Contact Us

Phone: 13 13 96 Email: theteam@smilesolutions.com.au

Smile Solutions Level 1, 220 Collins Street Manchester Unity Building Melbourne VIC 3000

Hours: Monday–Friday 8.00am–6.00pm, Saturday 8.30am–1.30pm, Sunday by appointment.

Getting here, parking and accessibility: Our Location

In an emergency — do not email

Go to a hospital emergency department, or call 000, if there is:

• facial swelling that is spreading, or closing an eye
• difficulty swallowing or difficulty breathing
• a swollen face with fever, or feeling very unwell
• uncontrolled bleeding
• any significant head injury

Dental infections can spread into the face and neck, and that is dangerous.

For a knocked-out permanent tooth: put it straight back in the socket, or store it in milk — saliva or saline if there is no milk, and plain water only as a last resort, because the one real absolute is never to let the tooth dry out. Phone 13 13 96 immediately. Minutes matter. Emergency Dentistry sets out the time limits for each kind of injury.

Full triage — what needs a hospital, what needs a dentist today, and what can wait: Tooth Fairy's Vital Message

When you book, tell us

These change how the appointment is arranged, and saying them beforehand is far better than on arrival:

• That you are anxious, or that it has been a long time. Nobody will judge you — gaps of ten and fifteen years are ordinary, and it changes the appointment length and how it is run. A talk-only first appointment, with no instruments and no treatment, is a normal request.
• Access requirements — wheelchair access, help transferring, an assistance animal, a companion or carer, or an interpreter, including Auslan
• Sensory requirements — a quieter time of day, reduced lighting, no radio
• If you gag, or find lying flat difficult
• If you are in pain, and how bad. Say it clearly — it determines how urgently you are seen.

Bring to your first appointment

• A full list of every medication, including over-the-counter medicines and supplements. This matters more than anything else on the form — anticoagulants, bisphosphonates and other antiresorptive medications, diabetes medication, immunosuppressants and allergies all change what is safe.
• Your medical history, including anything you have been treated for.
• Your previous dental records and radiographs, if you are coming from another practice. You are entitled to them, and old radiographs are the only objective record of change over time.
• Your health fund card, if you have one.
• Your Medicare card, if a child may be eligible under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule.

If you are bringing a child, check the CDBS first

It is the most commonly unclaimed dental benefit in the country, and the rules are specific.

Services Australia covers up to $1,158 for each eligible child over two consecutive calendar years. The cap is indexed on 1 January each year, and the increase applies only to a child or teenager who received their first eligible service in that calendar year.

What it covers: check-ups, X-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals and extractions.

What it does not cover: orthodontic dental work, cosmetic dental work, and any dental services in a hospital.

Two details worth knowing before treatment starts rather than after:

• There are item and time restrictions on some basic services. Ask which apply to the treatment being proposed.
• CDBS services do not count towards the threshold of either the Medicare Safety Net or the Extended Medicare Safety Net.

The two-year period starts at the beginning of the calendar year in which the child both becomes eligible and receives their first dental service — so the clock is started by the appointment, not by the eligibility.

Requesting your records

Your dental records are health records, and you have a right of access to them under Australian privacy law and, in Victoria, the Health Records Act.

To request yours — including your radiographs — write to theteam@smilesolutions.com.au. A reasonable fee may apply for copies.

Do this whenever you change practices, and keep your own copies — it is also what makes a second opinion useful rather than a fresh start. Practices close, merge and change hands, and records stay with the practice, not with the practitioner.

Making a complaint

Put it in writing, to theteam@smilesolutions.com.au or by post to the address above. Most matters resolve at this stage, and they resolve faster when raised early.

Tell us what happened, when, and what outcome you are seeking.

If it is not resolved, these avenues are free and independent of the practice:

• The Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria) — complaints about health services, including cost and communication
• AHPRA and the Dental Board of Australia — concerns about a registered practitioner's conduct, performance or health. Anyone can make a notification.
• The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — privacy and data matters
• Consumer Affairs Victoria and the ACCC — misleading claims and unfair contract terms, under the Australian Consumer Law
• AFCA — complaints about credit or payment arrangements

Every registered practitioner must hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of registration.

Complaints about advertising are a separate route, and less known

A breach of the advertising requirements of the National Law is a criminal offence for which a court may impose a monetary penalty, and a registered practitioner may also face disciplinary action. Any member of the public can raise it, about any practice, not only one they have attended.

The maximum penalties were increased by amendment in 2022 and have applied in every jurisdiction since July 2024 — up to $60,000 per offence for an individual and up to $120,000 per offence for a body corporate. For registered practitioners the enforcement tools run from investigating conduct, through disciplinary action in a panel or tribunal, to prosecution.

One limit worth knowing: the National Boards enforce the National Law and not the legislation of other agencies — therapeutic goods or poisons law, for example. But a breach of that other legislation may itself form the basis for disciplinary action under the National Law. What the rules require, and what they do not, is set out on Reviews and Before and After Gallery.

