Dental cover is covered by private health insurance extras policies from around $4 a week.
Medicare doesn’t cover dental, but some states offer limited services for children and other groups.
There are different levels of dental cover available, including General, Major and Orthodontics.
Compare policies with General Dental
Here are some extras policies from Finder partners with some level of dental cover, either general, major or orthodonics. All prices are based on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and living in Sydney.
Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and
living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below
You'll pay the same price as going direct - we don't
charge fees
We don't ask for your phone number to see prices
Hang tight - we're fetching policies just for you!
Comparing quotes from 30+ funds...
How does dental insurance work?
Dental insurance is available with extras health insurance, as opposed to hospital insurance. Extras is the cheaper version and covers out-of-hospital servicies not available through Medicare such as dental, optical and physio.
Some policies will pay a percentage of your bill, up to a certain amount, when you visit the dentist. Others will pay a set amount for specific services. It can cover you for:
General dental
Covers common procedures such as check-ups, teeth cleaning, fluoride treatments, X-rays and small fillings.
Covers specialist dentistry for aligning teeth and jaws. Treatments include braces, plates and retainers.
What about dental surgery?
Whenever dental surgery is performed in a hospital – for example, dental implant surgery – it's not typically covered by extras. You'll need hospital insurance for this.
How much does dental work cost?
The price of specific dental treatments varies depending on your dentist, location and specific circumstances. However, a 2019 HealthEngine Survey sought to find the average cost of some common treatments in Sydney.
More complicated dental work will be even costlier, especially braces. According to Orthodontics Australia, braces can cost anywhere between $6,000 and $9,000.
*Costs are based on a 15- to 18-month treatment period that also helps to correctly align the jaw.
Even with health insurance, dental work can still come at a significant cost. Thankfully, many dental practices now offer Afterpay or specialist payment plans to patients.
Child Dental Benefits Schedule
The Services Australia Child Dental Benefits Schedule does offer dental benefits to some children. To be eligible, your child must
Be eligible for Medicare
Be between 0 and 17 years old
Receive a payment from the Australian governmnet at least once a year
The following groups can receive free publicly funded emergency dental treatment in Queensland:
All children between age 4 and year 10 of secondary school.
Children outside of that range who have a concession card or are dependents of a concession card holder.
Children in the custody of the Director-General, Department of Communities or Child Safety and Disability Services.
Adults with a Pensioner Concession Card from the Department of Veterans' Affairs or Centrelink, a Health Care Card, a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card or a Queensland Seniors Card.
You must be a Queensland resident and you must receive your treatment in a public dental facility.
New South Wales
In New South Wales, emergency dental care is free for the following people:
All children under 18.
Any adult with a valid Centrelink concession card (plus anyone else listed on the card).
You must also have a valid Medicare Card and get your treatment at a New South Wales public dental clinic.
Australian Capital Territory
You are able to access dental services in the ACT if you hold a:
A Centrelink-issued Pension Concession or Health Care Card.
A Veteran’s affairs card.
An ACT Services Access card.
Victoria
In Victoria, the following groups are eligible for free emergency dental care in a community health centre or public dental hospital:
All children up to the age of 12.
Children up to 18 who are eligible for the Child Dental Benefit Schedule, are in out-of-home care provided by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing or in custodial care.
Children up to 17 who have a valid concession card or are the dependent of someone with a concession card.
Refugees, asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians, Torres Strait Islanders and mental health patients.
Adults who have a valid Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card will receive emergency dental care in a community health centre or public dental hospital for $29.50. Everyone else can use the public facilities, but you'll be charged rates that are similar to what you'd find in a private facility.
Tasmania
The following groups are eligible for publicly funded dental treatment in Tasmania:
All children up to 18 years of age will receive free treatment.
Adults with a Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card will receive treatment for a small fee.
You must visit a public dental facility to be eligible.
South Australia
If you belong to one of the following groups, you are eligible for publicly funded dental treatment in South Australia:
Dental treatment is free for all babies and children not yet in school as well as school-aged children under 18 who have a Health Care Card, are members of the School Card Scheme or are dependents of someone with a Pensioner Concession Card.
