the shocking price of dental treatment in oz

daftdave

hi all,

whats the story in australia regarding dental treatment and gp visits.

i was shocked during the week to hear of a friend who had to pay $800 for 3 standard fillings, is this the norm over here ?? , is a visit to the gp as expensive ??.
not that i need any of these services, i would just like to know for future reference, do irish citizens take out personal insurance to cover these costs or do you just hope for the best,

any info is much appreciated ,

regards,

dave.

Flairpinnedme

dental is very expensive, i wouldnt bother with it unless you have health insurance

GP visits are cheaper than Ireland, around 35-50$

It works much better here if you're eligible for medicare, cause then you can claim a lot of it back. but for us foreigners, it's kinda ****e.

daftdave

Flairpinnedme wrote: »

dental is very expensive, i wouldnt bother with it unless you have health insurance

GP visits are cheaper than Ireland, around 35-50$

It works much better here if you're eligible for medicare, cause then you can claim a lot of it back. but for us foreigners, it's kinda ****e.

as an irish citizen, i am not entitled to medicare....correct ???

tallaght01

That's right. Don't forget to claim your medicare levy back on your tax rebate.

GP is 50 dollars, more or less. Get health insurance, though, if you can afford it. I have it, and it pays for itself if you see the GP a few times and go to the dentist.

solas geal

I actually found dental to be cheaper in Australia.

About a month after I arrived my face flared up and I had to go to the dentist pretty much straight away on a saturday. He examined me and took xrays, which came to $150 (about 90 euro) which I thought was good for both the consultation and xrays.

It emerged that I needed an antibiotic to kill the infection and needed to have a wisdom tooth removed. I had it removed the following saturday and it cost $200 (about 116 euro). I'm pretty sure that extraction of a wisdom tooth would have been more at home, and I thought it was pretty reasonable.

hussey

where was that??

I need my wisdom tooth removed and was quoted 900+ (needed a filling too)

m@cc@

Jeez, for God's sake, don't go to Oz without health insurance. If your already in Oz, get health insurance now.

kittex

Re: Irish people and Medicare...if you go by citizenship then yes, you only get the emergency treatment and no card or number.

If you've ever worked in the UK, you can use your NHS number and National Insurance number to wangle Medicare.

I worked in UK for 13 years, so got it finally as a UK resident. Had to make the girl go to her supervisor as she wanted a UK Residency Visa from me, but the supervisor knew the EU system and freedom of rights etc and once I had the above 2 numbers it meant I had contributed to the NHS system and therefore entitled to the reciprocal deal they have with the NHS.

mandrake04

I will give you an example of my Heath insurance.

HCF $90 Per Month (Hospital, Ambulance, medical & dentist)

3 recent visits to the dentist

11/08/09 Checkup, X-rays and De-Cal clean $260 HCF pays $260 I pay $0
14/09/09 1 x Filling & Adhesive Restoration $210 HCF pays $210 I pay $0
28/09/09 1x Filling, 1xTitinum Pin 1x Incisal Corn
1x Adhesive Restoration $299 HCF pays $249 I pay $50

In total I got $770 worth of work and paid a gap of $50

I do pay $90 per month but I get some back in Tax plus I avoid the medicare surcharge.

It pays to have good insurance.

MB81

so wat would people advice be im go to oz on wed and im getting a root canal started in ireland on monday and the dentis said to get it finished in oz. How much will this cost me.

Mr Benevolent

MB81 wrote: »

so wat would people advice be im go to oz on wed and im getting a root canal started in ireland on monday and the dentis said to get it finished in oz. How much will this cost me.

Doesn't sound ideal tbh. Ring a few Australian dentists and get quotes. Spending your first few days here getting your teeth sorted is not the best way to begin your WHV/holiday really. Good luck.

IrishEmperor

I broke a tooth after arriving in Perth & opted for the $450 xrays+extraction, rather than the $3500 crown alternative.

I supposed I should've gone through SE Asia before coming; I'd still have a tooth & a **** load of cool t-shirts

MB81

im in thailand before for 3 weeks before oz whats the dental industry like there would it be worth risking getting it done there.

IrishEmperor

Thailand: loads of great places to get it done on the cheap

solas geal

Hi Hussey,

The dentist was Dr Andrew Sih, on Curlewis St, at Bondi Beach. Just to a google and you should find his website.
If it's a simple enough extraction it's $200, if he needs specialist involvment it's $350. That's what he told me anyway, and I only ended up needing the $200 one

Mellor

I broke a tooth when I was younger. It cost 100 pounds to get it fixed in ireland (mid ninetys). I expect i'd have to pay 200-300 euro now, maybe more with inflation, euro conversion etc.

I knocked it out over here and was dreading a huge fee, only cost $150