Updated October 2025
Did you know your dental benefits expire on December 31st every year, even if you don’t use them? It’s true. If you haven’t used up all your benefits yet for 2025, there’s still time, but you need to hurry… don’t leave your money on someone else’s table!
You Are In Control
While life can often be uncertain, you do have control over one thing: your oral health. Obviously taking care of our teeth and gums is good for our dental health. But research in recent years has undeniably confirmed it’s also good for our overall health and well-being.
You’ve no doubt heard by now that there is a strong correlation between gum disease and heart disease, where poor dental health increases your risk of heart issues. But it’s a two-way street – likewise, certain diseases like diabetes increase your risk of gum disease and other oral health issues. It’s a symbiotic relationship, between our mouths and the rest of our bodies… one that we need to nurture and protect fiercely.
So – what on earth does all this have to do with dental benefits? We’re glad you asked!
Use ‘Em Or Lose ‘Em
It’s a phrase that we use often in many different contexts: use it or lose it.
Your muscles? Use them or lose them.
Your brain? Use it or lose it.
Your dental benefits? USE THEM OR LOSE THEM!
It’s true in this context too. You may think that by NOT using your dental benefits each year, you can stockpile all that unclaimed cash with your insurance provider so that when a really big dental procedure is needed for someone in your family, you’ll have a windfall at your disposal to pay for it.
Not so! Whatever you don’t use up by December 31st each year simply expires. Vanishes into thin air, never to be seen again. Actually, scratch that – never to be seen by you again.
Somebody is indeed cashing in from your unused dental benefits, but it sure isn’t you. That money, earmarked by your insurance provider specifically for your family’s dental plan – which you have faithfully paid into throughout the year – if not used for dental work, goes right back into the pockets of the insurance company come January 1st.
Yep, insurance companies love it when you don’t use up your benefits, because they can then keep all that unclaimed cash for themselves. And if you knew how many people keep paying and paying into their plan all year in order to have those benefits, and then simply let them expire on December 31st without using them up? It would shock you. In fact, it happens so often that insurance companies count on it as part of their yearly projected revenue.
So, what can you do to keep your hard-earned money working for you and not for your insurance provider? Use the benefits you have – NOW! There’s no excuse not to take advantage of them!
What Do I Do Now?
Simple. Contact us ASAP and we will help make sure you don’t lose out on what you are entitled to, as we head into the final few weeks of 2025. Whether you just need a good cleaning to get back on track, or you’ve been putting off a more intensive procedure that you know you might need, book an appointment right away so together we can come up with a plan for your treatment before the end of the year.
Because now, more than ever before, it’s vitally important to stay on top of our oral health. We need to keep our immune systems humming at peak capacity to stay ahead as we come into cold and flu season. And optimizing our oral health is a crucial piece of that immunity.
It’s not too late. Call Li Family Dental at (416) 232-2033 today – we can help!