a big discount off of the usual cost that you would have to pay at a participating dentist. These discounts could be a simple 10% off, but many are as much as 60% and not just on little things, but major dental care too. The actual discounts that you receive will depend on which plan you choose and the area of the country you live in, but you can be assured of big savings by using one of these discount plans.The bottom line is that if you are looking for dental insurance for self employed individuals then you may not be looking in the right place for great dental care. Take a good look at discount dental plans too before you decide which way is best for you.