Mount Barker Dental Centre accepts dental extras from all major health funds. We process the benefits from your health fund immediately and reduce your account accordingly. However, we are not a health fund network provider (sometimes called ‘preferred providers’ or ‘participating providers’).

Dentists who become providers for health fund networks, such as Bupa ‘Members First’, Medibank ‘Members Choice’ and HCF ‘More for Teeth’, enter into a contract where they offer services as dictated by the insurance company.

At Mount Barker Dental Centre we are committed to offering you the treatment that is best suited to you and your oral health. We believe that decisions relating to your treatment should be between your treating dentist and yourself, they should not include the interests of a third party (the insurance company) whose primary purpose is often to make a profit. Most members choose to contribute to a health fund to ensure some choice over their treatment provider. It is ironic that health fund network schemes undermine this choice with respect to your dental care!

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) does not support health fund network provider contracts. Further information from the ADA on this issue is available at:

http://www.ada.org.au/app_cmslib/media/umlib/pp_brochure_online.pdf

http://www.ada.org.au/phi_facts/phifacts_public.aspx?preview=true

Early dental decay is often not painful, you may not be aware of your dental decay.

If dental decay is left undiagnosed and untreated it spreads deeper into the tooth. This can lead to a dental infection, with symptoms including tooth ache, sensitivity to hot and cold, pain on eating, and sometimes inability to sleep due to pain.

It is much simpler (and less expensive) to treat early decay than it is to treat a dental infection. Even better, regular visits to a hygienist can help you to avoid dental decay.

So if it is quite some time since you’ve been to the dentist, a check-up might be a good idea. (See ‘How often should I visit the dentist’ below)

Some dentists recommend a check-up every 6 months. However, current research suggests that the frequency of check-ups should be based on a careful review of a patient’s risks, including their medical and dental history, oral hygiene, dietary habits and so on. While some patients opt for a six-monthly clean and scale, not all need a check-up every six months.

Mount Barker Dental Centre is totally focused on providing high quality dental care. Established in 1997, we have been meeting the needs of the Mount Barker community for a very long time!

Yes, while our dentists can clean and scale your teeth, our hygienist has been trained specifically and is the real expert in this area!

To make a visit to the dentist fun for kids, while at the same time helping parents develop their children’s oral hygiene habits, we create a happy environment for kids in the waiting room, with fun activities to keep them amused, and in the surgery where they are treated by one of our dental therapists who is especially trained in caring for kids under 18 years. Please visit our Kids Club page for more information.

At Mount Barker Dental Centre our reception team will find a time that meets your needs. Any dental emergencies are seen on the day (‘What happens if I experience a dental emergency?’ below).

Yes, we offer evening sessions to make it easier for patients whose time is constrained by employment, family or other commitments.

At Mount Barker Dental Centre we are committed to charging a fair price for the services we provide.

Our reception staff are able to tell you the cost of an initial check-up, x-rays, and a scale and clean. If you need further treatment your dentist will prepare a treatment plan for you and explain the costs of this treatment.

We require payment in full on the day of your treatment and accept cash, credit and debit cards, and personal cheques.

If you feel concerned about your ability to pay, especially where your treatment plan requires services over an extended period, talk to us about an interest-free payment plan. While we cannot finance your treatment indefinitely, we don’t want you to delay or forgo treatment to the detriment of your oral health.

If you have a Health Care Card or your income (after tax) is less than $45000 per year you may be eligible for the community based Dental No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) which offers interest free loans between $300 and $1200 to fund dental treatment. Call Uniting Communities on 8202 5180 to let them know that you are interested in applying for a Dental NILS loan.

Yes, any dental benefits from your health fund will be processed immediately and your account will be reduced accordingly.

We also accept all current government dental schemes including the General Dental Scheme, the Pensioner Denture Scheme, the Emergency Dental Scheme, Veterans Affairs and the recently established Child Dental Benefits Schedule (see below).

The federal government’s Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) offers a great opportunity to improve kids’ oral health.

Eligible children aged 2-17 years can access up to $1000 in benefits over a two year period for basic dental services including check-ups, x-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals, extractions and partial dentures.

Eligibility is based on certain government benefits such as Family Tax Benefit Part A. If you’re uncertain about your eligibility phone our reception team who can help you check.

Mount Barker Dental Centre’s policy is to accept the scheduled government fee as full payment.

Each day we reserve a number of appointments for emergency care. If you experience any sort of dental emergency during our normal consulting hours just phone us on our normal line (8391 1655) and explain your problem to our reception team.

If your dental emergency occurs after hours, please phone our after-hours emergency hotline (0412 166 874).

We are one of the very few dental practices in the Adelaide Hills offering an after-hours emergency service. While we are happy to help patients of other dentists who do not provide after-hours support, please note that we add a $100 administration fee for after-hours patients who do not normally attend Mount Barker Dental Centre. All after-hours emergency services must be paid for in cash or by credit/debit card at the time of treatment.