If you’re shopping outside the exchange and you have children in your family who will be on the dental plan with you, keep in mind that the ACA’s pediatric dental benefits do not have to be offered on plans that you purchase outside the exchange. If you’re only buying coverage for adults, the overall benefit options will be fairly comparable on-exchange and off-exchange. But if your plan will also cover children, the benefits that will be provided to the children via an on-exchange dental plan will be much more robust than the benefits that will be provided to adults (this will generally be true even if the children and adults are covered under the same plan; the benefit specifics will be different). As noted above, dental insurance can only be purchased through the exchange during open enrollment or a special enrollment period. And in the majority of the states, it can only be purchased together with health insurance — which means the exchange might not be a good solution if you only need dental insurance. (Legislation under consideration in 2023 would allow stand-alone dental plans to be purchased via HealthCare.gov by a person who isn't also buying health insurance.) For example, maybe you work for an employer that provides medical coverage but not dental coverage. Or maybe you have Medicare and thus cannot buy an individual market plan (Original Medicare does not cover dental services, but Medicare beneficiaries do not need — and cannot buy — health coverage in the marketplace). Fortunately, there are off-exchange dental plans available nationwide, year-round, without the need for a qualifying event. Depending on where you live, you’ll generally find that different insurers offer plans on-exchange and off-exchange, so it’s worth comparing both options (assuming you’re eligible to purchase a dental plan through the exchange).