Melbourne bound Mark

Hi,

does anybody know a good dentist that is as reasonably priced as they come in Melbourne.

The Mrs and I are going to run up a bit of a bill and I am looking to work out the total cost and then see if the whole Thai or Malaysia thing makes any sense.

I need an implant and a crown (plus if I go abroad I may as well get 6 amalgam fillings replaced). The Mrs also needs an implant.

Thanks,
Mark.

isgraham

Just book your flights and be done with it. My wife used to get hers done in Brazil as it was cheaper than Sydney. Alternatively get private medical insurance and wait out the 6 month non claim time then get it done.

ozzieeagle

Bain of my life... I've real horror stories re Dentists and Orthodontists costs.... not only did we do the no braces method on our kids, when that failed we had to use braces @ cost ( Cough and Larfff or I'll go mad) Wish we had just taken the kids there rather than the to be avoided Holistic dental group. .... avoid this one.......http://www.cosmeticdentistmelbourne.com.au/

Having said that one I fully recommend... not cheap but definitely not a rip off... I can vouch 100 pct for how they will try help with costs/insurance etc. Best dentist for price that I know of.

Go out of your way to this one.....http://www.coburgdentalgroup.com.au/

Kooky.

Get some quotes here and then drop my dentist in Singapore an email asking for similar. He's recommended on a few threads here - drsteven.ang.com He specialises in implants but I have 16 crowns done by him (something I'd have to take out a mortgage on over here) and continue to see him once a year when I pass through.

You might get cheaper still in Thailand or Malaysia but see if you can get a personal recommendation if that's what you want to do.

Kooky.

Sorry that should be drstevenang.com - got carried away with my full-stops.

Boobops

I emailed this dentist recently but unfortunately for me they do porcelain fused to metal crowns and I want all porcelain. Shame as I would definitely have used him going by all the recommendations on here. Looks like I will have to have it done in Oz as unsure about using Thailand etc without personal recommendations.

GreenMan72

I might use this recommendation. My teeth are the bane of my life. Spent $18k on them the last 18 months and still more work needs doing (one of the newly fitted crowns has caused the underlying root to flare up so I see a root canal coming up).

Very tempted to rip the lot out and get dentures!

koalakim

Hi

I'd certainly recommend Seasider's dentist. He is an amazing chap, he has rebuilt two of my teeth (one huge filling and one broken one) plus he did me a crown for S$550 rather than the A$1200 I was quoted here (basically more than half price). He even came in on his day off to check the broken repair before sending me off back overseas.

I did check out a few other Singaporean dentists but he was the best value. My friend in Singapore said a lot of them go up to Bangkok for treatment as it's even cheaper. When I looked into it the Bangkok Dental Hospital seemed pretty okay and would even arrange accommodation and touristy trips whist you were in there for treatment!

You'd need to check what treatment you need and how long it will take. When I had the crown done they took the impression and did the ground work and put a temporary cap on it on they way to the UK and 6 weeks later on the way back he fitted the crown. As we always stop-over in Singapore this wasn't really a problem.

Dr Ang is always trying to get me to have an implant but it is a case of logistics as they have to fit the metal rod and let the bone grow around it for a few months before fitting the tooth, so the extra flights and accommodation could rack up the price, however, it could still be cheaper than doing it here!

It's an old story but my root canal, crown and four fillings quote (mind you only one of those fillings has ever been found by other dentists!) came to $3.5k at a time when I really didn't need to spend that type of money. I came out of the dentists in tears (the pain of the quote plus the root canal ) so I had the root canal done here and got the rest of it done in Singapore.

With root canals some dentists do it over a period of time, I think I had 6 visits but some will do it all in one go. Apparently there are pros and cons to both methods.

Good luck with whatever you decide but even shop around in Mellie as we were fairly new here when it happened but I think Hevs said her dentist out in Berwick was much cheaper, so it's good to ask around.

Cheers

KK

p.s. I did say to the dentist just take the flipping thing out but apparently it can cause problems for the other teeth, mine was a bottom molar so it could mean the top corresponding molar could start to drop out. As GreenMan said teeth are a pain and would be a lot easier to get a full set of dentures!

Margaret3

I've been looking at taking Private Health insurance Extras Only, to go to the dentist, but i think your screwed by the dentist anyway, no matter what cover you have. The extras is around a 12 month waiting period for major dental (and i am sure that will include half a crown or summit and then you will have to pay for the other half, lol). Was thinking how much i could save up in 12 months and visit kims dentist

We're pretty certain about taking out the extas thing for our family, as three of us need glasses also ,(in the extras its a trade off between dental and optical), but a year down the line i may realise i'm paying for bugger all

ukecadet

I have a couple of friends who are dentist and we were talking one night about this subject of going abroad for dental treatment.
In the end I was convinced it wasn't worth the risk of getting hepatitis for the sake of saving money.
There must be a pretty good mark up here though.
Recently my son and me had some work done by my friend who works in a city practice.
On the way out,paying the bill the receptionist said"that will be $580 today thank you"then she did a double take and somewhat surprised said"oh! Dr has given you a discount...it's$320"
I was more than happy but thought to myself,they must be charging one hell of a lot if he can knock that off and still make a profit.

Margaret3

I have thought about not only the Hiv risk, but hepB and hepC would be a risk abroad, but its also a risk here!, but i would hazzard a guess asian medical professionals are just as paranoid about it as they are here, i would say dentists here would cry HIV loudly here , to avoid people taking thier business elsewhere! (as usual in aus, its a case of keep the people in ignorance about how much thier being ripped off).

The sign where i scrub up in theatre is referred to as is titled the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

I would also like to add that most of the Asian nurses i have worked with , which include Singapore have extremely high standards and are not shy about shouting at you if they think your compromising any of them, lol

Kooky.

I'd have no qualms about any dentist (or doctor) in Singapore. As above, I've had a lot of dental work done - my husband had his wisdom teeth out there too (different dentist, equally as fab). I've also had two operations there on my wrist, a liver biopsy, and a few days in hospital with dengue. No infections whatsoever in Singapore - but I could tell you horror stories about two I had in private hospitals in the UK, resulting in a 2nd operation in two different cases.

If I were to go to Thailand I would go to one of the international hospitals such as Bumrungrad or Phuket International - they have world-class reputations. No idea about Malaysia, sorry.

edit: Most of the nurses in Singapore are Filipinas, but when we had dengue we were looked after by one from Manchester

Margaret3

I agree, i would have no qualms about it either, most of the docs and nurses i work with here are asian, infact i'll sound them out about dentists nxt week.