For many HR and benefits teams, summer can feel like a quieter season. Employees are taking vacations, calendars are shifting, and open enrollment may still feel months away.
But for benefits leaders, summer is not downtime. It is planning time.
By the time open enrollment arrives in the fall, many of the biggest benefits decisions are already underway. Plan options are being reviewed. Vendor conversations are happening. Communication strategies are being shaped. Employees may not be thinking about their dental benefits yet, but HR teams should be.
That makes July and August an ideal window to step back and ask a simple but important question:
Are your dental benefits actually working the way they should?
Open Enrollment Starts Before Open Enrollment
Open enrollment may happen in October or later for many organizations, but the strategy behind it begins much earlier. Benefits teams need time to review current offerings, identify gaps, evaluate employee needs, and prepare communications that help people understand what is available to them.
That preparation matters because benefits communication is not a one-time task. SHRM notes that benefits administrators often need to reach employees across multiple channels, including portals, emails, videos, and other communication tools, to help them understand their options.1
That is especially true for dental benefits.
Dental coverage is one of those benefits employees may appreciate in theory but underuse in practice. Many people know dental care matters. They may even have a plan that covers preventative care, including cleanings, exams, and X-rays. But between work schedules, commute time, family responsibilities, and general appointment fatigue, routine care is easy to delay.
For employers, that creates a disconnect: the benefit exists, but employees may not be getting the full value from it.
Summer is the right time to address that disconnect before open enrollment turns attention toward plan selection and deadlines.
Dental Benefits Should Be Evaluated by Usage, Not Just Availability
Offering dental insurance is important. But simply offering coverage does not guarantee employees are using it.
And for employers, that matters.
Companies are paying for dental benefits whether employees use them or not. If employees are skipping routine cleanings, delaying preventative care, or avoiding appointments because scheduling is inconvenient, the organization may not be getting the full value from a benefit it is already funding.
Employers are already investing in dental benefits. The question is whether employees are actually able to use them.
As benefits teams review their plans ahead of open enrollment, it is worth looking beyond whether dental is included and asking deeper questions:
- Are employees using their preventative benefits?
- Do they understand what is covered?
- Are they delaying care because appointments are inconvenient?
- Are employees aware that preventative dental care can often be accessed with little or no out-of-pocket cost, depending on their plan?
- Are there ways to make the benefit easier to use without changing the plan itself?
These questions matter because access and utilization are where the real value of a benefit is created. A dental plan that looks strong on paper may still fall short if employees are not making appointments or do not understand how to take advantage of preventative care.
The CDC identifies regular dental care as part of oral disease prevention, alongside daily brushing, flossing, and limiting added sugar.2 For employers, this makes dental care more than a checkbox in the benefits package. It is part of a broader strategy around employee wellness, productivity, and everyday quality of life.
Summer Gives HR Teams Time to Fix Friction
One of the biggest advantages of reviewing dental benefits in the summer is that there is still time to act.
By fall, HR teams are often focused on execution: finalizing materials, answering employee questions, coordinating enrollment platforms, and making sure deadlines are met. There is less room to rethink strategy once open enrollment is already underway.
Summer offers space to identify friction points and solve them before employees are asked to make decisions.
For example, if employees are not using preventative dental care because scheduling is difficult, the issue may not be the benefit itself. The issue may be access. If employees do not understand what preventative care includes, the solution may be clearer communication. If employees are overwhelmed by benefits information, dental may need to be positioned in a simpler, more practical way.
This is where HR teams can make a meaningful difference before open enrollment begins.
Instead of waiting until employees are reviewing plan documents, benefits leaders can use the summer to prepare education, evaluate care access solutions, and think about how dental fits into the larger employee wellness conversation.
Dental Care Belongs in the Workplace Wellness Conversation
Wellness programs are most effective when they are practical. Employees are more likely to engage with benefits that are easy to understand, easy to access, and relevant to their everyday lives.
Dental care fits naturally into that category.
preventative dental visits are routine, familiar, and important, but they are also easy to postpone. The American Dental Association notes that even people who visit the dentist twice a year only spend a small amount of time in the dental chair annually, while daily oral care makes up a much larger share of prevention.3 In other words, dental wellness is both routine and ongoing. It should be easy for employees to maintain, not something that becomes difficult to fit into their schedules.
This is also why onsite and workplace-based care models are becoming more relevant for benefits teams. Dentists on Demand brings dental care into the workplace and works with existing Dental PPO plans, helping employees access preventative services without having to leave the office for a traditional appointment.
For HR teams, the value is not just convenience. It is helping an existing benefit become easier to use.
That distinction matters during open enrollment. Employees do not always need more benefits. Often, they need better access to the benefits already available to them.
What to Review Before Open Enrollment
As summer planning begins, HR and benefits leaders can use dental benefits as part of a broader benefits audit.
Start with utilization. If data is available, look at how many employees are using preventative dental care. If utilization is lower than expected, consider what barriers may be getting in the way.
Next, review employee communication. Are dental benefits explained clearly? Do employees know what preventative care may include? Do they understand how dental care supports broader health and wellness?
Then, evaluate access. Even with strong coverage, employees may struggle to make time for appointments. Consider whether onsite care, pop-up services, or better scheduling support could reduce that barrier.
Finally, connect dental benefits to the open enrollment story. Rather than presenting dental coverage as a standalone plan option, position it as part of a practical wellness strategy that helps employees take care of routine health needs before they become bigger problems.
The Best Time to Improve Benefits Is Before Employees Are Choosing Them
Open enrollment is when employees make decisions. Summer is when HR teams can make those decisions easier.
By rethinking dental benefits before the fall rush, employers have a chance to improve communication, reduce barriers to care, and get more value from the plans they already offer. That does not always mean replacing a plan or adding complexity. Sometimes, it means making preventative care easier to access and easier to understand.
For benefits leaders, summer is the right time to ask whether dental coverage is doing what it is supposed to do.
Because when open enrollment arrives, employees should not just see dental benefits as another box to check. They should understand them as a practical, accessible part of their overall health and wellness.
Dentists on Demand helps employers make preventative dental care easier to access at work, giving employees a more convenient way to use the benefits they already have. To learn how onsite dental care can support your open enrollment strategy, connect with the Dentists on Demand team.
Footnotes
1 SHRM, “Open Enrollment Guide & Resources,” https://www.shrm.org/in/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/open-enrollment-guide-resources
2 CDC, “About Oral Health,” https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/about/index.html
3 American Dental Association, “Home Oral Care,” https://www.ada.org/resources/ada-library/oral-health-topics/home-care