Quoted:
Most dental offices charge less for cash.
I have dental insurance, and I am pretty sure it would be more cost-effective for me to NOT have it.
Yeah, I think it depends a lot on the exact dental plan and your family.
For my wife and I, our dental is about $300/yr, and provides $1000 per person of coverage. In addition, cleanings and basic fillings are "free", meaning no out-of-pocket cost, and they don't consume any of the coverage maximum.
For that little bit of money, it's worth it to us to have it. Between me and my wife, that's four cleanings a year, plus whatever work we get done. I think a pretty standard cash price for a dental exam/cleaning is around $80 where we live, so we're already saving $20 off the cost of just our cleanings if we were to pay cash.
OP should definitely call around and find out cash costs, and any potential discounts (some places will run a cleaning discount on occasion in order to gain your repeat business...we took advantage of that before we had the insurance).