Financial Readiness
Active-duty dental, family dental through TDP, and how vision works through your TRICARE plan and FEDVIP.
TRICARE covers care at military dental clinics with civilian support through the ADDP. Courtesy photo, Defense Health Agency/TRICARE, DVIDS (public domain).
Dental and vision run on a separate track from your medical plan. As the active-duty service member, you get dental care through military dental clinics as part of readiness, so you are not the one buying a dental plan.
Your family's dental is the TRICARE Dental Program, or TDP, the family dental plan. It is cheap: about $8.65 a month to cover one family member if you are E-4 or below. Vision is thinner. Active-duty families can add a vision plan through FEDVIP, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program, if they are enrolled in a TRICARE health plan.
Dental coverage does not come from your medical plan, and who covers whom depends on your status. The active-duty member is covered through readiness. Family dental is its own cheap plan you enroll in.
Dental by status
Family dental (TDP), through Feb 2026
Premiums are for the TDP plan year running through February 2026 and depend on the sponsor's rank. E-5 and above pay more. Rates reset March 1, 2026.
The government covers up to 70% of the family dental premium, and enrollment is open year-round.
Source: TRICARE.mil · premiums for plan year through Feb 2026
Yes, but who covers whom depends on your status. As an active-duty member, your dental care comes through military dental clinics, and you are not eligible for the family or retiree dental plans because you do not need them. Your family members get dental through TDP, a separate plan they enroll in and pay a small monthly premium for. Retirees use a different program, FEDVIP.
Not much, because the government picks up most of the tab, up to 70 percent of the premium for active-duty families. The premium depends on the sponsor's rank and how many family members you are covering. Enrollment is open year-round, unlike vision, and you sign up through the TDP contractor. Most family members are required to be enrolled, with a few exceptions like kids under age 1 and family members living apart from the sponsor.
FEDVIP is run by the Office of Personnel Management and administered through BENEFEDS, the site where you enroll in FEDVIP. It is enrollee-pay-all, meaning you cover the full premium. Retirees use FEDVIP for dental, since it replaced the old retiree dental program, plus FEDVIP vision if they are in a TRICARE health plan. Active-duty families use TDP for dental and can add FEDVIP vision if enrolled in a TRICARE health plan. Active-duty members are not eligible for FEDVIP at all.
Vision works a bit differently, and the timing matters.
Your TRICARE health plan handles the eye exam, but frames and lenses are mostly on you. The way to fill that gap is a FEDVIP vision plan, and it only opens at certain times of the year.
The gap: Your TRICARE health plan covers a routine eye exam, but glasses and contacts are not broadly covered.
The fix: Active-duty families enrolled in a TRICARE health plan can add a FEDVIP vision plan for frames and lenses.
FEDVIP timing
Miss the Open Season window and you wait until next year, so put it on the calendar.
Source: TRICARE.mil · BENEFEDS
You do not have to sort this out alone. For active-duty exams, cleanings, and readiness work, your base dental clinic is the place to go. For family dental enrollment and ID cards, the TRICARE Dental Program contractor handles it, and you can find the current contractor at the TRICARE dental page. For FEDVIP vision and retiree dental enrollment, premiums, and plan-compare tools, BENEFEDS is the spot. The routine eye exam runs through your TRICARE health plan. And remember: family members have to be in DEERS, the military eligibility database, to enroll in any of these. All of these are linked in Sources below.
Does TRICARE cover dental?
Yes, but it depends who. Active-duty members get dental care through military dental clinics. Families use the TRICARE Dental Program (TDP). Retirees use FEDVIP.
How much does military family dental cost?
For the plan year through February 2026, about $8.65 a month to cover one family member (E-4 and below) or $22.48 a month for more than one. E-5 and above pay $11.53 and $29.98.
Can I get glasses through TRICARE?
Not usually. Standard glasses and contacts are not broadly covered by the medical plan. A FEDVIP vision plan is the usual way families cover frames and lenses.
When can I sign up for FEDVIP?
During Open Season, the yearly window in November and December, or within 60 days of a qualifying life event such as retirement.
