Private Health Insurance and Dental at Core Dental Group product guide

Core Dental Group: Private Health Insurance and Dental Cover in Melbourne

Working out how your private health insurance applies to dental treatment can be genuinely confusing. At Core Dental Group, we try to keep it simple — HICAPS claiming at all 7 Melbourne locations, upfront pricing, and staff who can actually walk you through your cover before treatment starts.

HICAPS at Every Core Dental Location

All seven Core Dental Group practices have HICAPS terminals. Your health fund benefit gets processed on the spot at the time of your appointment, so you pay only the gap before you leave. No paper forms, no chasing reimbursements, no separate trip to your fund's office.

Bring your health fund card, or pull up the digital version on your phone, and you're good to go.

Which Health Funds Does Core Dental Accept?

Core Dental Group accepts all major Australian private health funds via HICAPS, including:

• Medibank Private
• Bupa
• HCF
• NIB
• CBHS
• AHM
• Defence Health
• Teacher's Health
• Police Health
• And many others

Not sure whether your fund is covered? Call us on 13 13 16 before your appointment and we'll confirm.

Preferred Provider Status

Core Dental Wyndham and Core Dental Berwick hold preferred provider status with HCF, CBHS and NIB. In practice, this means members of those funds may pay less out of pocket, or nothing at all, for certain services at those two locations.

If you're with HCF, CBHS or NIB, it's worth a quick call to your fund to find out exactly what you're entitled to at Wyndham or Berwick.

How Dental Cover Works

Private health insurance dental cover in Australia falls into two main categories.

General treatment (extras/ancillary cover)

General dental sits under most extras policies and typically covers check-ups, X-rays, scale and clean, fluoride treatments, fillings, and mouthguards.

Major dental

Major dental is included in higher-tier extras policies and generally covers crowns, bridges, dentures, root canal treatment, and sometimes orthodontics and implants. Check your policy carefully on those last two — coverage varies a lot.

Orthodontic cover

Many funds pay orthodontic benefits, though some will only do so when treatment is delivered by a registered specialist orthodontist rather than a general dentist. Core Dental Group has specialist orthodontists at Caroline Springs and Wyndham. If getting the full rebate matters to you, ask us whether specialist-led treatment suits your case.

Annual Limits Explained

Most extras policies have annual limits — the maximum your fund pays per year for each category of dental treatment. For most funds, limits reset on 1 January or on your policy anniversary date.

A few practical ways to get more out of your limits:

• Book your scale and clean across two calendar years where possible — one visit in November or December, the next in January or February
• Use remaining benefits before they reset, because unused dental benefits don't roll over
• Check whether your fund has a waiting period for major dental — many apply a 12-month wait for new members
• Ask our team to help prioritise your treatment around your available benefits

No-Gap Check-Up and Clean for New Patients

Eligible new patients with private health insurance may qualify for our no-gap check-up and clean. This covers examination, X-rays, OPG, clinical photos, oral cancer screening, and scale and clean, with no out-of-pocket cost. Get in touch to confirm whether you qualify.

Private Health Insurance and Children

If your child is on your private health insurance policy, their dental treatment may attract benefits under your extras cover. On top of that, eligible children aged 0–17 may also qualify for the government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), which provides up to $1,026 in free dental care over two years. CDBS benefits are entirely separate from private health insurance and can be used alongside it.

Book with Confidence

Our reception teams across all 8 locations are happy to help you work out how your health fund applies to your treatment. We'll always provide a written treatment plan with estimated fund contributions before any work begins, so you know what you're up for.

National: 13 13 16 Online: coredental.com.au

Your Local Dental Practice — helping Melbourne families get the most from their dental cover.