Getting a quote

Phone 13 13 96. For anything beyond a routine item, an accurate figure requires an examination.

Then ask for the treatment plan and quote in writing, itemised, with ASDS item numbers. That is a normal request, and those numbers let you compare elsewhere and check your health fund rebate. See Price Guide.

Why two quotes for the same work can differ so much

There is no national dental fee schedule in Australia. Fees are set practice by practice, which is the structural reason comparison is worth the effort.

The Australian Dental Association's Dental Fees Survey gives a sense of the spread. The 2022 survey drew on 3,535 general practitioners, 32% of the ADA members invited, across 122 items, and reports "considerable variation in the fees charged within and between states". Across those items, fees charged by general practitioners appeared to have increased by 3.7% during the two years since 1 July 2020, with the smallest increases in preventive services and periodontics (1.6%) and the largest in orthodontics (6.9%). Those are ADA survey figures for Australian practices generally, not this practice's fees.

What a written quote has to tell you

Where a practice advertises a gift, discount or other inducement, it must state the terms and conditions in plain language. Advertising may breach the National Law where it:

• contains price information that is unclear, inexact or vague
• states an instalment amount without stating the total cost — the total is itself a condition of the offer, so "$X a week" without "$Y in total" is incomplete, and you are entitled to ask for the rest
• leaves out restrictions or limitations, such as age, expiry date, geographical limits, or who is eligible

And terms have to be easy to find. AHPRA's position is that the public "should not be required to exhaustively search for or contact the advertiser" for them.

Referring a patient

Referring practitioners are welcome to phone 13 13 96 or email theteam@smilesolutions.com.au. The recognised specialties practising here are listed in full.

Please include the reason for referral, relevant medical history, and radiographs where available — which spare the patient a repeat exposure and provide the historical comparison that is often the whole diagnostic question.

For patients wondering what "specialist" means here: the Dental Board of Australia recognises thirteen dental specialties, approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council. A dentist holding specialist registration in one of them has completed a minimum of two years general dental practice and met all the other requirements for general registration as a dentist, and holds general registration under the division of dentists on the Register. All of it is checkable by you, free, at ahpra.gov.au.

What we cannot do by email or phone

• Diagnose. Toothache has several causes with entirely different urgencies, and distinguishing them requires examination and usually radiographs. A photograph is not a diagnosis.
• Give a firm price for treatment we have not assessed.
• Discuss another person's treatment, including an adult family member's, without their consent.
• Prescribe.

There is a principle underneath all four, and AHPRA states it plainly in the context of advertising: general published information cannot do the work of a consultation, because the claims are generic and "practitioners are not available to clarify whether a treatment is appropriate for an individual". That is the whole reason the appointment exists, and why understanding your treatment happens in the room.

Other useful numbers

• Emergency: 000
• Nurse-on-Call (Victoria): 1300 60 60 24
• Poisons Information Centre: 13 11 26
• Lifeline: 13 11 14 · Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
• Quitline: 13 7848
• National Debt Helpline (free financial counselling): 1800 007 007
• AHPRA public register: ahpra.gov.au — verify any practitioner, free
• Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne — public dental services, with eligibility-based triage
• Services Australia / myGov — Child Dental Benefits Schedule eligibility

Common questions

It is Sunday night and something has gone wrong. What do I actually do?

Work through it in this order, because the first question is not dental.

1. Is it an emergency rather than a dental problem? Spreading facial swelling, a swollen face with fever, difficulty swallowing or breathing, uncontrolled bleeding or a significant head injury all belong in a hospital emergency department or on 000, tonight, not in a dental chair tomorrow. That list is at the top of this page for a reason: a dental infection that has reached the face or neck is a medical problem.

2. Is it a knocked-out adult tooth? Then the clock is the whole issue. Put it straight back in the socket if you can, or keep it in milk, and phone 13 13 96. Do not wait for morning to decide.

3. Is it pain, a lost filling, a broken tooth or a broken appliance? Those are dental problems, and the practice's hours are the ones listed above — Monday to Friday 8.00am to 6.00pm, Saturday 8.30am to 1.30pm, and Sunday by appointment. This page does not advertise a round-the-clock service, and we would rather say so than let you find out at 10pm. Phone 13 13 96 and follow the message, and ring again when the practice opens. In the meantime, Emergency Dentistry sets out what is worth doing overnight for each kind of problem.

Two numbers that are staffed when we are not: Nurse-on-Call on 1300 60 60 24 for health advice in Victoria at any hour, and the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 if something has been swallowed. Neither can treat a tooth, but both can tell you whether you should be waiting at all.

If you have no regular dentist and cost is the barrier, the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne provides public dental services with eligibility-based triage — see the next question.

I have been quoted more than I can pay. What are my actual options?

More than most people realise, and asking is not awkward — it changes what gets proposed.

