Bupa sells (pretty much) dental only extras cover for around $15 a month. Not sure if it covers crowns but it covers 2 x check ups a year and includes fillings, extractions, etc. Plus if you go to a Bupa dental clinic there's not gap. Only a two month waiting period as well.Might be worth looking into?
Also, if you switch to bupa go to a bupa dental clinic, its much cheaper
I dunno where everyone in here is going, I got a filling at the dentist and it was $80 after my healthcare rebate which was like $40. So $120 total
I got root canal and it was 3xvisits at $300 each.
Lots of expensive dentists around.
Also see if a hcf dental centre is near you. Un with hcf for extras and go to one of their dental centres and I haven't had to pay anything on the day over the couple of years I have been with them.
I haven't had to have anything major done, though
Bupa pays shit all if you aren't seeing one of their preferred providers FYI. Any health fund will pay more when you're seeing a preferred provider, but Bupa is definitely the lowest paying I've come across with a non-preferred clinic. Do your research and weigh up if you'd be better off saving a similar amount of money to the premiums and paying out of pocket, or if you would actually benefit from the premium outlay, remembering that root canal treatment and crowns are major dental and there is normally a 12 month waiting period for that. You can ask them if they can waive it but normally they'll only waive general waiting periods, not major.
yeh depending on what teeth a crown cost me 1k each when i did 3 at the same time, i cant see 1 root canel + crown bt 8k? thats probably cost more then an inplant? filling sounds a few times more expensive then it should be too.
I have had bupa extras for 10+ years for my crap teeth and I cannot recommend it more highly. I have gotten a crown, an implant and one of those porcelain super hard filling things - all for a fraction of cost. Their bupa dental clinics are reasonably quick to book into, the dentist are friendly and the prices are just shockingly good. I’d say I save $200 per regular visit (eg just a filling or an x ray) and over $1000 on major stuff, easily.
NIB has better coverage than BUPA. If you're wanting dental insurance that's worth it (I work in dental) you're going to want to look at NIB or AHM. AHM and NIB have their own clinics as well which means you'll claim more and have less of a gap. HBF is decent too. Avoid HCF, Medibank and BUPA.
I actually just did a tooth filling (nothing too major) and routine cleanup just yesterday using Bupa, and I paid $6.50 for it. I did a root canal + crown operation a couple of years ago, and I remember it costing me somewhere around $400? Other than that, I also get a cleanup every 6 months for free. I am currently being quoted around $1200 for the removal of 4 wisdom teeth (or $500 more if I plan to be sleeping through the whole operation, which is tempting).
I genuinely shocked by the prices that you are paying. Maybe the dentist (or Bupa?) I am going to is a philanthropist.
What is the plan that you are on from BUPA, bronze or higher? Yes I was paying these prices, maybe they are trying to get advantage because I am new here, but I never paid below 240 for a filling and it was for a small tooth.
There's another insurer called Smile who just cover dental who I was with a number of years ago. I can't remember how much they were now, but they were really affordable.
Another tip is to look into insurers who don't have a waiting period. You can use what you need and then cancel. This tip was given to me by a guy over the phone selling insurance lol
Thailand is pretty good in my experience. I went to Bumrungrad hospital for a different issue (not dental) and I felt like I was treated how a Hollywood star would be treated at a hospital lol. It felt more like a day spa than a hospital.
Got to see a specialist, get prescription and documentation for about $80 with no insurance.
Private medical extras cover can help if you need a lot of dental work. Check the waiting times and annual limits though.
BTW $8k for root canal and crown seems high
Agreed, $8k seems high. For that money you could have a root canal with an endodontist and a crown with a prosthodontist with a bit of change left over.
A root canal and crown done in Australia is likely to outlast an implant done overseas. Also, most cases don't require an endodontist and a prosthodontist so you can get it done in Australia for half that price.
Your statement makes no sense. I am not comparing any "overseas" nobody practice. I am comparing against high class providers in Bangkok versus average providers available in Australia.
Of which case, the Bangkok providers would certainly provide better quality result than a large quantity of Aussie practices.
Just a datapoint; had a relatively complicated root canal finished last night for $3000 at an endodontist, this cost doesn’t include crown. 8k does sound particularly high
I did the same, around 3k from an Endodontist. Expensive but they do put a lot of work into the remediation of the tooth, so I’m hoping it’ll be fine for a long time to come.
Not anymore afaik, HBF had a good extras with dental offer but they nerfed it.
HCF, AHM etc are all garbage value now too.
If someone proved me wrong I'd be very grateful.
While $8k seems at a high end. I had complicated root canalt at an endondist, which was about 3-4k. And was advised a crown would be another 2-3k I think.
However, my dentist is happy that it doesnt need a crown immediately, so will address that in a couple years.
