Guide on dental costs

[SWMBO]

I was listening to the radio this morning on the way to work and a lady rang up to have a go at the quiz and win some money. The DJ asked her what she would spend the money on if she won. The lady said she would put it towards her children's orthodontists bill which is $3,000, but she has already managed to reduce it from $6,000. Unfortunately, she didn't know the answer, so no money.

 

I had an emergency root canal part one on Saturday at my dentist,cost $499 of which my health fund paid half.Part two will be about the same so I was pleasantly surprised.

[Jessica Berry]

Went for a general checkup and clean this week would have been $167 for each of us, but it cost us nothing as under our Extras policy we receive a free checkup and clean each year.

 

Hopefully that will be the end of our dentist visits for a while now, but please feel free to keep adding to the thread if anyone else has treatments.

[snifter]

Went for a general checkup and clean this week would have been $167 for each of us, but it cost us nothing as under our Extras policy we receive a free checkup and clean each year.

 

Hopefully that will be the end of our dentist visits for a while now, but please feel free to keep adding to the thread if anyone else has treatments.

 

This reminds me I need a check up. Usually have them cleaned at the same time. Will track down a dentist in the area.

[kelbert]

I had a crown replaced recently and I thought I would post the costings on here as some people may not be aware that dentists can be quite costly. Please feel free to add to the thread if anyone has had any treatment.

 

The cost of the crown was $1290. We pay extras private health cover which covers us for dental, chiro, optician, ambulance, physio etc (but not hospital cover) and under our policy I was entitled to 70% of the cost back. So I received $903 back and it cost me $387.

Just a thought Jessica. Are you sure your extras covers ambo? All the policies I looked at for SA stated you had to buy ambo cover direct from SA ambulance service. Just thought I'd mention it in case you thought you were covered and aren't.

[NicF]

Just a thought Jessica. Are you sure your extras covers ambo? All the policies I looked at for SA stated you had to buy ambo cover direct from SA ambulance service. Just thought I'd mention it in case you thought you were covered and aren't.

l

 

Are you sure about this? My policy certainly covers ambulance cover and from memory all the Health Partners levels cover ambulance. I'd be surprised if none of the other providers cover ambulance cover at all.

[kelbert]

Maybe its just the policies I looked at but none would cover ambulance in SA therefore I got cover direct with SA ambulance.

[wubbledoos]

PeopleCare offer extras inc ambo, in case anyone is looking.

[dudleycat]

Hi there,

 

can those of you who have private health insurance which covers a free dental check up and clean each year let me know which policies they are please? We will be coming out mid June, and I know I'm likely to need dental cover at some point (whilst the OH has managed 42 years without so much as a filling!!)

 

thanks DC

[Jessica Berry]

Just a thought Jessica. Are you sure your extras covers ambo? All the policies I looked at for SA stated you had to buy ambo cover direct from SA ambulance service. Just thought I'd mention it in case you thought you were covered and aren't.

 

Yes, ambulance is included as many times as needed, we are with Medibank. I have seen policies where you only get 1 ambulance a year in the policy. It is worth mentioning though as you say in case others are not aware. I am one of these weird people that read terms and conditions to make sure we get the best coverage for our needs.

[Jessica Berry]

Hi there,

 

can those of you who have private health insurance which covers a free dental check up and clean each year let me know which policies they are please? We will be coming out mid June, and I know I'm likely to need dental cover at some point (whilst the OH has managed 42 years without so much as a filling!!)

 

thanks DC

 

We are with Medibank and get one free check up and clean included in our policy, if we have another check up and clean within the year we get 70% back of the costs. We are a couple with no kids and for us Medibank is the best value for our needs, even though it has gone up by $10.90 a month recently.

[wubbledoos]

Don't forget Medicare gives you $1k a child per year for dental.

PeopleCare don't offer anything free I don't think, you just get 60% off any visits/treatments.

$40 a month, Inc ambo for all of us.

[dudleycat]

We are with Medibank and get one free check up and clean included in our policy, if we have another check up and clean within the year we get 70% back of the costs. We are a couple with no kids and for us Medibank is the best value for our needs, even though it has gone up by $10.90 a month recently.

 

Thanks for that Jessica. We don't have kids either so would only be looking at the both of us. It sounds like a good policy that you have. i will look into it once i have stopped cleaning all our wordly goods ready for shipping (the whole house smells of Dettol!!)

[Jessica Berry]

Thanks for that Jessica. We don't have kids either so would only be looking at the both of us. It sounds like a good policy that you have. i will look into it once i have stopped cleaning all our wordly goods ready for shipping (the whole house smells of Dettol!!)

