What happens when a Periodontist becomes disabled without proper coverage?
What happens when a Periodontist becomes disabled without proper coverage?
Contributed by:
Andrew Rickard, CLU®, ChFC®
Regional Vice President
Treloar & Heisel
Disability feels like something that happens to other people. You have spent years building a practice, a patient base, and a financial plan. With disability income insurance, that delay has a real cost: the best time to buy is during dental school or residency, when premiums are lower and discounted rates may be available. Waiting makes coverage more expensive and harder to qualify for. Business overhead expense insurance, which is what the practice will need if you are unable to work, demands a different kind of thinking: viewing the practice as a business with fixed obligations that do not pause for a medical crisis.
Your disability risk as a Periodontist
The American Dental Association puts the probability of a dentist experiencing a disability before retirement at one in four[1]. Across a career spanning 30 or 35 years, the exposure window is long, and the physical demands of the profession make it longer.
You work in sustained, awkward postures, performing precise tasks with your hands and wrists for hours at a time. Musculoskeletal conditions – carpal tunnel syndrome, cervical disc problems, rotator cuff injuries – affect dental professionals at elevated rates. Add to that the same diagnoses that affect any working adult: cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological conditions, accidents with no connection to operatory ergonomics. A disability does not announce itself in advance.
EVERY Periodontist Needs Disability Income Insurance. Every Owner Also Needs Business Overhead Expense Insurance.
When you cannot practice, the financial damage runs on two separate tracks.
Disability income (DI) insurance covers you personally and helps replace some of the income you would otherwise draw from the practice. This is what helps keep your mortgage, personal debt, and household costs manageable when production has stopped. If your disability insurance policy is an individual policy, it follows you, not the practice.
Employer provided disability insurance policies vary with respect to the amount of coverage provided as well as the contractual provisions. In general, the definitions in the policy are often contractually weaker than what is provided in an individual disability insurance policy. Further, coverage typically ends in the event you leave employer providing the coverage.
Association Group Disability Insurance is a type of disability insurance offered through a professional association. To maintain the coverage, continued membership in the professional association is usually required. Unlike an individual disability income insurance policy, the non-guaranteed premiums are usually scheduled to increase periodically, and the policy definitions are oftentimes not guaranteed. In most cases, the definitions within the policy are weaker than what is available in an individual disability insurance policy.
Business overhead expense (BOE) insurance helps cover the practice’s operating costs while you are unable to work due to illness or injury. Staff salaries, facility costs, rents, equipment loans, and supply commitments typically account for a significant portion of a practice’s expenses. A six-month disability with no BOE coverage means the practice either draws down reserves, takes on new debt, or both. A well-structured BOE policy reimburses those fixed costs during the disability period so the practice can survive until the owner returns, or a transition can be managed on reasonable terms.
Why own-occupation coverage matters for a Periodontist
On the DI side, the definition of disability is the central question and for a periodontist, an own occupation definition of total disability is important. Own Occupation is a definition of disability covering disabilities that prevent you from working in the specific occupation you’ve been trained for and are currently working in.
On the BOE side, the monthly benefit needs to be sufficient to cover your monthly fixed expenses such as certain employee salaries, utilities, and rent and the benefit period needs to accommodate a realistic recovery or transition timeline. The waiting period before benefits begin is typically shorter than personal disability insurance with many doctors opting for a 30-day waiting period.
When to buy disability insurance as a Periodontist
The timing logic differs between the two products. Disability income coverage is worth securing as early as possible, meaning in dental school or residency, before age and health history affect what is available and at what cost. It applies to any periodontist, regardless of practice structure. Business overhead expense coverage only applies to practice owners. The right time to buy it is when you acquire the practice, and not years after the fact. If you own a practice and have not yet addressed either coverage, the variables that shape your options – your age, your health, your overhead load – only move in one direction.
How to review your disability insurance coverage
It doesn’t take a crisis to justify a coverage review. If you are unsure whether your current policies adequately protect your personal income and your practice overhead, a conversation with a specialist who understands dental practice economics can clarify your exposure quickly.
About Treloar & Heisel
Treloar & Heisel, an EPIC Company, is a premier financial services provider to dental and medical professionals across the country. We assist thousands of clients from residency to practice and through retirement with a comprehensive suite of financial services, custom-tailored advice, and a strong national network focused on delivering the highest level of service.
For more information, visit us at www.treloaronline.com.
TH-26-026
Insurance products offered through Treloar & Heisel, LLC.
[1] American Dental Association, “Disability Income Protection Insurance,” stating that approximately 1 in 4 dentists experience a disabling condition before retirement, https://ada.protective.com/ada-insurance-plans/disability-insurance.asp
What happens when a Periodontist becomes disabled without proper coverage?
