What California dentists need to compare
California dentists comparing TDIC and MedPro should not choose on introductory price alone: TDIC requires California Dental Association membership, while MedPro advertises a $50 first-year policy for new dentists but does not publish California-specific eligibility or core contract terms in the supplied material.[1][2]
Compare each policy against the dentistry performed, clinical hours, employment status, practice ownership, supervision of associates, moonlighting, additional locations, and prior treatment. Job changes, practice purchases or sales, retirement, and switches between claims-made and occurrence coverage can also create gaps.
Every proposal should address the same six dimensions:
- Total price: Premium, fees, discounts, renewal pricing, and any tail cost.
- Covered work: Procedures, associates, locations, moonlighting, and related proceedings.
- Limits and deductibles: Including whether defense expenses reduce the limits.
- Contract provisions: Policy form, retroactive date, consent to settle, and exclusions.
- Cancellation and tail: Termination rights and extended-reporting options.
- Best fit: Eligibility, career stage, practice structure, and transition plans.
The sources provide no effective dates and omit major contract details. Confirm coverage through a current California specimen policy, all endorsements, and a written quote.[1][2]
TDIC vs. MedPro: side-by-side comparison
| Comparison point | TDIC Professional Liability | MedPro Dental |
|---|---|---|
| Price | No public premium is quantified. TDIC offers policy-review assistance.[1] | Advertises a $50 first-year policy for dentists starting their careers. Renewal and other premiums are not supplied.[2] |
| Core features | Dentist-focused risk-management resources, an advice line, and policy reviews.[1] | Risk tools, on-call expert support, a claims-defense focus, free student externship coverage, and a residency moonlighting option.[2] |
| Limits and deductibles | Not specified in the public source.[1] | Not specified in the public source.[2] |
| Contract terms | Policy form, retroactive dates, consent to settle, defense-cost treatment, and exclusions require written confirmation.[1] | The same provisions require written confirmation.[2] |
| Cancellation and tail | Cancellation provisions and tail options are not specified.[1] | Cancellation provisions and tail options are not specified.[2] |
| Eligibility | Available in California only to CDA members.[1] | Markets coverage and related programs to dentists, students, and residents, but California eligibility and restrictions require confirmation.[2] |
| Scale and reported performance | Founded in 1980 by CDA members. TDIC reports protecting more than 15,000 CDA members and holding an A (Excellent) AM Best rating.[1] | Founded in 1899 and reports more than 40,000 dentist policyholders. MedPro also promotes its claims-defense record.[2] |
| Likely best fit | Eligible CDA members seeking a dentist-founded, member-oriented carrier with risk-management resources.[1] | New dentists considering introductory pricing or students and residents seeking externship or moonlighting options, subject to California confirmation.[2] |
Similar premiums are not comparable unless the limits, deductibles, policy form, retroactive date, exclusions, and reporting rights also match.
Why the first-year price is not enough
MedPro’s $50 first-year policy is an introductory offer for dentists starting their careers. The source does not establish a universal California price or disclose later premiums.[2] The TDIC source provides no premium, so the available evidence cannot show which carrier costs less.[1]
Policy form also affects long-term cost. Under claims-made coverage, a claim generally must be reported while the policy is active and after the applicable retroactive date. Ending coverage may require a tail, or extended-reporting protection, unless replacement coverage preserves prior acts. Occurrence coverage generally responds to incidents during the policy period even if reported later. Neither carrier’s policy form is verified by the supplied sources.
Ask each insurer to itemize:
- Per-claim and aggregate limits
- The deductible and whether it applies to damages, defense costs, or both
- The specialty, procedures, locations, and clinical hours used to price the quote
- The retroactive date and treatment of prior claims
- Discounts, taxes, fees, and tail costs
- Renewal pricing or a multi-year premium illustration, if available
For TDIC, include the cost of CDA membership required for California eligibility.[1] Premiums and discounts remain subject to underwriting and the written policy.
Contract terms that control claim protection
TDIC states that its overview is not a complete description of policy terms, conditions, and exclusions. MedPro’s supplied page also lacks detailed contract language.[1][2] Review the following provisions in the specimen policy:
Defense and settlement
- Consent to settle: Can the carrier settle without the insured’s approval? If consent is withheld, does a hammer clause limit later payments?
