British Expats - Dentists in Australia

Quote:

Originally Posted by owenj (Post 6339410)

I am a dentist and have experience working in UK and in Australia.

Firstly I would strongly advise against a dental holiday to thailand etc...
Who will follow you up if things go wrong and in my experience quality has been poor.

You will on average pay more in Australia for treatment involving crowns, although there can be great variation between individual practices.
If you have dental cover MBF, Medibank etc.. a prefered provider will do treatment to their recommended fees and many dentists charge more and this results in a lower rebate also! The insurer will provide you with details of prefered providers in the area.

My advice, providing treatment isn't urgent, would be to find a dentist in a location where you will be based long term and get all options explained to you fully before commencing treatment. Once you are happy, then proceed with treatment.

NB If you wait for one year before having more complex treatment in order to get it covered on insurance, be aware that usually there is an annual limit on cover. For example if you have two crowns you will still have to pay in full for the second, or if you reach a certain threshold your cover will be greatly reduced.

The fact is there are good and bad dentists in Oz and its only another good dentist who can really tell you if you have had a good job done. A person I know had a very good job done in Thailand, which was checked out after by her Aus dentist and he said she got a very good job done; she got 17 teeth replaced for the price I need to pay for 2 implants and 2 crowns here ..I've been quoted AU$9000 which is all due to negligence of an Aus dentist who was previously struck off and allowed to practice again!

According to my new English dentist the regulations on registration are not as tough as in the UK so bad dentists are not so quickly struck off, and you can pay $1000s but you don't always get better treatment.

It was only because my 12 year old went to the school dentist that we found out our $$$$$$ worth of dental treatment for 2 adults and 3 kids was a complete waste of money:ohmy: The dentist had meanwhile gone off sick and sold the practice. The school dentist said he had never seen such bad fillings in his life and the whole family has had to have all the work redone, so I still think if people are looking for dentists in Oz be very careful, esp on the Gold coast its very easy to say its better here than thailand but the worst here are not as good as people think and you can be ripped off by many who charge a lot here.

PS anyone wanting braces on the Gold Coast go to Peter Grant in Beenleigh. (you'll find his website on google)Hes got a 1-2 year waiting list but half the price. We paid just under $3000 instead of $5000 or $6000 which most charge on the GC.