Contributed by:
Andrew Rickard, CLU®, ChFC®
Regional Vice President
Treloar & Heisel
Disability feels like something that happens to other people. You have spent years building a practice, a patient base, and a financial plan. With disability income insurance, that delay has a real cost: the best time to buy is during dental school or residency, when premiums are lower and discounted rates may be available. Waiting makes coverage more expensive and harder to qualify for. Business overhead expense insurance, which is what the practice will need if you are unable to work, demands a different kind of thinking: viewing the practice as a business with fixed obligations that do not pause for a medical crisis.
Your disability risk as a Periodontist
The American Dental Association puts the probability of a dentist experiencing a disability before retirement at one in four[1]. Across a career spanning 30 or 35 years, the exposure window is long, and the physical demands of the profession make it longer.
You work in sustained, awkward postures, performing precise tasks with your hands and wrists for hours at a time. Musculoskeletal conditions – carpal tunnel syndrome, cervical disc problems, rotator cuff injuries – affect dental professionals at elevated rates. Add to that the same diagnoses that affect any working adult: cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological conditions, accidents with no connection to operatory ergonomics. A disability does not announce itself in advance.
EVERY Periodontist Needs Disability Income Insurance. Every Owner Also Needs Business Overhead Expense Insurance.
When you cannot practice, the financial damage runs on two separate tracks.
Disability income (DI) insurance covers you personally and helps replace some of the income you would otherwise draw from the practice. This is what helps keep your mortgage, personal debt, and household costs manageable when production has stopped. If your disability insurance policy is an individual policy, it follows you, not the practice.
Employer provided disability insurance policies vary with respect to the amount of coverage provided as well as the contractual provisions. In general, the definitions in the policy are often contractually weaker than what is provided in an individual disability insurance policy. Further, coverage typically ends in the event you leave employer providing the coverage.
Association Group Disability Insurance is a type of disability insurance offered through a professional association. To maintain the coverage, continued membership in the professional association is usually required. Unlike an individual disability income insurance policy, the non-guaranteed premiums are usually scheduled to increase periodically, and the policy definitions are oftentimes not guaranteed. In most cases, the definitions within the policy are weaker than what is available in an individual disability insurance policy.
Business overhead expense (BOE) insurance helps cover the practice’s operating costs while you are unable to work due to illness or injury. Staff salaries, facility costs, rents, equipment loans, and supply commitments typically account for a significant portion of a practice’s expenses. A six-month disability with no BOE coverage means the practice either draws down reserves, takes on new debt, or both. A well-structured BOE policy reimburses those fixed costs during the disability period so the practice can survive until the owner returns, or a transition can be managed on reasonable terms.
Why own-occupation coverage matters for a Periodontist
On the DI side, the definition of disability is the central question and for a periodontist, an own occupation definition of total disability is important. Own Occupation is a definition of disability covering disabilities that prevent you from working in the specific occupation you’ve been trained for and are currently working in.
On the BOE side, the monthly benefit needs to be sufficient to cover your monthly fixed expenses such as certain employee salaries, utilities, and rent and the benefit period needs to accommodate a realistic recovery or transition timeline. The waiting period before benefits begin is typically shorter than personal disability insurance with many doctors opting for a 30-day waiting period.
When to buy disability insurance as a Periodontist
The timing logic differs between the two products. Disability income coverage is worth securing as early as possible, meaning in dental school or residency, before age and health history affect what is available and at what cost. It applies to any periodontist, regardless of practice structure. Business overhead expense coverage only applies to practice owners. The right time to buy it is when you acquire the practice, and not years after the fact. If you own a practice and have not yet addressed either coverage, the variables that shape your options – your age, your health, your overhead load – only move in one direction.
How to review your disability insurance coverage
It doesn’t take a crisis to justify a coverage review. If you are unsure whether your current policies adequately protect your personal income and your practice overhead, a conversation with a specialist who understands dental practice economics can clarify your exposure quickly.
About Treloar & Heisel
Treloar & Heisel, an EPIC Company, is a premier financial services provider to dental and medical professionals across the country. We assist thousands of clients from residency to practice and through retirement with a comprehensive suite of financial services, custom-tailored advice, and a strong national network focused on delivering the highest level of service.
For more information, visit us at www.treloaronline.com.
TH-26-026
Insurance products offered through Treloar & Heisel, LLC.
[1] American Dental Association, “Disability Income Protection Insurance,” stating that approximately 1 in 4 dentists experience a disabling condition before retirement, https://ada.protective.com/ada-insurance-plans/disability-insurance.asp