03.Private dental cover
If you have private health insurance with ancillary cover, chances are you can get free or low-cost preventative dental care — a great way to avoid high costs later on. But it won’t help you if you don’t use it. The recently published National Survey of Adult Oral Health found that almost 30% of people with private dental cover hadn’t visited their dentist in the last year.
To get the most out of your health insurance dollar, take advantage of any dental healthcare provided by your insurance company. We’ve listed it for major insurance companies in the table, below.
If you’re with a different company, ask what free or reduced-cost preventative dental care it funds. If it doesn’t, consider moving your ancillary cover to a company that does.
Preventative dental care offered by major health insurance companies
| Company |
Dental centre or participating dentists |
Preventative incentives* |
| HBA |
Over 1000 participating dentists |
60–80% rebate, depending on the level of cover. Children covered by General or Premium extras get no-gap cover for check-up, x-rays, clean and scale, and fluoride |
| HBF |
Participating dentists (WA only) |
No-gap clean and scale |
| HCF |
Dental centres in Sydney + participating dentists in Victoria, Queensland and regional NSW |
No-gap check-up, x-rays, clean and fluoride |
| MBF |
Participating dentists |
Receive at least 70–90% rebate, depending on level of cover |
| Medibank Private |
Over 1600 participating dentists nationally |
No-gap check-up, clean and fluoride. |
| NIB |
Dental centres in Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, plus 6 participating dentists in regional NSW. |
No-gap check-up, clean and fluoride. |
| |
Table notes
* 'No gap' means there are no costs to you — the insurance company covers the whole amount.