Fees
Public patients
Accounts issued by the Oral Health Centre to public patients are based on a schedule issued by the Commonwealth Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). The DVA schedule details the price of specific items of treatment and is adjusted on a regular basis.
The fee schedule applied by the Oral Health Centre is the same as that applying to other providers in the Western Australian public dental system.
Income support patients
Income support patients are charged 80% of the designated fee from the DVA schedule. This is a substantial reduction on the fees charged by most private dentists.
Private patients
Dentists exercising private practice rights do so as independent dentists. While the Centre issues invoices on their behalf, these invoices are in the dentist’s name and have the dentist’s individual provider number on them. These dentists determine and charge their own fees, and there is no subsidy whatever provided by the Government or the Centre to the private patient.
The Oral Health Centre is part of the Western Australian public dental system. General dental services are provided to eligible public patients.
General dentistry
Dental services are provided to public dental patients, who are subject to an eligibility test, as well as to private patients through private practice arrangements entered into with some of the Centre’s general and specialist dentists.
General dental services are also provided at low fees for income-support patients who are ineligible for subsidised treatment but who meet relevant low-income criteria.
A patient catchment area determines which public patients are entitled to attend the Oral Health Centre for subsidised general treatment. The catchment area is shown here and provided in PDF format for you to print:
The area incorporates the postcodes: 6005, 6007, 6008, 6009, 6010, 6011, 6012, 6014, 6015, 6016, 6018 and 6019. Subject to waiting times, the centre will often accept eligible patients from outside this catchment area; if this is not possible, however, patients living outside the catchment area are required to attend their nearest government dental clinic for general dental services.
General dental services are provided by qualified dentists and by pre-graduation interns (dental students in their final practicum year) and third and fourth-year undergraduate students under direct supervision by experienced dentists.
Times
Public dental services are available from 8 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday.
- Details are available by telephoning (+61 8) 9346 4400.
- An Emergency Service Clinic operates from 2pm to 5pm every Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday.
Specialist services
The Oral Health Centre is the sole provider of specialist dental services to public dental patients in Western Australia. The specialist services provided are:
- Endodontics
- Oral medicine and oral pathology
- Oral surgery
- Orthodontics
- Paediatric dentistry
- Periodontics
- Prosthodontics
Specialist dental services are available by referral from a general dentist only. Such referrals are accepted by the Oral Health Centre subject to their compliance with Specialist Referral Guidelines. Should a referral not comply with these guidelines, specialist treatment will not be provided.
Dentists considering referring a patient to the Centre for specialist treatment should first satisfy themselves that the patient is eligible for subsidised treatment. The Oral Health Centre referral form should be used for any such referral:
- The majority of services are provided at the main Oral Health Centre building in Nedlands.
- Oral Surgery and Oral Medicine/Oral Pathology are delivered from an annexe in the E Block of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
- General anaesthetic procedures are provided in operating theatres at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (adults) and King Edward Memorial Hospital (children).
Private practice
A number of general and specialist dentists at the Centre offer services to private patients. These dentists are all employees or postgraduate students of the Centre, but offer these services to any member of the public in a private capacity. They alone determine the fees they charge and the times they operate their private clinics.
- Private dental clinics run by arrangement between the dentist and the Centre, but are generally in the evenings from 5 pm to 8 pm.
- Details are available by telephoning (+61 8) 9346 7500.
After hours emergency treatment
An emergency clinic operates in the Centre’s annexe in the E Block of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital from 2 pm to 5 pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
- The Clinic offers emergency dental treatment only.
- A fee applies to all emergency treatment, but a subsidy is provided to holders of Health Care and Pensioner Concession Cards. Holders of these cards will need to present a current card at the time of treatment to receive this subsidy.
- No appointments are necessary.
- If you wish to speak with clinic staff please call (+61 8) 9346 7626 between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm on weekends and public holidays.
For after hours emergency treatment at other times contact Dental Health Services (+61 8) 9325 3452.
School of Dentistry
University information
CRICOS Code: 00126G