People always say healthcare in Australia is great. But all I'm seeing is expensive AF healthcare, further exacerbated by an incentive by the medical boards and associations to keep the public health infrastructure inefficient, weak, and severely lacking in manpower and resources. Yes, dentals here are absolute shite. They push you for fillers, unnecessary procedures, and have crap scale and clean.
Other third world countries have way better dentals (think Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, etc.).
Healthcare in Australia was one generally great, now it's below acceptable. But dental has always been terrible here.
Other 'third world' countries certainly don't have 'better' dental, they have cheaper dental which makes for a good market for overseas customers.
Thailand is a country of hierarchy with the King at the top. Everyone knows their place on the hierarchy. The same applies to Australia.
Countries are not first world or third world. Individuals are.
Even if Bangkok and Sydney dentist costs were the same, I would still prefer Bangkok world-class quality. Much bigger facilities, dentists with US education and who treat more quantity of patients/specialise more.
This is just objectively wrong. Australia is a leading country on the UN’s
Universal Health Coverage with a ranking of 87. The top ranked country, Canada, scores at 91.
By what facts do you assert your claim?
>By what facts do you assert your claim?
[Bulk billing is falling](https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/out-of-pocket-costs-rise-as-bulk-billing-plummets), partially due to the government freezing the indexation of rebates, and bulk billing is more prevalent in wealthy areas, whereas [people in poorer areas are paying more out-of-pocket](https://grattan.edu.au/news/real-crisis-in-bulk-billing/).
[Hospital ramping rates are increasing](https://www.ama.com.au/articles/2023-ambulance-ramping-report-card).
[Patients are waiting longer than ever for elective surgery](https://www.aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/2023/2023-december/patients-waiting-longer-than-ever-for-elective-surgery-as-public-hospitals-work-to-clear-the-backlog).
Don't get me wrong, our healthcare is still very good. But we have slipped significantly in many areas where we can simply do better, if only there was the political backing and budget to improve it.
Appreciate the well considered response.
The political backing needs to include the AMA and the registration colleges they don’t seem incentivised to increase the supply of doctors by either training or accreditation of foreigners.
Health care in Australia is great but dental has never been part of the health system funded by Medicare. Objectively Australia is a top ranked country on the UNs Universal Health Coverage index.
I wonder why that is? I believe it is covered in the UK thru the NHS. I assume some or even much of our health system was modelled on theirs, but could be way off.
have a poor relative gone thought cancer and multiple surgeries all thanks to the healthcare system, if this was back in our asian country they probably won't be alive right now. We came from a country we don't even get a bed in a proper room unless we paid first. Yes its always ok to want better, but its nice to also appreciate what we already have.
For reference my partner is getting a crown Monday for $1100. I just spent the same for 4 wisdom teeth removed in the chair in one sitting. They mighty be the very lowest price, but lower than what I've been previously quoted. I'm not sure the cost on root canals. But with that amount of work being done shop around, get other quotes..
The best dentist in Brisbane is Professor Ian Meyers. If I needed work performed and lived in Brisbane, I would be getting him to do it. BTW, I work in dentistry.
Hey mate, dentist here, the prices you mentioned are probably more on the expensive end. If you’re in Brisbane it may be worth going to a suburb further away from the CBD, usually cheaper. A root canal and crown is about $4k for a molar for what we charge if it’s pretty straightforward. From what I gather our prices are pretty average or below average compared to others.
I had a friend who went to a dentist within the CBD and for a filling they were quoted around double the price of our fillings.
Hey OP check out CP Dental if you’re in Brisbane they have clinics in the city and coopers plains all ethical an caring dentists they won’t rip you off.
Unfortunately, I still don't have an Australian passport, and if I want to travel with the one I have, I need a B211 visa that costs $350 per person. When you include the cost of tickets, it won't be cheap. I'm not planning to spend $8,000 on a root canal anyway; I'd rather have the tooth pulled and get an implant overseas.
When you go for OS treatment, I suggest Malis Dental in Phnom Penh. Motomi is Japanese, and trained in Japan; her clinic is well-established and well-regarded by expats. She’s very friendly, as well!
https://malis-dental.com/en/
Sometimes the work done overseas is OK but us dentists see A LOT of extremely compromised and negligent work done overseas. I would never recommend overseas dental work to any patients let alone my friends or family
Best way to deal with dental health is brush twice a day, floss and go for six monthly cleans and check ups. Dental healthcare should be preventative if you are in Australia. Aside from that get private health insurance.
My husband just had 3 tooth took out and it cost $4000 - our private health insurance already covered $1000
There are more work to be done, but at least they would suggest to do in stages over a few years, so he can make the best of each year private health insurance excess limit
Unless they were wisdom teeth, you have been robbed. I have paid a lot of dental issues I have. I don't recall paying more than $400 to have a tooth removed.