All other children under 18 are eligible for dental treatment if they pay a small fee.
Adults with a Pensioner Concession Card or a Health Care Card are eligible for dental treatment if they pay a small fee.
Adult Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders with a Pensioner Concession Card or a Health Care Card are eligible for free emergency dental treatment.
You must have your treatment in a public facility.
Western Australia
The following groups are eligible for publicly funded emergency treatment in Western Australia:
All children 4 and under.
Children 5-16 who are in school.
People 17+ who hold a Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card.
You must receive your treatment in a public dental facility. If you live in a rural community and don't have access to a public clinic, you can use a private clinic but you will have to pay full price for treatment.
Northern Territory
You can access free public dental services in the Northern Territory if you meet one of the following:
You're under 18 years old, as long you haven't finished school and don't work full time.
You have a Centrelink Pensioner or Health Care Card.
You're a remote resident in need of emergency dental care and don't have access to private care.
You're part of the Australian Government's cleft lip and cleft palate scheme.
You're more than 100km from your nearest health service.
Frequently asked questions
Cheap dental insurance starts at less than $4 a week. This will typically cover you for a couple of routine check-ups a year including common procedures such as teeth cleaning and X-rays. Major dental policies start at around $7 a week while endodontics and orthodontics cost around $9 a week. However, you may still have some out of pocket expenses.
Unfortunately, Medicare doesn't cover most dental work. There are some exceptions to this – for example, some children are eligible through the Child Dental Benefits Schedule and adults who hold a Health Care Card or Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card and cannot afford medically necessary treatment.
Like all extras, the annual benefit for dental treatments reset each year. Depending on your fund, your limits with either reset on January 1, July 1 or your policy anniversary date. See the list of all extras benefit reset dates here.
Routine check-ups at the dentist alone can add up to over and above what you might pay for dental insurance. To make sure you get the most out of your cover, make sure you compare your provider options and get cover with benefits you’ll actually use.
Unfortunately, there's no real difference if you're a student. In some cases, your dentist may give a concession discount for dental work but you'll still be out of pocket.
If your dental work is considered life-threatening or extremely complex, you may be treated in a hospital and covered by Medicare. However, this doesn't apply to most dental work and may also incur a fee.
Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance & utilities expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more. See full bio
Tim's expertise
Tim has written 116 Finder guides across topics including:
This supermarket gift card hack can earn you points while you buy a new phone.
Feedback
How likely would you be to recommend Finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Important information about this website
finder.com.au is one of Australia's leading comparison websites. We are committed to our readers and stands by our editorial principles
We try to take an open and transparent approach and provide a broad-based comparison service. However, you should be aware that while we are an independently owned service, our comparison service does not include all providers or all products available in the market.
Some product issuers may provide products or offer services through multiple brands, associated companies or different labeling arrangements. This can make it difficult for consumers to compare alternatives or identify the companies behind the products. However, we aim to provide information to enable consumers to understand these issues.
We make money by featuring products on our site. Compensation received from the providers featured on our site can influence which products we write about as well as where and how products appear on our page, but the order or placement of these products does not influence our assessment or opinions of them, nor is it an endorsement or recommendation for them.
Products marked as 'Top Pick', 'Promoted' or 'Advertisement' are prominently displayed either as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular product, provider or feature. Finder may receive remuneration from the Provider if you click on the related link, purchase or enquire about the product. Finder's decision to show a 'promoted' product is neither a recommendation that the product is appropriate for you nor an indication that the product is the best in its category. We encourage you to use the tools and information we provide to compare your options.
Where our site links to particular products or displays 'Go to site' buttons, we may receive a commission, referral fee or payment when you click on those buttons or apply for a product. You can learn more about how we make money.
When products are grouped in a table or list, the order in which they are initially sorted may be influenced by a range of factors including price, fees and discounts; commercial partnerships; product features; and brand popularity. We provide tools so you can sort and filter these lists to highlight features that matter to you.
Please read our website terms of use and privacy policy for more information about our services and our approach to privacy.
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
