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For brokers supporting clients in offering effective health and wellbeing benefits, dental cover represents an opportunity to help them improve workforce wellbeing.
A hidden driver of stress
Four in ten adults (41%) have untreated tooth decay, and 43% say their oral health negatively affects their daily life. The resulting discomfort can contribute to embarrassment, difficulty eating, and ongoing physical pain.
These issues can spill over into the workplace. Dental pain can cause disrupted sleep, difficulty concentrating and heightened anxiety, which can affect an employee’s ability to perform effectively.
Stress-related conditions such as teeth grinding (bruxism) can also cause discomfort and worsen existing dental problems. Many employees may grind or clench their teeth unconsciously, leading to worn enamel, jaw pain, headaches and even cracked teeth.
These symptoms can escalate quickly if left untreated, increasing physical discomfort and strain throughout the working day.
Bruxism also illustrates the two‑way relationship between oral health and stress.
While stress can trigger or worsen teeth grinding, the resulting dental damage and pain can then contribute to heightening stress levels. For example, persistent jaw tension and disrupted sleep from night‑time grinding can increase fatigue, reduce concentration, and heighten anxiety levels at work.
Over time, this can create a cycle of pain and fatigue, further impacting wellbeing and productivity.
From pain to productivity loss
Dental pain also does not just cause discomfort. Around one in five adults say they have experienced painful aching in the mouth, which can lead to absenteeism (taking days off to seek urgent treatment) and presenteeism (working while struggling with pain).
Almost 40% of employees are reported to have called in sick or left work early due to dental pain.
Dental pain can also cause significant lost time and reduced productivity for employers, with 22% of employees saying that dental pain made it difficult to concentrate at work, and 19% saying it reduced their productivity.
Intermediaries can help support their clients by guiding them towards solutions that strengthen wellbeing at work.
Why brokers should encourage employers to offer dental insurance
Offering a dental insurance benefit, like Bupa Dental Insurance, is a simple measure that could help employees access and fund treatment.
Incorporating dental care into wellbeing programmes can contribute to:
- reduced short-notice absences for urgent treatments
- lower presenteeism caused by ongoing dental pain
- improved overall wellbeing and staff morale
- better long-term health outcomes
For intermediaries, dental insurance can be a valuable enhancement to a client’s benefits package, particularly for organisations aiming to strengthen preventative healthcare support.
By encouraging their employees to use their dental cover and see the dentist for regular check-ups, clients can also help improve access to preventative care before oral health problems worsen and become disruptive.
How Bupa Dental Insurance goes further at a Bupa Dental Care practice
If your clients already have Bupa Dental Insurance, their employees can unlock additional value when using their cover at a Bupa Dental Care practice:
- Instant Claim
Members can get their claim settled at the reception desk with no forms or receipts for them to remember. This helps minimise time away from work and offers a seamless, member-first experience. They can find their nearest Bupa Dental Care practice using our online Finder tool. - Fully covered routine treatments
Depending on their level of cover and remaining benefit allowance, some everyday treatments — like check-ups or scale and polish appointments — may be fully covered at Bupa Dental Care practices. Employees can view exactly what their policy includes by logging into the My Bupa app. - Member-only discounts
Selected practices offer savings of up to 20% on a wide range of general dental treatments*, supporting affordability and reducing financial barriers to care. - Care from trusted experts
Bupa Dental Care is highly rated by customers, with an excellent Trustpilot score of 4.8. - Support for dental anxiety
Teams at Bupa Dental Care are trained to help patients feel comfortable, offering calm and supportive environments. Additional guidance is available in our Dental Anxiety Guide (PDF, 0.3MB).
*You must tell the dentist you have Bupa dental insurance and provide your membership number prior to your appointment to benefit from this offer. 10% or 20% discounts are available depending on the practice and the dentist you are seeing. To find the selected Bupa owned and approved network dental practices where this offer is available, see finder.bupa.co.uk and search the Bupa Dental Insurance Network. Discount excludes laboratory fees and specialist treatment and cannot be used against NHS and Bupa Dental Essentials services. Discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount.
**Lines are open 9:30 am – 5:00 pm Monday – Friday. We may record or monitor our calls.