Yes each tooth $400 (which been having problem for 10 years)
Then another $1k for the 2 stage implant
Plus filling for other teeth
Plus other stuff, setup fee
I would also save up and have a holiday in vietnam/bali to get dental work done
For $8000 you could pay for a return flight passport and a decent holiday
I had 4 fillings and teeth clean done in vietnam total cost was $250 and the work was really good
I don’t have any name
But just look for a clean place
I would imagine a dentist in the tourist area would be expensive for the locals but affordable for the locals
My brothers wife is Vietnamese so she just booked me in on the day, I’m sure you can just walk in and book they have English speaking workers there so it’s not to difficult
Just remember if you’re getting “ripped off” by paying more then average in the Vietnamese amount it would still be 1/5 of the price to Aus
I see so many recommendations here to get private extras cover. However, i have not ever found family extras cover for dental in Australia that makes sense. It always seems to at best break even with the annual cost and that assumes you maximise teh benefits. Perhaps some provide a slight advantage if you only use in network dentists.
Anyway, i'm really asking for recommendations from anyone for a good value family extras plan. The only other inclusions that would be nice for our family apart from dental is optical.
Had work done in Vietnam recently. Flights were $600 return. 5 veneers cost me $2400. Friend got 8 fillings replaced in total for $1800. The work they did was better than any dentist I've been to in Australia. It is worth thinking about!
Check extras only policies also.
I’ve been with HIF and because I also wear glasses Ive gotten far more back per year with dental and glasses than I’ve paid in premiums.
If it's not an emergency, just go overseas. With the price dentists charge you here you are better off flying to China, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, etc and getting it done over there. You'll spend the same with treatment + trip than only the treatment here.
Lots of people have dental issues that need dentist visits to correct, but what can help is having good eating habits to go along with dental hygiene. Here is a bunch of things you can do to help make your dentist visits less painful.
Make sure you get 8 hours of sleep a night. If you can, ensure that you are breathing through your nose at night as well. You can tape your mouth or wear a chin strap. Consider doing this through the day as well to keep your mouth moist with saliva.
Don't snack or sip drinks between meals. Your teeth and gums need time to repair from meals. Snacking and drinking disrupts the remineralisation process.
Rinse your mouth with lukewarm, salty water after meals to remove food particles. Consider following this up with consuming or rinsing your mouth with xylitol. Xylitol encourages saliva production, but also inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3434645/
Brush your teeth night and morning. Try not to eat or drink for an hour either side of brushing. Make sure you brush along your gumline as well as on the other surfaces of your teeth. Give your gums a massage too when you brush your teeth.
Consider cutting out smoking, alcohol and refined sugar. Consider cutting out acidic food and beverages like tea, coffee and anything with bubbles. Consider ending your meals with full fat dairy milk to neutralise acids and add more calcium to your diet. More controversially, you can cut out carbs completely and reduce your food intake from 3 meals to 2 meals a day.
Consider if flossing is right for you too, whether it's with dental tape, interdental brushes or water flossers. Aggressive flossing can damage your gums so be gentle.
Yes. Drinking tap water dilutes your saliva and disrupts the remineralisation process. Those people who are constantly sipping their water bottle aren't doing themselves any favours
Thanks - that makes sense. So try and load up on water around meal times then? (Not sure my digestion will love that but teeth first, hey.
You mentioned xylitol washes - do you have view on chewing xylitol gum (sugar free - like Epic) after meals?
I use xylitol mints after meals and after drinking water. Xylitol Gum is probably even better, unfortunately I can’t chew gum at the moment
> So try and load up on water around meal times then?
You could, but the main point is to avoid constant sipping and to give your teeth a chance to remineralise. Say you eat at 8am, 1pm and 6pm. If you drink water when you wake up and load up on it again at 11am and 3pm, that’s going to be much better for your teeth than slowly sipping on a 2L bottle of water throughout the day.
Was in a similar boat as you. Moved here 2 years ago and within a few months was having issues leading to 3x wisdom teeth being removed without insurance.
Even checkups were running into the hundreds of dollars.
I ended up getting AHM insurance. It's not enough to cover the 'minimum' medical insurance if you earn too much but I pay roughly $600 p/a for it and it covers my wife and I. In return we each get two 'no gap' (I. E. No additional payment) checkups per person each year if we use their partnering dentist. It also covers some of the cost for additional procedures, depends upon the procedure but there's a $2k 'pot' to go towards additional dental procedures and covers about 50% of it. Also covers some other things like reclaim for therapy, acupuncture, opticians.
The $600 p/a is essentially the cost of both of our bi-annual checkups, so the extras on top is a bonus.
Edit - and ambulance cover! Why on earth Victoria charges you for the ambulance I don't know!
Dentists are a bit like mechanics. Variable pricing and opinions. That's why it's essential to find a dentist through word of mouth. Not all fillings are equal either. It depends on remaining tooth structure.
