Dental insurance for expats in Germany: how to compare and apply

With statutory health insurance (GKV), medically necessary dental care is covered; for dentures you receive a fixed subsidy towards the standard care and pay the rest yourself. With private health insurance (PKV), you can choose your dentist freely, dentists bill according to the fee schedule for dentists (GOZ), and your insurer reimburses according to your tariff conditions.

A supplementary dental insurance (Zahnzusatzversicherung) is an additional private contract. It can cover part of the costs that remain after the GKV — it does not replace health insurance.

That depends on the tariff conditions, not on your nationality. Some tariffs explicitly require GKV membership: the DFV ZahnSchutz, for example, is only available to people insured in a German GKV with permanent residence in Germany, and the cover ends on the day the GKV insurance ends. Feather describes its dental insurance as an add-on to an existing German public health policy.

If you are privately insured, do not choose a tariff that requires GKV membership — ask your PKV insurer which dental benefits your tariff includes or which add-ons are possible. If you plan to leave Germany or switch to PKV, check beforehand whether your supplementary contract would end.

This varies by provider, so there is no general list. Applications typically ask for personal details, your health insurance, the desired start date and answers to health questions; some providers ask for more. Before applying, ask the provider exactly what it needs from you.

Many tariffs ask about the condition of your teeth. Answer completely and truthfully — incorrect answers can put your cover at risk. Missing teeth and treatment that has already been recommended or started are often excluded: the DFV ZahnSchutz conditions, for example, exclude treatments started, recommended or known before signing, and teeth that were already missing or not yet permanently replaced.

Waiting periods may also apply. ARAG's conditions (A899, 4.2026; tariffs Dent70 to Dent100, No. 3 “Supplementary tariff provisions”) waive the waiting periods for dental treatment, dentures and orthodontics when an ARAG dental supplement tariff is taken out for the first time; for later contract changes, the waiting-period rules apply to the added cover.

• Reimbursement level and which costs count (for example up to which GOZ rate).
• Benefit limits in the first years and annual maximums.
• Waiting periods and exclusions for known problems.
• Professional cleaning and orthodontics for adults, if these matter to you.
• Language of advice, contract documents and claims handling.

Our cost guide explains these criteria in more detail, including a table of questions to ask the provider.

Distinguish four things: the website, the advice, the contract documents and the claims process. A provider may present its offer in English, as Feather does on its website. That alone does not tell you whether the general terms and conditions, letters and claims handling are also available in English; legally binding documents of German insurers may only be available in German. Ask in writing which language applies at each step.

With GKV, covered dental treatment is billed by the practice directly to your health insurer. For costs above that, your dentist issues an invoice. You usually pay it and submit it — for dentures often together with the treatment and cost plan — to your supplementary insurer, which reimburses according to the tariff. How you submit (app, upload or post) and which documents are needed depends on the provider. The DFV ZahnSchutz conditions, for example, refer to receipts sent to the insurer and convert costs abroad into euros at the rate on the day the receipts arrive.