Ameritas Dental Insurance: PrimeStar Care Lite, Boost and Complete — Costs and Coverage (2026)
Independent guide. Real Dental Costs is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. Plan data cited from myplan.ameritas.com (first-hand quotes, Aug 22 2026), Forbes Advisor and eHealth. For current quotes, visit myplan.ameritas.com.
Ameritas sells dental insurance under three PrimeStar tiers — Care Lite, Care Boost and Care Complete — priced by ZIP code rather than age. There are no waiting periods; instead each plan's share and annual maximum start lower and step up after your first year of coverage. Our three first-hand quotes for one adult ran $28.81-$65.19 a month depending on tier and ZIP (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026).
What will an Ameritas PrimeStar plan actually pay for your procedure?
Ameritas publishes a plan share that changes with time — "10% day one, 20% after year one" on major services — so the coinsurance percentage alone does not tell you the dollar amount you would owe. The tool below applies each tier's published deductible and day-1-versus-after-year-1 shares to your own treatment basket, in your state, using our three first-hand ZIP quotes as the starting premiums.
Ameritas PrimeStar Plan Picker
Lite vs Boost vs Complete on your own procedures, in your state — day-1 benefits vs after year 1, with our three first-hand ZIP quotes (Lincoln, Austin, Miami)
PrimeStar plans are underwritten by Ameritas Life Insurance Corp., Lincoln, NE. Real Dental Costs is not affiliated with Ameritas. Plan rules as published on myplan.ameritas.com, retrieved 2026-08-22.
Your treatment plan this year
PrimeStar Care Lite
$1,642
All-in year total (premiums + what you pay)
Cash total: $1,670
Plan pays: $410
You pay at the chair: $1,260
Premiums ×12: $382 (quote Austin TX 78701)
Increasing-benefit plan: day-1 shares and maximum apply in year 1, higher published levels after year 1 (toggle “first year” above). Out-of-network plan pays 70 % preventive, 25 %→40 % basic, 5 %→10 % major (MAB allowance).
$28.81 (Lincoln NE) · $29.31 (Miami FL) · $31.86 (Austin TX) per month — Quotes read on myplan.ameritas.com on August 22, 2026 for one adult in ZIP 68508 (Lincoln, NE), 78701 (Austin, TX) and 33101 (Miami, FL) — same benefit grid, price varies by ZIP; enter your own quote.
PrimeStar Care Boost
$1,794
All-in year total (premiums + what you pay)
Cash total: $1,670
Plan pays: $561
You pay at the chair: $1,110
Premiums ×12: $684 (quote Austin TX 78701)
Increasing-benefit plan: day-1 shares and maximum apply in year 1, higher published levels after year 1 (toggle “first year” above). Out-of-network plan pays 70 % preventive, 35 %→50 % basic, 10 %→20 % major.
$50.90 (Lincoln NE) · $52.44 (Miami FL) · $57.00 (Austin TX) per month — Quotes read on myplan.ameritas.com on August 22, 2026 for one adult in ZIP 68508 (Lincoln, NE), 78701 (Austin, TX) and 33101 (Miami, FL) — same benefit grid, price varies by ZIP; enter your own quote.
PrimeStar Care Complete
$1,866
All-in year total (premiums + what you pay)
Cash total: $1,670
Plan pays: $586
You pay at the chair: $1,084
Premiums ×12: $782 (quote Austin TX 78701)
Increasing-benefit plan: day-1 shares and maximum apply in year 1, higher published levels after year 1 (toggle “first year” above). Out-of-network plan pays 80 % preventive, 60 %→70 % basic, 10 %→30 % major.
$60.00 (Lincoln NE) · $60.10 (Miami FL) · $65.19 (Austin TX) per month — Quotes read on myplan.ameritas.com on August 22, 2026 for one adult in ZIP 68508 (Lincoln, NE), 78701 (Austin, TX) and 33101 (Miami, FL) — same benefit grid, price varies by ZIP; enter your own quote.
Lowest worst-case all-in
Dental savings plan (e.g. DentalSave / Careington)
$934–$1,435
All-in year total
No waiting period, no annual cap, nothing reimbursed: you pay the discounted fee plus the membership.
Membership $99/year; typical 20-50 % off the dentist fee schedule, no cap, no waiting (dentalsave.com, retrieved 2026-07-13).
Pay cash, no plan
$1,670
All-in year total
State-average cash prices from the open US Dental Cost Index (Texas).
How this is calculated. Cash prices are state averages from the open US Dental Cost Index. Each PPO column applies the published in-network member share per class (preventive / basic / major) after the published deductible, zeroes out classes still inside the published waiting period when “first year” is ticked, caps the plan's payout at the published annual maximum, treats orthodontics against its own lifetime maximum, and treats implants as not covered unless the carrier publishes otherwise. Premiums: a published “starting at” figure is a floor, a third-party example quote is only a placeholder, and your own quote replaces both. Dark bar = premiums, colored bar = what you pay at the chair. Columns are ranked by their worst-case figure. Estimates, in-network, one person — not a quote, not insurance advice.
