A crown is a fitted cap placed over an entire tooth, for reasons including:
Most crowns are made from porcelain, metal (such as gold alloy) or porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM), which is a combination of porcelain fused to a metal base. Your dentist will attach it to the tooth using a special type of dental cement.
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A single crown can cost anywhere from $1,000 to more than $2,000 due to the complex nature of sizing, crafting and fitting the crown.
The price is also affected by the material you choose for your crown. Crowns made of 100% porcelain or 100% gold alloy cost more than those made of porcelain-fused-to-metal.
If you are more budget conscious, you may want to consider a crown made of porcelain-fused-to-metal.
Dental work is covered under private extras insurance, which helps pay for non-hospital services like dental, optical and physio.
However, not just any extras policy will do! You'll need a mid- to top-tier policy which covers Major Dental, which includes tooth crowns. This will come with a 12-month waiting period.
The good news is, the waiting periods for more minor treatments like check-ups and cleans will be much shorter, usually only two months. Some insurers will waive shorter waiting periods to attract your business. This gives you quick access to preventative treatment as you sit out your waiting periods for major dental.
It's extremely unlikely that Medicare will pay for your crown. In some cases, Medicare will cover dental work if it forms part of a treatment that is typically covered (for example, you break your jaw and they need to remove a tooth to fit your jaw back into place). However, a crown wouldn't usually fit into such a scenario.
The one big exception are kids who receive a Service Australia benefit, or whose parents do. Services Australia will pitch in up to $1,095 every 2 years under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. This goes to a range of dental treatments, which can include crowns.
Most states also have their own public dental scheme and will offer free or discounted emergency dental treatment to pensioners and other concession card holders. However, most people will need private health insurance if they want to be covered for tooth crowns.
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