Is Disability Insurance Worth It For Oral Surgeons Living on a Resident’s Salary?

You’re an oral surgeon earning a resident’s salary. Your student loans may already exceed six figures. Rent, groceries, licensing fees, board exams, and moving expenses all compete for your paycheck. So, when someone suggests buying disability insurance, a reaction closer to “no” or “not yet” is totally understandable.

Why would I spend money protecting an income I barely have?

This is one of the most common questions oral surgery residents ask, but it’s also the wrong one to be asking! The real question isn’t whether your current income is worth protecting…it’s whether your future income is.

You’re not insuring today’s income, you’re insuring tomorrow’s career

An oral surgery resident’s salary is temporary, it’s a chapter in the story, not the financial destination it’s building toward. Once you complete residency and begin practicing, your earning potential changes significantly. Oral Surgeons routinely earn multiples of what they made during training. The income your training was designed to create is what disability insurance protects.

If a disability prevented you from practicing, you wouldn’t lose a resident’s paycheck. You’d lose a career’s worth of earnings, the investment of years in school, and the future your training was meant to fund. Framed that way, the cost of coverage looks very different.

The math looks different than most oral surgery residents expect

Residents tend to focus on today’s premium. They rarely consider tomorrow’s cost of waiting.

Disability insurance premiums are based largely on two factors: age and health. Said simply, the younger and healthier you are when you apply, the lower your premium. Assuming you purchase a “level premium structure,” the rate you get for the amount of coverage you secure during residency stays the same as your career grows.  This gives you a nice ‘head start’ as you begin your career. Some companies even offer discount programs to residents that allow you to carry forward favorable insurance rates to future increases to coverage. This, too, is a benefit of purchasing an individual disability income policy while you’re still in training.

Waiting until you’re established in practice may seem like a financially cautious move. But it typically means higher premiums, and it introduces risk. Health conditions that develop over time can lead to policy exclusions or make coverage harder to qualify for at all. A window that’s open now may not stay open.

Why many oral surgery dental residents choose to buy during residency

As we pointed out above, the most obvious answer is timing. But just to recap the reasons, the most important ones are:

• Disability insurance premiums are based on your age and health at the time you apply
• Some companies offer special discounts to residents
• Often, simplified underwriting is available to residents, which makes the application process more straightforward

One feature worth asking about specifically is a future purchase option. This is a provision that lets you increase your coverage  as your income grows, without going through additional medical underwriting. For a resident whose earnings are about to change significantly, this kind of built-in flexibility matters more than it might initially appear.

Taken together, these factors often mean that coverage secured during residency costs less over the long run than coverage purchased a few years into practice, not because the insurance itself is cheaper, but because the window to obtain special discounts offered by some companies to those who purchase coverage during residency often closes at graduation or shortly thereafter.

But doesn’t my employer cover me?

Many oral surgery residents assume the hospital or university has disability covered. That assumption is worth examining, because group disability benefits (if you have access to them) are often more limited than people expect. The benefit amount may replace only a portion of income, calculated on a resident salary, whereas companies that offer individual disability insurance policies may offer special, higher limits to residents , and the coverage typically doesn’t follow you when you leave the program.

An individual disability policy works differently: you own the policy, it travels with you regardless of where you practice, and the policy configuration is based upon what you selected, rather than an employer’s group plan. For oral surgeons, this distinction carries particular weight because many individual policies are written on an own-occupation basis. That means benefits may pay out if you can no longer perform the specific duties of an oral surgeon, even if you’re physically capable of doing other kinds of work.

What happens if you wait?

It’s worth understanding what waiting can mean for you.

Health changes can lead to policy exclusions, reduced benefits, or declined applications. the ability to obtain a policy with resident discounts may have closed and additional financial underwriting may be required for those purchasing coverage outside special programs for residents. None of that is inevitable, but it reflects how the market tends to work, and it’s worth factoring into the decision.

Questions every resident should ask before buying

When you begin comparing policies, a few questions matter more than others. The most consequential for oral surgery professionals is whether the policy is written on an own occupation basis. Beyond that, you’ll want to understand whether the policy includes a future purchase option that lets you increase your coverage as your income grows, without additional medical underwriting. Portability matters too: individual policies  travel with you. Group disability insurance coverage offered through your residency typically ends when you complete your training.

Still wondering if it makes sense?

Living on an oral surgery resident’s salary means every dollar matters. That’s exactly why financial decisions during this period deserve careful thought. Disability insurance isn’t about protecting what you earn today. It’s about protecting the career you’ve spent years, and likely hundreds of thousands of dollars, building. Waiting to buy disability income insurance is not a good financial decision given the significance of your health history in the underwriting process.

Every resident’s situation is different. We can help you understand your options, walk you through resident-specific discounts and policy features. Schedule an exploratory, no-obligation conversation with a Treloar & Heisel team member.

About Treloar & Heisel

Treloar & Heisel, an EPIC Company, is a premier financial services provider to dental and medical professionals across the country. We assist thousands of clients from residency to practice and through retirement with a comprehensive suite of financial services, custom-tailored advice, and a strong national network focused on delivering the highest level of service.