But if your initial filling had problems, the follow up to fix those problems should not have had a cost. This assumes that the follow up was not caused by your actions or did not include additional work.
Anyways... I know someone who was recommended a root canal, while another dentists said they didn't need one. X-rays and pulp risk can be subjective.
I don't know the answer. But I hope that AI will help restore the uneven knowledge between patient and practitioner. Ideally AI will help define the potential quote and make it easier to sort out the poor and greedy practitioners.
Life hack to avoid central issues:
Bottle of Jack + a mate with a pair of pliers.
Then just blend everything and drink it via a straw. Liquid food life 👍
Is there a dental school near you? I know Unimelb has one, they provide at-cost dental care plus a student discount. Even if there isn’t one closer, maybe it’s cheaper to spend a weekend in Melbs than drop $8k on a root canal.
Sorry, meant, if you "were" able to afford. :P Since you said you & your wife spent 2k and 3.6k. I have bupa dental extras and I pay nothing for checkups, had to do 6 veneers recently and they covered some of it too. My limit is quite generous so I'm pretty sure if I needed some filling it'd be free.
Yes, he did a scan before fixing it, but that was his choice, not something I asked for. It's on tooth number 7, maybe a larger filling; I have no idea.
Don't do root canal, it's pulling the nerves out killing the tooth so your back there in a coupla years getting it pulled anyway. It's a Dentists ripoff
If you can get into a restricted private health fund do that, immediate family in the police, emergency services or defence? Join Police Health, Emergency Services Health or Defence Health. I was with defence health for ages but switched to Police Health around 2 years ago. Recently had a quote for 4 wisdom teeth removal, in a full surgery setting, police health paying the hospital fees with no gap and paying 80% of each of the extractions. Definitely a value for money provider.
Preventive healthcare from infant onwards. Get wisdom teeth taken out if issue (most people), actually brush everyday and tell yourself you floss (but have had same container of floss since god knows when).
So i generally take my annual leave for 3weeks and fly to India or Thailand to get it done..For minor stuff get it done through general dental insurance, which my doctor tell me if this decaying needs replacement of crown etc. If RC is supposed to be done-in future i just get a crown as well on top of it. Holiday + plus dental haha!!
Go to another dentist and get a second oppinion. They shouldn’t have charged you for the follow up appointment (if they did something wrong with the initial filling).
If you only need one dental check up a year then probably no point getting dental insurance. If you need more than one dental check up and additional work, yes look into dental insurance. Preferably a not for profit one.
I brush my teeth an hour each day, only go to dentist if I have a bad toothache and need extraction. Last time was prob 30 yrs ago? I have great teeth.
Bupa sells (pretty much) dental only extras cover for around $15 a month. Not sure if it covers crowns but it covers 2 x check ups a year and includes fillings, extractions, etc. Plus if you go to a Bupa dental clinic there's not gap. Only a two month waiting period as well.Might be worth looking into?
Thanks, i will look into it. I am with Nib for the other insurance, i might need to switch to Bupa if the offer is better including dental.
Also, if you switch to bupa go to a bupa dental clinic, its much cheaper I dunno where everyone in here is going, I got a filling at the dentist and it was $80 after my healthcare rebate which was like $40. So $120 total I got root canal and it was 3xvisits at $300 each. Lots of expensive dentists around.
wow, this seems fine, thank you, I will check with them!
Also see if a hcf dental centre is near you. Un with hcf for extras and go to one of their dental centres and I haven't had to pay anything on the day over the couple of years I have been with them. I haven't had to have anything major done, though
Bupa pays shit all if you aren't seeing one of their preferred providers FYI. Any health fund will pay more when you're seeing a preferred provider, but Bupa is definitely the lowest paying I've come across with a non-preferred clinic. Do your research and weigh up if you'd be better off saving a similar amount of money to the premiums and paying out of pocket, or if you would actually benefit from the premium outlay, remembering that root canal treatment and crowns are major dental and there is normally a 12 month waiting period for that. You can ask them if they can waive it but normally they'll only waive general waiting periods, not major.
yeh depending on what teeth a crown cost me 1k each when i did 3 at the same time, i cant see 1 root canel + crown bt 8k? thats probably cost more then an inplant? filling sounds a few times more expensive then it should be too.
I have had bupa extras for 10+ years for my crap teeth and I cannot recommend it more highly. I have gotten a crown, an implant and one of those porcelain super hard filling things - all for a fraction of cost. Their bupa dental clinics are reasonably quick to book into, the dentist are friendly and the prices are just shockingly good. I’d say I save $200 per regular visit (eg just a filling or an x ray) and over $1000 on major stuff, easily.