Start by separating the treatment from the timing. Ask which items are urgent, which are important but can be staged over months, and which are elective. A written, itemised plan with item numbers makes that conversation possible; a single total does not. That request is set out under Getting a quote above and it is a normal one.

Then work through what actually applies to you:

• A child may be covered. The Child Dental Benefits Schedule is the most commonly unclaimed dental benefit in the country. Check eligibility through Services Australia or myGov rather than waiting for a letter. Note what it excludes: orthodontic work, cosmetic work, and any dental services in a hospital.
• Public dental services exist and are rationed. A 2007 analysis of national survey data by researchers at the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health recorded that about one-quarter of Australians are eligible for public-funded dental care, with access determined by income, pension or veteran status, and noted that it "may be characterised by lengthy waiting lists". Both halves of that matter: you may well be eligible, and it is not fast.
• Free financial counselling is a real service, not a euphemism. The National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 is independent, free and confidential.
• Payment plan options are available. Where a plan is advertised as interest free, that describes the plan term only — a deposit may be required, an establishment fee and ongoing account fees may apply, and charges can apply if the balance is not cleared within the agreed period. The applicable terms depend on the provider and the amount financed, and are set out in writing before you commit — ask what the deposit and the establishment fee are, in dollars, and what the total will be by the end. Payment Plans. Payment plan terms are set by the credit provider and change; confirm current terms directly before you commit.

One thing not to do is disappear. The pattern that costs people most is deferring until something hurts, because pain-driven visits involve the treatment nobody wants. If the number is the obstacle, say the number is the obstacle.

I am arranging an appointment for my parent, my partner or my adult child. What am I allowed to do?

You can arrange a great deal, and there is one firm line.

What you can do: book the appointment, give the practice the practical information that makes it go well — that the person is anxious, needs a quieter time of day, uses a wheelchair, needs help transferring, has an assistance animal, or needs an interpreter including Auslan — arrange transport, and attend with them. Support people are welcome, and telling reception in advance is better than arriving with a requirement.

The line is information about an adult's treatment. As set out above, this practice cannot discuss another adult's treatment without their consent, and that includes a parent's, a partner's and an adult child's. It is not bureaucratic caution; health information is protected under Australian privacy law and, in Victoria, the Health Records Act, and the same rules that give you a right of access to your records are what prevent someone else obtaining them.

So the practical step is consent, recorded in advance. If you will be speaking to the practice on someone's behalf, have them say so — ideally in writing, and ideally before the first appointment rather than in the middle of a phone call about a result. Where someone holds a formal authority such as a medical treatment decision maker appointment or a guardianship order, bring the document.

For a child, the arrangements are different again, and the practical items are the Medicare card and the CDBS check described above.

My complaint is about the bill, not the treatment. Who handles that?

Different bodies handle different things, and sending a complaint to the wrong one costs months. The routing, using the list above:

• The treatment, the communication, or the cost of a health service → the Health Complaints Commissioner (Victoria). Its remit expressly covers health services including cost and communication, so a fee dispute with a health service is not out of scope.
• A registered practitioner's conduct, performance or health → AHPRA and the Dental Board of Australia. Anyone can make a notification, and you do not have to have been a patient.
• Advertising — a claim you believe is false or misleading, an offer published without its terms, a testimonial about clinical care, or a title implying a registration the person does not hold → AHPRA, under the advertising provisions of the National Law. This is a separate route from a conduct notification, and again it is open to any member of the public about any practice.
• Your health information — how it was collected, stored, disclosed, or a refusal of access → the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
• Misleading claims or unfair contract terms under the Australian Consumer Law → Consumer Affairs Victoria or the ACCC.
• A credit or payment arrangement, including a payment plan → AFCA. Note that this is about the credit provider's conduct, which is often a different business from the dental practice.

One boundary that surprises people: the National Boards enforce the National Law and not other agencies' legislation — therapeutic goods or poisons law, for example. But a breach of that other legislation may itself form the basis for disciplinary action under the National Law, so a matter can travel between the two.

Whichever route applies, put it in writing to the practice first if you have not already. Most matters do resolve there, they resolve faster when raised early, and the external bodies will generally ask whether you have.

Related pages: Our Location, Our Team, Services, Why Choose Us, Welcome to Smile Solutions.

Practical details

Smile Solutions, Level 1, 220 Collins Street, Manchester Unity Building, Melbourne VIC 3000. Phone 13 13 96, or theteam@smilesolutions.com.au. Monday–Friday 8.00am–6.00pm, Saturday 8.30am–1.30pm, Sunday by appointment.

Every practitioner's registration, division and any specialist entry can be verified free on the AHPRA public register at ahpra.gov.au.

This page contains general information. Email is not a secure or monitored channel for urgent matters — phone for anything urgent, and call 000 in an emergency. This is not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Benefit caps, scheme rules and fee survey figures are as published by Services Australia and the Australian Dental Association respectively and change over time; confirm the current position with them.

Smile Solutions trades under ABN 28 193 514 103.