- Defense costs: Are attorney fees and litigation expenses outside the liability limit, or do they reduce the amount available for damages?
- Defense control: Who selects counsel, directs strategy, hires experts, and decides whether to appeal?
- Related proceedings: Are subpoenas, licensing-board matters, peer review, privacy incidents, and risk-management consultations covered, excluded, or subject to sublimits?
Insured work and prior acts
Confirm whether the named insured includes the practice entity, associates, hygienists, independent contractors, temporary work, moonlighting, teledentistry, volunteer care, and every location.
The retroactive date deserves particular attention when buying a practice or changing policies. Treatment performed before the new policy’s retroactive date may require prior-acts protection.
MedPro describes its claims-defense record as unmatched, but the source does not independently verify that comparison or disclose the operative defense provisions.[2] Material answers should point to a policy page, endorsement, or written carrier confirmation.
Cancellation, tail coverage, and practice transitions
Neither source specifies cancellation, nonrenewal, or tail terms.[1][2] These events are not interchangeable: cancellation ends coverage before expiration, nonrenewal lets it expire, and loss of eligibility may have separate contractual consequences.
For a claims-made policy, an extended reporting period generally permits later reporting of claims arising from covered treatment before the policy ended; it does not insure new treatment. Ask:
- Who pays for the tail, and how is its price determined?
- How long does the reporting period last, and is an unlimited option available?
- Do retirement, disability, death, or carrier-initiated termination reduce or waive the charge?
- Can the tail be canceled, and what reporting deadlines apply?
For a practice purchase or sale, identify who covers prior treatment, open claims, entity liability, and incidents reported after closing. Confirm coverage for associates, former owners, additional locations, and the professional corporation.
Because TDIC Professional Liability is limited to CDA members in California, request written confirmation of what happens to active coverage, renewal eligibility, and reporting rights if membership ends.[1] For MedPro, confirm California availability, the underwriting company, cancellation-notice provisions, and conditions attached to introductory, externship, or moonlighting coverage.[2]
Which carrier may fit better?
TDIC is a candidate for eligible CDA members who want dentist-founded coverage, member-focused risk resources, policy reviews, and an advice line. TDIC reports an A (Excellent) AM Best rating, a 2024 ClearlyRated Best of Insurance award, and coverage for more than 15,000 CDA members.[1]
MedPro merits consideration by new dentists, students, and residents interested in introductory pricing, externship protection, moonlighting coverage, or broad risk-support resources. MedPro says it protects more than 40,000 dentists, covers more dentists than any other carrier, and is chosen by one in two new dentists. These are carrier claims, not substitutes for policy review.[2]
- Practice owners: Confirm coverage for associates, entities, supervision, and all locations.
- Dentists changing jobs: Preserve prior acts or obtain appropriate tail coverage.
- Specialists: Check procedure exclusions, sublimits, and liability limits.
- Moonlighting residents: Verify that work outside the training program is covered.
The better fit depends on documented protection for the actual clinical exposure, not carrier size or introductory price.
How to obtain comparable proposals
- Create one exposure profile. List the license type, specialty, procedures, ownership structure, entity name, associates, contractors, locations, clinical hours, moonlighting, teledentistry, prior claims, current limits, retroactive date, and desired effective date.
- Submit identical information. Send the same profile and requested limits to both carriers. Confirm CDA membership eligibility for TDIC and current California availability for MedPro.[1][2]
- Request the complete document set. Obtain the written proposal, specimen policy, sample declarations, endorsements, exclusions, application, rating basis, discount conditions, and legal name of the underwriting company.
- Confirm California status. Ask whether the underwriting company is admitted in California and verify its current authorization. TDIC Insurance Solutions lists California license number 0652783, while TDIC lists license number 2361-4.[1]
- Get material terms in writing. Ask about limits, deductibles, defense costs, consent to settle, licensing-board coverage, entity and associate coverage, prior acts, tail options, cancellation, nonrenewal, territory, moonlighting, locations, and claim-reporting procedures.
- Build a comparison worksheet. Label each answer confirmed, excluded, conditional, or unanswered. Do not interpret a blank as coverage.
Do not sign an application with inaccurate procedures, locations, clinical hours, claims history, or prior-coverage information. Retain the final application, declarations, endorsements, written answers, and evidence of the retroactive date.
