As you might guess, dental insurance is traditional coverage that usually includes 100% of the cost of two preventative visits each year, lowers the cost of dental procedures, and often has an annual maximum dollar amount of coverage per year. Discount dental plans usually are lower in cost but give you less coverage: you may only save 10% on the standard cost for a filling or routine X-rays, and you will probably be limited to a single dentist instead of a network.