How to save money on dental treatment

Dental treatment is not cheap. There’s no denying that. So, what tips do we have to reduce your dental costs?

The best way to save money on your dental costs over the long run is to have a comprehensive examination with xrays. Why? It is by far the biggest value for money and allows you to plan for all of your dental needs. A comprehensive examination (no xrays no clean) is $85 for new patients. The alternative option is to come in for a problem where we legally need to charge for a limited examination every appointment (look at one problem), which is not too much cheaper than a full checkup. This means you are wasting money doubling up on exams and we are always chasing problems rather than focusing on getting ahead of the disease. 

In a comprehensive exam we assess: every tooth and its risks, gum health, oral cancer, your bite, joints. We discuss what treatment, if any, we recommend straight away as well as possible future issues based on what we can see. We want you to understand your specific dental risks and what you can do about it. Prevention is going to save you not only money, but tooth structure and give you long term better success rates. There is nothing better than your own tooth structure.The more you know about yourself and what dental diseases affect you, the better you can make a tailored plan. 

In the end, dentistry isn’t expensive, dental treatment is. 

Understand how your health fund works
We are partnered with several health funds, but accept all health funds.

• Most health funds are calendar year (a few are financial year, it is important to know which one yours is). If your health fund runs calendar year, this means that your limits will reset at the start of each year and any unused limits will expire at the end of December.
• Know your limits and know how dentistry is categorized. I wish this was as straightforward as it sounds, but unfortunately every health fund is slightly different. Your limit is split into general, major and orthodontic. Let us know your limits and we can keep this on your file and plan accordingly.
• From our end, we have partnered with a few of the healthfunds: Bupa, NIB, HCF and Westfund, to get you the best rebates.
• Bupa & NIB patients: We are Bupa & NIB preferred providers on all dental treatments – this means we charge their fees, not ours, and are contractually not allowed to charge more. In return, Bupa give our patients a premium rebate meaning they pay more of your treatment.
• HCF patients. We are a HCF Preventative Provider: 2x checkups, 2x cleans, 1x fluoride, 2x xrays and other preventative dental treatments such as mouthguards are fully covered by HCF.
• Westfund preventative provider. Same as above 2 check up and cleans and xrays (we only take if required) fully covered by your healthfund. So no excuses!

Will the government provide any assistance?
Unfortunately dentistry is completely private. The following groups do have avenues though

• If you have a healthcare card, we accept HNE vouchers. Talk to our team who can walk you through this process.
• If your child is eligible for Children’s Medicare Scheme (CDBS), we bulk bill this up to their limit. Call our team and they can check your eligibility over the phone.
• If you have a Gold DVA card then we can claim DVA for you.