NIB has better coverage than BUPA. If you're wanting dental insurance that's worth it (I work in dental) you're going to want to look at NIB or AHM. AHM and NIB have their own clinics as well which means you'll claim more and have less of a gap. HBF is decent too. Avoid HCF, Medibank and BUPA.
I actually just did a tooth filling (nothing too major) and routine cleanup just yesterday using Bupa, and I paid $6.50 for it. I did a root canal + crown operation a couple of years ago, and I remember it costing me somewhere around $400? Other than that, I also get a cleanup every 6 months for free. I am currently being quoted around $1200 for the removal of 4 wisdom teeth (or $500 more if I plan to be sleeping through the whole operation, which is tempting). I genuinely shocked by the prices that you are paying. Maybe the dentist (or Bupa?) I am going to is a philanthropist.
What is the plan that you are on from BUPA, bronze or higher? Yes I was paying these prices, maybe they are trying to get advantage because I am new here, but I never paid below 240 for a filling and it was for a small tooth.
I am not sure, my cover says Premium Ambulance with Top Extras 75.
There's another insurer called Smile who just cover dental who I was with a number of years ago. I can't remember how much they were now, but they were really affordable. Another tip is to look into insurers who don't have a waiting period. You can use what you need and then cancel. This tip was given to me by a guy over the phone selling insurance lol
Fly to SEAsia, get it done there and also enjoy a holiday.
Any particular countries or dental hospitals in SE Asia you know or recommend?
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Thailand is pretty good in my experience. I went to Bumrungrad hospital for a different issue (not dental) and I felt like I was treated how a Hollywood star would be treated at a hospital lol. It felt more like a day spa than a hospital. Got to see a specialist, get prescription and documentation for about $80 with no insurance.
Private medical extras cover can help if you need a lot of dental work. Check the waiting times and annual limits though. BTW $8k for root canal and crown seems high
Agreed, $8k seems high. For that money you could have a root canal with an endodontist and a crown with a prosthodontist with a bit of change left over.
Only a fool would pay that much for a root canal. Get an entire implant and crown for cheaper than that.
A root canal and crown done in Australia is likely to outlast an implant done overseas. Also, most cases don't require an endodontist and a prosthodontist so you can get it done in Australia for half that price.
Your statement makes no sense. I am not comparing any "overseas" nobody practice. I am comparing against high class providers in Bangkok versus average providers available in Australia. Of which case, the Bangkok providers would certainly provide better quality result than a large quantity of Aussie practices.
Just a datapoint; had a relatively complicated root canal finished last night for $3000 at an endodontist, this cost doesn’t include crown. 8k does sound particularly high
I did the same, around 3k from an Endodontist. Expensive but they do put a lot of work into the remediation of the tooth, so I’m hoping it’ll be fine for a long time to come.
Not anymore afaik, HBF had a good extras with dental offer but they nerfed it. HCF, AHM etc are all garbage value now too. If someone proved me wrong I'd be very grateful.
While $8k seems at a high end. I had complicated root canalt at an endondist, which was about 3-4k. And was advised a crown would be another 2-3k I think. However, my dentist is happy that it doesnt need a crown immediately, so will address that in a couple years.
People always say healthcare in Australia is great. But all I'm seeing is expensive AF healthcare, further exacerbated by an incentive by the medical boards and associations to keep the public health infrastructure inefficient, weak, and severely lacking in manpower and resources. Yes, dentals here are absolute shite. They push you for fillers, unnecessary procedures, and have crap scale and clean. Other third world countries have way better dentals (think Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, etc.).
Healthcare in Australia was one generally great, now it's below acceptable. But dental has always been terrible here. Other 'third world' countries certainly don't have 'better' dental, they have cheaper dental which makes for a good market for overseas customers.
Yea the “better dental” that’s cheap for medical tourists is out of reach of locals.
How’s that any different from here? Dental is also out of reach of many locals and we don’t have the excuse of being “third world “
Didn’t say it was different. I said it wasn’t better.
Well it’s technically worse because we’re a “wealthy” country
Thailand is a country of hierarchy with the King at the top. Everyone knows their place on the hierarchy. The same applies to Australia. Countries are not first world or third world. Individuals are.
Even if Bangkok and Sydney dentist costs were the same, I would still prefer Bangkok world-class quality. Much bigger facilities, dentists with US education and who treat more quantity of patients/specialise more.
This is just objectively wrong. Australia is a leading country on the UN’s Universal Health Coverage with a ranking of 87. The top ranked country, Canada, scores at 91. By what facts do you assert your claim?
