Dental treatment advice

[C4rlyb]

Hi,

 

myself and my family will be moving to Adelaide in March 2015.

 

My 13 yr old daughter currently has braces and will need to continue treatment for these when we move.

 

Does anyone know of any good orthodontists / dentists i

close to Seaview Downs area that I could get in touch with? Also what are the dental costs like? Is it better to take up a private dental plan?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Visa granted 07/10/2014

Flights booked for 14/03/2015

Carly - Quality Assurance / Childcare trainer & Assessor

Chris - Firefighter

Abbie - 13 yrs old

Kian - 10 yrs old

Jaimie - 8 yrs old

[DougM]

Hi guys, can't help you with dentists in your area of choice but where-ever you settle, unfortunately, dentists are very expensive here. The only cheap option I know of is the Dental Training Hospital in Adelaide but you'll wait years for treatment. Sorry to be a downer but that's life...........sometimes. Definitely take out private insurance for dental, even if it's only the 'extras' option. This week I had a bill for $950 for a replacement partial plate. My insurance paid one third the cost.

 

On another subject, you both seem to be ok in the job market. Fire-fighters are always needed and this summer we're in for a scorcher so lots of bush fires. Even if you, Chris, aren't fully employed at the time, please join our volunteer Country Fire Service as soon as you arrive.

 

As for you, Carly, Quality Assurance was my game. Not well paid in my case, but always in demand if you have any special training. Bring all your certificates with you.

 

Good luck for your future.

[zebedee]

There is the School Dental Service which is offered for school aged children; if you're entitled your child has a set amount of money in a fund (somewhere) and you can access the dentist and any treatment you need throughout the year (although I expect there's probably more waiting time with the SDS than there would be with private). I'm not sure if this service covers orthodontics though, sorry.

[Rammygirl]

Hi guys, can't help you with dentists in your area of choice but where-ever you settle, unfortunately, dentists are very expensive here. The only cheap option I know of is the Dental Training Hospital in Adelaide but you'll wait years for treatment. Sorry to be a downer but that's life...........sometimes. Definitely take out private insurance for dental, even if it's only the 'extras' option. This week I had a bill for $950 for a replacement partial plate. My insurance paid one third the cost.

 

On another subject, you both seem to be ok in the job market. Fire-fighters are always needed and this summer we're in for a scorcher so lots of bush fires. Even if you, Chris, aren't fully employed at the time, please join our volunteer Country Fire Service as soon as you arrive.

 

As for you, Carly, Quality Assurance was my game. Not well paid in my case, but always in demand if you have any special training. Bring all your certificates with you.

 

Good luck for your future.

 

interesting this as i am trying to work out if it is worth buying health care, or just putting the money aside each month. Seems to me that to get really good cover costs a fortune. If you don't mind me asking how much do you pay each month? If the insurance only paid a third $316. You still had to pay $633 plus the policy. I know it can help but if I have the funds to pay myself to supplement Medicare it seems a waste. For instance hubby needed physio, not covered on many policies, we paid $150 per session but can still claim a Medicare rebate for some of it.

 

Same me with ambo cover, have never needed one in my life so far nor has my family, so to pay for one will still be much less than any insurance we would have to pay. To add we do have savings so can absorb this, I appreciate that you need to build a fighting fund first.

 

dont want to get like the Americans I know who have treatments just to get value from their cover. The I've paid for it I'm going to use it argument along with powerful medical and drug companies lead to over treatment in the US for some and no treatment for others.

 

i would add also we don't pay the Medicare surcharge.

 

someone tell me if I am getting this wrong please...........

[zebedee]

interesting this as i am trying to work out if it is worth buying health care, or just putting the money aside each month. Seems to me that to get really good cover costs a fortune. If you don't mind me asking how much do you pay each month? If the insurance only paid a third $316. You still had to pay $633 plus the policy. I know it can help but if I have the funds to pay myself to supplement Medicare it seems a waste. For instance hubby needed physio, not covered on many policies, we paid $150 per session but can still claim a Medicare rebate for some of it.