 

Like with most insurances it is making sure you pick the best policy for your needs and utilising them to your benefit, so many people I speak to don't do this, I think because they aren't really interested in reading about their policies and understanding them. So far this year, in 4 months we have covered our annual premiums twice over! Medibank also has teamed up with flybuys (like a Tesco Clubcard so when you shop at Coles, Target and other places you get points) so you get flybuys for your Medibank premiums and also additional flybuy points when you buy fruit and veg at Coles. We also use the physio benefit allowance to attend pilates classes, if you go to a class at a registered physio it is subsidised.

[John Browning]

so how much do you pay for the Extras every year and how much in total have you received back over the last 5 years?

 

 

JB

[Jessica Berry]

so how much do you pay for the Extras every year and how much in total have you received back over the last 5 years?

 

 

JB

 

I have exact costs for 2014 and 2015 but not for previous years, although they were similar to the 2014 figures......

 

2015 - Cost of Extras Cover for the year - $1215.90/Total received back - $3596.40

2014 - Cost of Extras Cover for the year - $1152.83/Total received back - $2628.70

[Meadows]

Hi there

 

We have private health including dental with BUPA. I need a root canal finishing off- partly done- normal dentist refused to finish it. Referred me to a consultant dentist who wants $2000 to finish it. There are apparently 3 roots in this tooth and BUPA will only pay the work on one of them. So far I am unable to afford to

get it fixed. It would be cheaper to go back to my UK private dentist!

 

Just back from UK for a visit to family- saw my UK private dentist- root canal finished-£240-worth every penny.

Edited April 30, 2016 by Meadows

[Rammygirl]

Out of interest how much is the extras cover? Does anyone say over 5 years end up paying less for dental when they add the insurance to the gap payments?

 

just curious as we do not have any medical cover and just keep our own health fund in savings. So far we are ahead of where we would have been with insurance ( excluding the loading we would now have to pay) despite needing physio, dental ( including an impacted wisdom tooth extraction )and a few other things between the three of us.

[Jessica Berry]

Out of interest how much is the extras cover? Does anyone say over 5 years end up paying less for dental when they add the insurance to the gap payments?

 

just curious as we do not have any medical cover and just keep our own health fund in savings. So far we are ahead of where we would have been with insurance ( excluding the loading we would now have to pay) despite needing physio, dental ( including an impacted wisdom tooth extraction )and a few other things between the three of us.

 

I have put our extras cover costs just above Meadows post.

[Rammygirl]

Sorry I skipped a page. Seems like you got your money's worth but that does seem like a lot of dental costs. I know that they would have charged me more if I had cover so maybe without cover you could get it cheaper.

 

We we would have been out of pocket for sure with those figures as we have not spent anywhere near that amount between three adults. And we have had check ups and scale and polishes every year too as well as a wisdom tooth extraction, a gold cap repair and filling plus other consultations.

Edited January 5, 2016 by Rammygirl

[Jessica Berry]

Sorry I skipped a page. Seems like you got your money's worth but that does seem like a lot of dental costs. I know that they would have charged me more if I had cover so maybe without cover you could get it cheaper.

 

We we would have been out of pocket for sure with those figures as we have not spent anywhere near that amount between three adults. And we have had check ups and scale and polishes every year too as well as a wisdom tooth extraction, a gold cap repair and filling plus other consultations.

 

 

Sorry, just to clarify the figures I quoted were for various services covered under our 'extras' eg dental, physio, massage etc not just dental costs.

[John Browning]

that's sounds good....so is that a family cover taken out with Medibank?

 

-and do you get a tax return rebate?

 

JB

[John Browning]

yes , I've often wondered about that: if you took the cash and put it into a term deposit, (-as an emergency medical fund) would you be any better off ?

 

JB

[Jessica Berry]

We had routine dental checkups this week. Included in our extras cover with Medibank is a free checkup each year if you go to a Medibank preferred dentist, plus 70% back on any additional costs.

 

Routine checkup would have cost us $170 each, but as mentioned above it is included as part of our extras cover. We both needed 2 x-rays total cost $80 per person, but received a 70% rebate, so this visit we only paid $24 each instead of a dental bill of $250 each.

[Tully]

Forgot how to create a new thread..... just wanted to know if anyone had been overseas for dental work?

Thanks.

[KathCats]

If you have kids check for an insurance company who pays out 100% for kids general dental until 18 or longer if they continue being a fulltime student and you go to a member dentist. My son had 6 veneers put on just before he outgrew our insurance for $0 and any cleans, visits and fillings etc were also $0.

 

This is interesting. I took our daughter to a Dentist through the School service (it is at Marion opposite the Swimming Centre). We paid $44 and this covers her for all dentistry over the next 2 years. If we used our Extras Health cover and took her to our chosen dentist we would have to pay a lot more. When I booked her in I said yes to a Student Dentist and was overwhelmed by the high standards of care, she had 2 fissures and x-rays and was given lots of information...the dentists over here seem much more focussed on Preventative Dental Care which is great.

 

We are still on temporary visas too.