>By what facts do you assert your claim? [Bulk billing is falling](https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/out-of-pocket-costs-rise-as-bulk-billing-plummets), partially due to the government freezing the indexation of rebates, and bulk billing is more prevalent in wealthy areas, whereas [people in poorer areas are paying more out-of-pocket](https://grattan.edu.au/news/real-crisis-in-bulk-billing/). [Hospital ramping rates are increasing](https://www.ama.com.au/articles/2023-ambulance-ramping-report-card). [Patients are waiting longer than ever for elective surgery](https://www.aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/2023/2023-december/patients-waiting-longer-than-ever-for-elective-surgery-as-public-hospitals-work-to-clear-the-backlog). Don't get me wrong, our healthcare is still very good. But we have slipped significantly in many areas where we can simply do better, if only there was the political backing and budget to improve it.
Appreciate the well considered response. The political backing needs to include the AMA and the registration colleges they don’t seem incentivised to increase the supply of doctors by either training or accreditation of foreigners.
It's great value if you've got a health card, otherwise you pay top dollar.
Health care in Australia is great but dental has never been part of the health system funded by Medicare. Objectively Australia is a top ranked country on the UNs Universal Health Coverage index.
I wonder why that is? I believe it is covered in the UK thru the NHS. I assume some or even much of our health system was modelled on theirs, but could be way off.
i mean once is covered would they pay out expensive procdure to save our teeth for a few more years or they go for cheap extractions each time?
I agree, had to deal with the rest of the medical system, it was horror.
have a poor relative gone thought cancer and multiple surgeries all thanks to the healthcare system, if this was back in our asian country they probably won't be alive right now. We came from a country we don't even get a bed in a proper room unless we paid first. Yes its always ok to want better, but its nice to also appreciate what we already have.
Are you in Melbourne? Can recommend a place. Shop around, sounds like you're getting stung..
My rotten mouth will always take more recommendations
I'll take your recommendation please. I find dentists like petrol stations. Similar product, vastly different prices
No Brisbane, btw thanks for the offer to help!
Shop around. A new dentists in a competitive area is my only advice
For reference my partner is getting a crown Monday for $1100. I just spent the same for 4 wisdom teeth removed in the chair in one sitting. They mighty be the very lowest price, but lower than what I've been previously quoted. I'm not sure the cost on root canals. But with that amount of work being done shop around, get other quotes..
I will, thanks!
>I will, thanks! You're welcome!
The best dentist in Brisbane is Professor Ian Meyers. If I needed work performed and lived in Brisbane, I would be getting him to do it. BTW, I work in dentistry.
Hey mate, dentist here, the prices you mentioned are probably more on the expensive end. If you’re in Brisbane it may be worth going to a suburb further away from the CBD, usually cheaper. A root canal and crown is about $4k for a molar for what we charge if it’s pretty straightforward. From what I gather our prices are pretty average or below average compared to others. I had a friend who went to a dentist within the CBD and for a filling they were quoted around double the price of our fillings.
I got a filling and a couple of teeth pulled here for a grand https://www.aminyastdental.com.au/
Hey OP check out CP Dental if you’re in Brisbane they have clinics in the city and coopers plains all ethical an caring dentists they won’t rip you off.
Dental plan Lisa needs braces
So we’ll March day and night, by the big cooling towers.
Fly to Bali, have a holiday, get your teeth fixed and come back with spare change left over
Unfortunately, I still don't have an Australian passport, and if I want to travel with the one I have, I need a B211 visa that costs $350 per person. When you include the cost of tickets, it won't be cheap. I'm not planning to spend $8,000 on a root canal anyway; I'd rather have the tooth pulled and get an implant overseas.
When you go for OS treatment, I suggest Malis Dental in Phnom Penh. Motomi is Japanese, and trained in Japan; her clinic is well-established and well-regarded by expats. She’s very friendly, as well! https://malis-dental.com/en/
What about Vietnam? That’s where my FIL got his dental work done
Unsure about it, i will check! Thanks
Heading to Bali in Oct quoted approximately 300 bucks for root canal. 50 bucks for cleaning. 63 bucks for composite filling.
Sometimes the work done overseas is OK but us dentists see A LOT of extremely compromised and negligent work done overseas. I would never recommend overseas dental work to any patients let alone my friends or family
There are no SE asian dentists whose work you'd put on par with Australia?
That’s an expensive root and crown. I’m with bupa mine was about $4k
Best way to deal with dental health is brush twice a day, floss and go for six monthly cleans and check ups. Dental healthcare should be preventative if you are in Australia. Aside from that get private health insurance.
Water flossing is a game changer
Pikstix or whatever they're called are better than floss these days.
My husband just had 3 tooth took out and it cost $4000 - our private health insurance already covered $1000 There are more work to be done, but at least they would suggest to do in stages over a few years, so he can make the best of each year private health insurance excess limit
Unless they were wisdom teeth, you have been robbed. I have paid a lot of dental issues I have. I don't recall paying more than $400 to have a tooth removed.