 

Same me with ambo cover, have never needed one in my life so far nor has my family, so to pay for one will still be much less than any insurance we would have to pay. To add we do have savings so can absorb this, I appreciate that you need to build a fighting fund first.

 

dont want to get like the Americans I know who have treatments just to get value from their cover. The I've paid for it I'm going to use it argument along with powerful medical and drug companies lead to over treatment in the US for some and no treatment for others.

 

i would add also we don't pay the Medicare surcharge.

 

someone tell me if I am getting this wrong please...........

 

 

Just to add some experience - this has been our two year "medical journey" if you like:

 

 

2 adults, 3 children, 1 dog.

 

We have ambo cover - its about $100 a year and I think most people sign up for it as a minimum - a callout can cost $800+. We haven't needed one yet but like the peace of mind.

 

Dog has insurance via pet plan - $57 a month but vet bills are huge so seems a good idea.

 

 

One girl has cut her foot on rocks, A&E - patched up, no cost.

 

Boy broke his arm, A&E, then hospital - x-rays, sling, no cost.

 

I have a blood test, lung function test, flu jabs, some drugs for a cold, all via mediacare so no cost.

 

Both adults have had dental work recently - spent about $3500 but hopefully that's caught us up.

 

Girl has needed specs - $600

 

All kids have had dental work via the school dentist, no cost.

 

 

So most stuff so far has been covered. I find the whole private insurance so confusing, as do many Australians that I talk too but what we've decided is to keep the covers we have, and just start a medical fund. Is that right or wrong - no idea but it's what we've decided to do, at least for now.

[Diane]

Yep orthodontics isn't covered by the school dental service. You could look at something like www.smile.com.au which is a specialist dental insurance plan - their family price works out quite reasonable but only certain dentists are covered.

 

Ambulance insurance - don't even consider NOT having it. Get it from the post office for just over $100 for the whole family for the year. If you were in an accident and someone else called an ambulance for you, you could easily get hit with a bill for thousands, so it's the one type of insurance it's not wise to avoid! It's not part of any private cover, just ambulance cover, so if you have private medical insurance anyway you might not need it, but if you don't you do!

[zebedee]

I forgot about the Smile cover - we do have that, it's supposed to give a bit of a discount, but not sure if it brings our dentist down to just normal prices. Going to give it a couple of years so we have some comparisons.

[cliffy]

"Ambulance insurance - don't even consider NOT having it"

That is really most important, as anyone who has had to call an ambulance in an emergency will tell you. The patient is liable for the bill, not the person who calls it.

I prefer to go through SA Ambulance and buy their cover. As Diane says, you can do that at the Post Office.

Some health funds only cover Emergency ambulance call outs and it may not always be an emergency. Also, when my children were at school, (over 10 years ago, now) we had to say that they had ambulance cover before they were allowed on school excursions, not sure whether that still happens or not.

[NicF]

We pay about $29 a fortnight for extra cover for a family of four. This covers quite a large proportion of our dental costs when we use the providers own dentists. It also pays $1000 towards orthodontists costs. Three of us wear glasses and we get a large discount on glasses when using the providers opticians. I got something like $400 off the cost of my glasses (my lenses are very expensive). It also has ambulance cover. It's not so great for other stuff but the dentists and opticians are our main expenditure anyway.

[C4rlyb]

Thank you so much for all of your replies - really useful information. I wasn't aware of the school dentist so that's great. Will also check out smile as well. Looks like health care is going to be quite expensive for us as I wear glasses and so does my daughter!

 

Thanks again x

[Guest jorose]

School Dentist Orthodontics is only available to children who are the holder of a concession card. (Children who don't hold a concession card can access regular treatment but not Orthodontics). Even then the Orthodontic system has strict criteria to be eligible for an orthodontic referral to the Adelaide Dental Hospital. Current waiting times once on the list (there are protocols to follow and oral hygiene expectations prior to being sent off for a referral) are between 12 months and 2 years. Orthodontic treatment costs approx $1100 and the $1000 that Medicare give children over two years towards dental treatment cannot be used for orthodontics. Private insurance has waiting times before a claim can be made and as your daughter is already under treatment it is likely that you will have to pay all the "out of pocket" expenses. Hope that helps