On a $1,200 crown (US Dental Cost Index national average) with the $50 combined deductible applied, Care Lite leaves you about $1,085 in year one and $970 after year one — the plan pays only 10% at first, rising to 20%. Care Boost and Care Complete both leave you about $970 in year one, dropping to $625 after year one once their major-care share reaches 50%. On a $200 filling, Care Complete owes the least from day one: about $80 in year one, falling to $65 after year one, versus $125 falling to $80 on Care Lite.
How much does Ameritas dental insurance cost? Our three ZIP quotes
We ran the same one-adult quote on myplan.ameritas.com for three ZIP codes — Lincoln, Nebraska; Austin, Texas; and Miami, Florida — on August 22, 2026. The benefit grid is identical across all three; only the premium moves with location.
| Tier | Lincoln, NE (68508) | Miami, FL (33101) | Austin, TX (78701) | Annual max (day 1 → after yr 1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrimeStar Care Lite | $28.81/mo | $29.31/mo | $31.86/mo | $750 → $1,500 |
| PrimeStar Care Boost | $50.90/mo | $52.44/mo | $57.00/mo | $1,000 → $2,500 |
| PrimeStar Care Complete | $60.00/mo | $60.10/mo | $65.19/mo | $2,000 → $3,500 |
What does not change across ZIP codes or tiers: a $50 per-person deductible on combined basic and major services (capped at 3 deductibles per family), no waiting periods on any class of service, no enrollment fees, and Preventive Plus — cleanings and exams are paid at 100% in-network and are not deducted from the annual maximum (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). Because pricing runs by location rather than by your age, a household of any age pays the same quoted premium for a given ZIP and tier.
Pay 10–60% less at the dentist — starting today
- No waiting period
- No annual cap
- Use it the same day
- Pre-existing conditions OK
A dental savings plan is a membership (not insurance): show your card, pay the discounted rate. No claims, no denials, no annual cap. If you're uninsured or you've hit your plan's maximum, it's usually the cheapest way to pay for exactly the procedure you're pricing on this page.
See plan prices in my area30-day money-back guarantee · cancel anytime
Disclosure: this is an affiliate link. We may earn a commission if you buy a plan, at no extra cost to you. Real Dental Costs is independent and is not the plan provider.
PrimeStar Care Lite vs Boost vs Complete: the full benefit grid
All figures are the share the plan pays, in-network, per the published grid (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). "Day 1" applies from enrollment; "after year 1" applies once you have completed 12 months on the plan.
| Benefit | Care Lite (day 1 → after yr 1) | Care Boost (day 1 → after yr 1) | Care Complete (day 1 → after yr 1) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preventive | 100% / 100% (Preventive Plus, outside the max) | 100% / 100% (Preventive Plus) | 100% / 100% (Preventive Plus) |
| Basic (fillings) | 50% → 80% | 65% → 80% | 80% → 90% |
| Major (crowns, root canals, dentures, whitening on Boost) | 10% → 20% | 20% → 50% | 20% → 50% |
| Implants | Not listed | 20% → 50%, cap $500 → $1,000 | 20% → 50%, cap $1,000 → $1,500 |
| Child orthodontia (under 19) | Not listed | 15% → 50%, $1,000 lifetime | Not listed |
| Hearing | Not listed | Not listed | $75 exam + 50% toward aids, $200 → $400/ear (separate from the dental max) |
| Annual maximum | $750 → $1,500 | $1,000 → $2,500 | $2,000 → $3,500 |
Out-of-network care is still paid, at a lower share: Care Lite pays 70% preventive, 25% → 40% basic, 5% → 10% major; Care Boost pays 70% preventive, 35% → 50% basic, 10% → 20% major; Care Complete pays 80% preventive, 60% → 70% basic, 10% → 30% major (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). Out-of-network reimbursement runs on Ameritas's maximum allowable charge (MAC/MAB), not the dentist's billed fee, so the effective share can land lower than the published percentage suggests.
"No waiting periods" — what it really means on an increasing-benefit plan
Ameritas markets PrimeStar as having no waiting periods, and that is accurate — you can use major-care benefits the day your coverage starts, unlike carriers that make you wait 6-12 months before a crown is covered at all (see dental insurance waiting periods explained). The trade-off is built into the plan share instead of a calendar wait: on Care Lite, the plan pays only 10% of major care in year one versus 20% after year one, so the practical benefit of "no wait" narrows once you run the numbers on a real procedure.
On the same $1,200 crown, a classic 6-month-wait plan that pays 50% coinsurance after the wait would leave you around $625 (after the $50 deductible) once the wait has passed, but the full $1,200 during the wait itself. Ameritas's Care Boost or Care Complete leave you about $970 immediately in year one — worse than the post-wait number on a comparable plan, but available from day one rather than after six months. For someone who can plan treatment around a wait, a plan with no-wait-but-lower-year-1-share is not automatically cheaper; for someone who needs a crown now, day-one access has real value that a waiting-period plan cannot offer. See dental insurance with no waiting period for how other no-wait carriers structure the same trade-off.