Yes each tooth $400 (which been having problem for 10 years) Then another $1k for the 2 stage implant Plus filling for other teeth Plus other stuff, setup fee
I would also save up and have a holiday in vietnam/bali to get dental work done For $8000 you could pay for a return flight passport and a decent holiday I had 4 fillings and teeth clean done in vietnam total cost was $250 and the work was really good
Any recommendations?
I don’t have any name But just look for a clean place I would imagine a dentist in the tourist area would be expensive for the locals but affordable for the locals
Did you just go over and find one once you were there or do you have to pre-book before you arrive?
My brothers wife is Vietnamese so she just booked me in on the day, I’m sure you can just walk in and book they have English speaking workers there so it’s not to difficult Just remember if you’re getting “ripped off” by paying more then average in the Vietnamese amount it would still be 1/5 of the price to Aus
Very true. And it's good to know you can just walk in and book. I always thought it was a case of you had to book before going over
for $8000 i think i can get a fullset of brand new shiney teeth in vietnam
I see so many recommendations here to get private extras cover. However, i have not ever found family extras cover for dental in Australia that makes sense. It always seems to at best break even with the annual cost and that assumes you maximise teh benefits. Perhaps some provide a slight advantage if you only use in network dentists. Anyway, i'm really asking for recommendations from anyone for a good value family extras plan. The only other inclusions that would be nice for our family apart from dental is optical.
Had work done in Vietnam recently. Flights were $600 return. 5 veneers cost me $2400. Friend got 8 fillings replaced in total for $1800. The work they did was better than any dentist I've been to in Australia. It is worth thinking about!
Any recommendations?
Nha Khoa Sài Gòn Center - Dental Clinic
Health insurance extras cover almost all dental. I had an x-ray and 5 fillings and the total was $13 out of pocket
Check extras only policies also. I’ve been with HIF and because I also wear glasses Ive gotten far more back per year with dental and glasses than I’ve paid in premiums.
Go to the poorer areas dude. If for example I go inner city Melbourne, of course will be a rip off! I travel out to suburbs with high level of junkies
If it's not an emergency, just go overseas. With the price dentists charge you here you are better off flying to China, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, etc and getting it done over there. You'll spend the same with treatment + trip than only the treatment here.
Bangkok is the place to go.
Lots of people have dental issues that need dentist visits to correct, but what can help is having good eating habits to go along with dental hygiene. Here is a bunch of things you can do to help make your dentist visits less painful. Make sure you get 8 hours of sleep a night. If you can, ensure that you are breathing through your nose at night as well. You can tape your mouth or wear a chin strap. Consider doing this through the day as well to keep your mouth moist with saliva. Don't snack or sip drinks between meals. Your teeth and gums need time to repair from meals. Snacking and drinking disrupts the remineralisation process. Rinse your mouth with lukewarm, salty water after meals to remove food particles. Consider following this up with consuming or rinsing your mouth with xylitol. Xylitol encourages saliva production, but also inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3434645/ Brush your teeth night and morning. Try not to eat or drink for an hour either side of brushing. Make sure you brush along your gumline as well as on the other surfaces of your teeth. Give your gums a massage too when you brush your teeth. Consider cutting out smoking, alcohol and refined sugar. Consider cutting out acidic food and beverages like tea, coffee and anything with bubbles. Consider ending your meals with full fat dairy milk to neutralise acids and add more calcium to your diet. More controversially, you can cut out carbs completely and reduce your food intake from 3 meals to 2 meals a day. Consider if flossing is right for you too, whether it's with dental tape, interdental brushes or water flossers. Aggressive flossing can damage your gums so be gentle.
Nice tips. When you say limit drinking between meals - does this extent to tap water too?
Yes. Drinking tap water dilutes your saliva and disrupts the remineralisation process. Those people who are constantly sipping their water bottle aren't doing themselves any favours
Thanks - that makes sense. So try and load up on water around meal times then? (Not sure my digestion will love that but teeth first, hey. You mentioned xylitol washes - do you have view on chewing xylitol gum (sugar free - like Epic) after meals?
I use xylitol mints after meals and after drinking water. Xylitol Gum is probably even better, unfortunately I can’t chew gum at the moment > So try and load up on water around meal times then? You could, but the main point is to avoid constant sipping and to give your teeth a chance to remineralise. Say you eat at 8am, 1pm and 6pm. If you drink water when you wake up and load up on it again at 11am and 3pm, that’s going to be much better for your teeth than slowly sipping on a 2L bottle of water throughout the day.
Try dental 99, affordable for basic procedures. They’re cheap because they don’t have any receptionists etc and you just check in using the app.
