Aspen Dental accepts most major dental insurance carriers, so if you’re covered by Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Delta Dental, Guardian, Humana, MetLife, United Concordia, or UnitedHealthcare, you can generally use your benefits there. The one clear exclusion is Medicaid, which no Aspen Dental office accepts.1Aspen Dental. Accepted Dental Insurance Plans If your plan isn’t a household name, it may still be honored through a shared network, and the office will verify benefits for plans not on the published list.
Carriers Aspen Dental Currently Lists
As of 2026, Aspen Dental publishes the following carriers as accepted:
- Aetna US Healthcare
- Always Care Benefits (Dentemax Network)
- Anthem / Unicare
- Argus Dental Plans (Dentemax Network)
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Cigna
- Delta Dental
- Dominion National (Dentemax Network)
- Guardian Life Insurance
- Humana
- Medical Mutual of Ohio (Dentemax Network)
- MetLife
- MI Medicare Advantage
- Mutual of Omaha (Dentemax Network)
- TruAssure (Dentemax Network)
- United Concordia
- UnitedHealthcare
Several of the smaller carriers participate through the Dentemax network rather than a direct contract, which is common in dental insurance and doesn’t change how your benefits work at the chair. The list can shift as network agreements are renegotiated, so treat it as a starting point rather than the final word for your specific plan. If your carrier isn’t shown, Aspen Dental says its team will still verify your benefits and help you find the most affordable option.1Aspen Dental. Accepted Dental Insurance Plans
Plans Aspen Dental Doesn’t Take
The biggest gap is Medicaid. Every Aspen Dental location declines Medicaid patients.1Aspen Dental. Accepted Dental Insurance Plans If Medicaid is your dental coverage, you’ll need to look elsewhere, typically a community health center or a dentist enrolled in your state’s Medicaid dental network.
Original Medicare (Parts A and B) is a different situation. Aspen Dental doesn’t turn Medicare beneficiaries away, but Original Medicare doesn’t cover routine dental care like cleanings, fillings, extractions, or dentures in the first place.2Medicare.gov. Dental Services There’s nothing for the office to bill, so unless you have separate dental coverage, you’d be paying the full retail cost out of pocket.
Medicare Advantage and Veterans’ Coverage
Some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans bundle dental benefits with hospital and medical coverage. If yours does and Aspen Dental is in that plan’s network, you can use those benefits. What’s covered varies a lot between plans: some pay only for preventive care, while others cover restorative and major work with copays or annual caps. Check your plan’s provider directory before you assume a specific office is in.2Medicare.gov. Dental Services
Veterans enrolled in the VA Dental Insurance Program (VADIP) buy private dental coverage at a reduced cost through Delta Dental or MetLife, and VADIP is now a permanent program.3Veterans Affairs. VA Dental Insurance Program (VADIP) Because Aspen Dental accepts both Delta Dental and MetLife, VADIP coverage may work there. Confirm with the specific office, since network participation can differ by location.
What “Accepts” Actually Means for Your Bill
Being on the accepted list isn’t the same as being in-network for your plan. In-network means Aspen Dental has a contract with your insurer to accept pre-negotiated rates for each procedure, and those rates are almost always lower than the office’s standard prices.
If your plan’s fee schedule allows $100 for a cleaning and Aspen Dental is in-network, they accept that $100 as payment in full (minus your copay or coinsurance). They can’t charge you the gap between the negotiated rate and their retail price. Out of network, no such cap applies, so you may owe the difference between what your insurer reimburses and what the office actually charges. Insurers also tend to pay a lower percentage for out-of-network care and may apply a higher deductible, so even when Aspen Dental will see you with an out-of-network plan, the math often favors finding an in-network dentist instead.
Verifying Your Plan Before You Book
Before you schedule anything beyond a cleaning, run through three checks.
Start with your insurer. Log into the member portal or call member services, and confirm that the specific Aspen Dental location you plan to visit shows up in your plan’s provider directory. While you’re there, note your annual maximum, deductible, and the coverage percentage for the procedure you’re considering.
Then ask Aspen Dental for a pre-treatment estimate. The office can submit your proposed treatment plan to your insurer, which will respond with what it expects to cover and what your share will be. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a realistic number. For expensive work, some insurers require pre-authorization; if they do and you skip it, they can refuse to pay the claim.
Finally, if you’ve had similar work done before, pull your past Explanation of Benefits statements. They show exactly how earlier claims were processed and are the best predictor of how a similar claim will land this time.
If Your Plan Isn’t Accepted or You’re Uninsured
If Aspen Dental doesn’t take your plan and switching providers isn’t an option, or if you have no coverage at all, there are a few paths worth knowing about.
Aspen Dental Savings Plan
This is a membership discount program, not insurance. For $49 per year ($29 for each additional family member), members get free exams and X-rays plus 30% off preventive hygiene, 20% off crowns, bridges, implants, dentures, and gum disease treatment, and 15% off fillings.4Aspen Dental. Dental Savings Plan You cannot combine it with insurance, Medicaid, or any other discount program; it’s built for people paying entirely out of pocket.5Aspen Dental. Aspen Dental Savings Plan Member Terms and Conditions
New Patient Special
Aspen Dental also runs a new patient offer of an exam and X-rays for $29, available at participating offices for uninsured new patients aged 21 and older. The offer runs through December 31, 2026.6Aspen Dental. New Patient Dental Specials
Third-Party Financing
For larger treatment plans, Aspen Dental works with CareCredit, American First Finance, HFD, Proceed Finance, and Fortiva Retail Credit. Most of these lenders use a soft credit check during prequalification, so shopping around won’t hurt your score.7Aspen Dental. Dental Financing Guide and Options Terms vary. Pay close attention to deferred-interest promotions, because if you carry a balance past the promotional deadline, the accrued interest often lands in a lump.
Good Faith Estimate
Under the No Surprises Act, uninsured and self-pay patients are entitled to a written good faith estimate of expected charges before scheduled services, and if the final bill exceeds the estimate by $400 or more, you can dispute it through a federal patient-provider resolution process.8Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Overview of Rules and Fact Sheets This protection applies to self-pay patients only; disputes over insured claims go through your health plan instead.