Best Dental Business Insurance

For dental practice insurance, NEXT Insurance leads our rankings with superior coverage comprehensiveness and pricing performance. It delivers extensive protection at competitive rates, making it an excellent starting point for dental offices evaluating insurance options. 

We recommend comparing options from our other top insurers, including The Hartford, Nationwide, Progressive Commercial, and biBerk.

*We based all scores on a dental business with two employees across professional liability, general liability, workers' comp and BOP policies.

Thimble offers the most competitive pricing for dental business insurance at $33 monthly overall across four of the most common coverage types, leading specifically in professional liability coverage. 

NEXT provides more affordable general liability, workers' comp and BOP insurance for dental practices seeking comprehensive protection. For specialized dental malpractice insurance, The Hartford has the lowest rates.

NEXT provides the cheapest general liability policies for dental companies at $12 monthly on average. Compared to the industry average of $22, NEXT saves dental practices around $10 per month.

For dental businesses shopping for workers' comp insurance, NEXT has the most affordable average rates of $11 per month. The next most cost-effective options are The Hartford, Thimble, Simply Business and Progressive Commercial.

Thimble and Chubb provide the most affordable professional liability insurance options for dental organizations, with average monthly rates of $62 and $68, respectively. Compared to the industry average of $84, you can save around $22 per month with Thimble. 

The Hartford offers the best value for tailored dentist coverage at $90 per month for more comprehensive protection for your practice.

For dental offices seeking combined general liability and property coverage, NEXT offers the most affordable business owner's policy at $228 annually. This saves businesses $44 each year compared to The Hartford's $272 rate.

In general, dental business insurance costs are the following for the four most popular coverage types:

• General Liability: $22 on average per month, ranging from $19 to $25, depending on the state
• Workers Comp: $11 on average per month, ranging from $10 to $13, depending on the state
• Professional Liability (E&O): $84 on average per month, ranging from $71 to $102, depending on the state
• BOP Insurance: $32 on average per month, ranging from $27 to $37, depending on the state

Protecting your business from unexpected risks is essential when running a dental practice. The most valuable types of coverage for dental offices include general liability, professional liability, and commercial property insurance. 

Additional policies such as workers' compensation, cyber liability, employment practices liability and commercial auto insurance help satisfy legal requirements and contract obligations while providing comprehensive protection.

Below you'll find detailed information about why each coverage type matters and the recommended policy limits for dental practices of various sizes:

• Professional liability insurance (malpractice): Safeguards dental practices from financial losses when patients allege treatment errors, negligence, or inadequate care. This coverage addresses claims ranging from misdiagnosis and procedural complications to failure to obtain proper informed consent. A minimum coverage of $1 million per claim or $1-3 million aggregate satisfies most professional requirements and protects against potentially devastating lawsuits.
• General liability insurance: Protects your practice from third-party claims involving bodily injury or property damage. Common scenarios include patient slip-and-fall incidents, damage to visitors' personal belongings, and accidental harm to neighboring properties. "We recommend $1 million to $2 million per occurrence with a $2 million to $3 million aggregate policy to provide adequate protection.
• Commercial property insurance: Covers physical assets essential to operating your dental office, including the building structure (if owned), dental equipment, office furniture, computers, and inventory. You should get coverage equal to the replacement value of your equipment.
• Workers' compensation insurance: Required by law in most states for dental practices with employees, this coverage pays medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries or illnesses. Common incidents in dental offices include needlestick injuries, chemical exposure, repetitive motion injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome, and back problems from patient positioning.
• Cyber liability insurance (data breach coverage): Essential protection for practices storing electronic patient records and billing information and for satisfying HIPAA requirements. Adequate coverage typically ranges from $500,000 to $2 million.
• Commercial auto insurance (if your practice uses vehicles): A $1 million combined single limit for liability paired with comprehensive and collision coverage represents the optimal protection level for most dental practices. This policy satisfies state legal requirements while safeguarding practice assets.
• Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI): Defends your practice against employee lawsuits alleging discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, or retaliation. Even unfounded claims can result in substantial legal expenses, making $1 million to $2 million in EPLI coverage a prudent investment for practices with staff members.

Here's a step-by-step method for finding the right business insurance for your dental practice.

NEXT is the best insurer for dental business insurance, while Thimble offers the cheapest option overall. We also recommend getting quotes from The Hartford, Nationwide and Progressive Commercial. For the best deal, consult agents and similar businesses, research costs and companies, and compare multiple quotes.

We answer frequently asked questions about dental business insurance:

We selected the best business insurer for dental companies based on the following criteria:

• Affordability (50% of score): The lower a company's costs compared to the competition based on our base profile for four core coverage types, the better the company performs.
• Customer service (30% of score): We scored providers on overall customer satisfaction using industry studies, customer review forum ratings and public forum sentiment analysis from sites like Reddit.
• Coverage (15% of score): We scored business insurance providers for this category based on the flexibility, payment and actual coverage options.
• Financial stability (5% of score): Using financial stability industry ratings from companies like AM Best and Moody's, we created an overall rating to judge how likely companies are to pay out claims compared to the competition.

All pricing in this article is based on the following base profile to represent the vast majority of small businesses in all states:

• Three-person business with two employees
• Coverage: $1 million per occurrence and $2 million total per year for all but BOP, which includes the same coverage plus $5,000 of business property coverage
• $150,000 in payroll
• $300,000 annual revenue