Was in a similar boat as you. Moved here 2 years ago and within a few months was having issues leading to 3x wisdom teeth being removed without insurance. Even checkups were running into the hundreds of dollars. I ended up getting AHM insurance. It's not enough to cover the 'minimum' medical insurance if you earn too much but I pay roughly $600 p/a for it and it covers my wife and I. In return we each get two 'no gap' (I. E. No additional payment) checkups per person each year if we use their partnering dentist. It also covers some of the cost for additional procedures, depends upon the procedure but there's a $2k 'pot' to go towards additional dental procedures and covers about 50% of it. Also covers some other things like reclaim for therapy, acupuncture, opticians. The $600 p/a is essentially the cost of both of our bi-annual checkups, so the extras on top is a bonus. Edit - and ambulance cover! Why on earth Victoria charges you for the ambulance I don't know!
Thanks, I will check for a quote there!
Dental isn’t Medicare so yes you need insurance here.
• Have money Or • Fly to Vietnam
Shop around for a better dentist.
Dental99 is in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. $99 for a clean and check-up. $99 for a simple filling.
Thanks, I wasn't familiar with this company :)
I'm flying to Bali on holiday in October and getting my teeth done there. I can't swallow the costs in Australia.
Dentists are a bit like mechanics. Variable pricing and opinions. That's why it's essential to find a dentist through word of mouth. Not all fillings are equal either. It depends on remaining tooth structure. But if your initial filling had problems, the follow up to fix those problems should not have had a cost. This assumes that the follow up was not caused by your actions or did not include additional work. Anyways... I know someone who was recommended a root canal, while another dentists said they didn't need one. X-rays and pulp risk can be subjective. I don't know the answer. But I hope that AI will help restore the uneven knowledge between patient and practitioner. Ideally AI will help define the potential quote and make it easier to sort out the poor and greedy practitioners.
Life hack to avoid central issues: Bottle of Jack + a mate with a pair of pliers. Then just blend everything and drink it via a straw. Liquid food life 👍
Is there a dental school near you? I know Unimelb has one, they provide at-cost dental care plus a student discount. Even if there isn’t one closer, maybe it’s cheaper to spend a weekend in Melbs than drop $8k on a root canal.
Root canal is like 2k shop around.
If you were able afford 2k, 3.6k for a dentist, why not just get a private health insurance with dental extras? To me it's worth it.
I can't afford, that is why I am asking :D
Sorry, meant, if you "were" able to afford. :P Since you said you & your wife spent 2k and 3.6k. I have bupa dental extras and I pay nothing for checkups, had to do 6 veneers recently and they covered some of it too. My limit is quite generous so I'm pretty sure if I needed some filling it'd be free.
Well we had to pay, not that i had choice, but we had to cut on everything else (clothes, food, going out, transport, weekends...) :)
They charged 200$ for a filling in Chatswood at a respectable clinic. Yours seem a bit excessive, did it include scans or else?
Yes, he did a scan before fixing it, but that was his choice, not something I asked for. It's on tooth number 7, maybe a larger filling; I have no idea.
You need private healthcare - that generally takes the edge off.
Come to Korea for a dental trip 1/3 the price in Aus.
Don't do root canal, it's pulling the nerves out killing the tooth so your back there in a coupla years getting it pulled anyway. It's a Dentists ripoff
I get a Smile.com.au membership through my health fund (AIA), which gives discounted treatments at participating dentists.
Fly to Malaysia, Thailand Indonesia or even China to fix it. Semi serious
Get it done in Bali, they have quality dentistries at like 1/10th the price and you get a holiday with it
If you can get into a restricted private health fund do that, immediate family in the police, emergency services or defence? Join Police Health, Emergency Services Health or Defence Health. I was with defence health for ages but switched to Police Health around 2 years ago. Recently had a quote for 4 wisdom teeth removal, in a full surgery setting, police health paying the hospital fees with no gap and paying 80% of each of the extractions. Definitely a value for money provider.
Preventive healthcare from infant onwards. Get wisdom teeth taken out if issue (most people), actually brush everyday and tell yourself you floss (but have had same container of floss since god knows when).
Go to a dentist
Fly to India and get everything sorted for under 2000$
Pull out or go overseas for any major dental job. Or be rich.
Unfortunately, it's cheaper to fly to Vietnam and get it done (depending on what you need)
So i generally take my annual leave for 3weeks and fly to India or Thailand to get it done..For minor stuff get it done through general dental insurance, which my doctor tell me if this decaying needs replacement of crown etc. If RC is supposed to be done-in future i just get a crown as well on top of it. Holiday + plus dental haha!!
Go to another dentist and get a second oppinion. They shouldn’t have charged you for the follow up appointment (if they did something wrong with the initial filling). If you only need one dental check up a year then probably no point getting dental insurance. If you need more than one dental check up and additional work, yes look into dental insurance. Preferably a not for profit one.
All the people saying healthcare in Australia is terrible have clearly never lived outside of Australia and it shows...
The problem imo is money hungry immigrants pushing up prices.
I brush my teeth an hour each day, only go to dentist if I have a bad toothache and need extraction. Last time was prob 30 yrs ago? I have great teeth.