Implants, child orthodontia, hearing: the extras and their caps
Implants: Care Lite does not list implant coverage. Care Boost covers implants under major services with a dedicated cap — $500 in year one, rising to $1,000 after year one — counted inside the plan's overall annual maximum. Care Complete's implant cap runs $1,000 in year one to $1,500 after year one (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). Against a US Dental Cost Index national average of roughly $4,000 for a single implant, even Complete's post-year-one cap of $1,500 covers well under half the cost of one implant. See does dental insurance cover implants for how these caps compare across carriers.
Child orthodontia: Only Care Boost lists an orthodontic benefit, and only for dependents under age 19: the plan pays 15% in year one, stepping up to 50% after year one, with a $1,000 lifetime maximum per child (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). Care Lite and Care Complete publish no orthodontic benefit at all. See dental insurance that covers braces for how a $1,000 lifetime cap compares against typical treatment cost.
Hearing: Care Complete is the only PrimeStar tier with a hearing benefit — a $75 hearing exam plus 50% toward hearing aids, up to $200 per ear in year one and $400 per ear after year one — and it is tracked separately from the dental annual maximum, so using it does not reduce what is left for dental claims (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026).
Preventive Plus and the $50 combined deductible
All three PrimeStar tiers use "Preventive Plus": routine cleanings and exams are paid at 100% in-network and are not deducted from the annual maximum, so using your preventive visits never eats into the dollar cap available for a filling or crown later in the year (myplan.ameritas.com, Aug 22 2026). The $50 deductible applies once per person, per year, across combined basic and major services — not separately to each service — and a family plan caps the household at 3 deductibles regardless of how many members have claims. Preventive care carries no deductible at all.
Ameritas dental insurance reviews: what the public signals say
Third-party sources give a genuinely mixed picture, and two of them contradict each other directly on the same rating platform. dentalinsurance.com (2026) cites a Trustpilot score of 4.7 out of 5 based on 1,055 reviews for Ameritas; a separate source, dentalcoverageguide.com (2026), reports Ameritas's Trustpilot score at 1.4 out of 5. Real Dental Costs was not able to load Trustpilot's review page directly to arbitrate between these two figures, so both are reported here with their sources rather than resolved into a single number — treat the gap itself as a signal to check Trustpilot's live page before enrolling.
More stable third-party ratings agree: AM Best rates Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. A (Excellent) for financial strength, and the Better Business Bureau lists Ameritas at A+, accredited since 1948 (per dentalcoverageguide.com, 2026). Forbes Advisor's 2026 review scores PrimeStar Complete and Boost 4.5 out of 5 and PrimeStar Lite 3.7 out of 5 in its own methodology, and lists Ameritas alongside Anthem, Cigna, Guardian, Humana and UnitedHealthcare in a same-profile premium comparison (forbes.com, 2026). Network size is another point where sources diverge: Forbes Advisor cites 136,000+ providers, while eHealth cites 425,000+ providers — a difference likely explained by counting access points versus unique dentists, but not resolved by either published source, so both figures are reported here rather than one being treated as correct.
Is Ameritas PrimeStar worth it?
It depends on what you need from the plan:
- Preventive care only: All three tiers pay 100% on cleanings and exams from day one, with Preventive Plus keeping those visits outside the annual maximum — Care Lite delivers that at the lowest premium of the three.
- A crown planned in year one: Run your own numbers in the plan picker above; on the $1,200 national-average crown, Care Boost and Care Complete both leave roughly $970 in year one before dropping to $625 after year one, while Care Lite starts and stays higher (around $1,085 falling to $970) because its major-care share never exceeds 20%.
- A family needing child orthodontia: Only Care Boost lists an ortho benefit, and its $1,000 lifetime cap covers a modest share of a full treatment case — budget the remainder separately.
- A senior weighing implants and hearing: Care Complete is the only tier combining a hearing benefit with the largest implant cap ($1,000 → $1,500) and the highest major-care share after year one (50%); see dental plans for seniors for how it compares against Medicare Advantage dental allowances.
Compare with other dental insurers
- Anthem Dental Insurance: Plans, Costs & Coverage 2026
- Aetna Dental Insurance: Costs & Coverage 2026
- MetLife Dental Insurance
- Cigna Dental Insurance: Costs & Coverage 2026
- Humana Dental Insurance: Costs & Coverage 2026
- Guardian Dental Insurance
- UnitedHealthcare Dental Insurance
- Dental Insurance Hub — How coverage works
- How Much Is Dental Insurance?
This is independent pricing research, not insurance advice. Coverage percentages, deductibles, annual maximums and premiums vary by ZIP code, state and household — always verify directly with Ameritas before making decisions. Data compiled August 2026 from a first-hand quote tool and public plan documents.
Frequently asked questions
Does Ameritas dental insurance have waiting periods?
How much does Ameritas dental insurance cost per month?
What is Ameritas PrimeStar?
Does Ameritas PrimeStar cover implants?
Does Ameritas PrimeStar cover braces for kids?
Is Ameritas dental insurance good for seniors?
Can I see any dentist with Ameritas PrimeStar?
Should I pick PrimeStar Lite, Boost or Complete?
Independent dental pricing research — every series carries a named source, and corrections are logged publicly. Not medical advice.