Dental cover with no waiting periods

As most types of dental healthcare are considered out-patient services, you’ll need an extras cover policy to claim a benefit on these services. Depending on your chosen extras cover policy, an extras cover policy can also include a variety of other out-of-hospital services like physiotherapy, chiropractic and podiatry, or health products like hearing aids.

Typically, health funds will split the dental services they cover into a few categories. While these categories can differ between funds, here are some of the common categories and what they might include:

General dental

• Dental check-ups
• Fillings
• Scale and cleans
• Preventative fluoride treatments
• X-rays

Major dental

• Dentures
• Tooth extractions
• Crowns and bridges
• Endodontics
• Root canals

Orthodontics

• Braces
• Invisalign
• Mouth guards.

Health funds usually only waive waiting periods for general dental, and occasionally major dental, although the services within these categories will vary. Orthodontics often require a 12-month wait before you can claim and may also have lifetime limits in addition to standard annual limits.

Sometimes, you’ll need to go to a private hospital for complex dental surgery, such as wisdom teeth removal, that can’t be completed in the dentist’s chair. In this case, you will need a suitable hospital policy in addition to an appropriate level of extras cover. With a Silver or higher level of hospital insurance, your health fund can contribute towards your inpatient hospital fees and your extras can pay some or all of your tooth extraction fees. The most suitable policy for you will depend on your needs, so it’s a good idea to speak to your surgeon and health fund prior to a hospital admission to ensure you hold an appropriate level of cover, have served any relevant waiting periods, and are aware of any potential out of pocket costs.

Prior to claiming on hospital cover, you will need to serve any relevant waiting periods. There is a standard 2 month waiting period before you can claim on your hospital policy for dental surgery, or 12 months if you have a pre-existing condition. This is important to consider, as having something like wisdom teeth removal surgery may be considered a pre-existing condition. Whether or not you can get your tooth removal waiting periods waived on extras cover will depend on your individual circumstances, how your health fund categorises this procedure and if they offer a promotional waiver.

The Australian Government’s public healthcare system, Medicare, doesn’t typically pay towards any dental treatment. While you might be covered if you go to a public emergency room with a dental emergency, it’s recommended that you see a dentist instead where possible.¹

However, eligible children may be able to have up to $1,052 in dental benefits covered over two calendar years through the government’s Child Dental Benefit Schedule (CDBS). To qualify for this benefit, your child needs to be between 0-17, be eligible for Medicare and receive, or have a parent that receives, a Centrelink benefit at least once a calendar year.