Scary Dentist costs

[Diane]

Thanks just reading about noble dentist has anyone used/ heard of them?

Definitely heard of them, but last time I checked they only had one registered practioner in Adelaide, think he is/was in Payneham which is just to the East of the City. So depends where you're living whether it would be any good for you.

Also, I get sent a voucher once a year for each of my kids for a dental check up. From Centrelink or the Government or someone (don't look a gifthorse and all that!) - they also get low cost dentistry through the school dentist service - about $30 a time i think it is, as long as they're in full time school, so between those two I manage to get my kids' teeth checked twice a year for minimal cost. Luckily so far neither have needed anything orthodontally. Again though, I think even with private cover, you're limited as to how much of orthodontic costs you can claim back in a year.

For us adults, I just pay direct - found it works out cheaper that way than the regular private cover costs. I always make sure I tell the dentist first that I am doing this, so he doesn't do extra bits without checking first!! You can also claim something like 20% back against tax for any medical costs over something like $1500 a year - that includes other medical stuff (like my laser eye surgery last year) and also dentists stuff I understand. Check with your friendly accountant!!

[jim and adel]

Kate,

You can just get Extras cover which includes dental, chiro, physio, ortho, etc. depending on level. We are family of 5 and got top level as it had top level of ortho cover and we are assuming all three may need it.

Obviously I've no idea what the upper limit of your cover is, but ours is very limited. It's a bit of a false sense of security to think that you're insured, only to find that just the first few hundred dollars of a large bill is covered.

Jim

[Kris]

I have been with Mutual Community for a few years and am happy with them. They have a list of preferred providers and my dentist and chiropractor are on that list and for my chiro I only pay a few dollars each visit. My teeth aren't too bad and I've usually only paid a few dollars there also because they are on that preferred list. There is another called MBF that some people I know use and they think they are good. We prefer to pay separate ambulance which we pay direct with St Johns Ambulance - it works out cheaper to get the subscription for a year rather than tack it on to your medical insurance as it then detracts from the other options you can take.