Janyves Phillips, Treatment Coordinator

Role: Treatment coordinator — a non-clinical, patient-facing role

Registration: Not applicable. Treatment coordination is not a registered health profession. The Dental Board of Australia does not register treatment coordinators, practice managers or administrative staff, and no AHPRA registration attaches to this role.

The practice publishes no further biographical detail for this position. The full team list is on the our team page, and the clinicians' registration categories are set out on the dentists and registered specialists page.

A coordinator does not diagnose, does not recommend treatment, and does not change what the dentist has proposed. If a conversation about a plan starts to feel like persuasion towards a more expensive option, ask to speak to the treating clinician. That request should always be accommodated.

Why the registration line comes first on a page like this

Because the National Law requires it to be unambiguous. Ahpra's Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service list the dental profession's protected titles as "dentist, dental therapist, dental hygienist, dental prosthetist, oral health therapist", and the same five as the profession's divisions. "Treatment coordinator" is not among them, and no registration corresponds to it.

The guidelines set out what are called the 'holding out' provisions. Ahpra summarises three that bear directly on a non-clinical, patient-facing role:

• Section 116 — a person who is not a registered health practitioner must not knowingly or recklessly "take or use a title, name, initial, symbol, word or description to indicate the person is a health practitioner".
• Section 117 — a person "must not knowingly or recklessly claim or hold themself out to be registered or qualified to practise in a health profession or a division of a health profession if the person is not so registered".
• Section 119 — a person "must not knowingly or recklessly make claims about a type of registration, endorsement, or registration in a recognised specialty that the person does not have".

The practical version, for you: the person who explains the quote is not the person who made the clinical judgement, and the page says so plainly rather than leaving you to work it out. The registration that matters for your care is the one held by the practitioner who examined you.

The part of treatment nobody plans for: the middle

Most dental information covers the decision and the outcome. The part people actually struggle with is the eighteen months in between, and that is what coordination exists for. Understanding your treatment sets out how a plan is explained before it starts.

A large plan is not one event. It might run: gum treatment, then re-assessment, then extraction, then three months of healing, then implant placement, then four to six months of integration, then the crown — across two clinicians and a laboratory. Each step depends on the one before, and delays compound. Complex dental cases: what happens when multiple specialists need to collaborate describes how that is run, and complex dentistry is the practice's page for it.

What that means in practice:

• Book the next stage before you leave. Gaps in a sequence are the commonest cause of a plan quietly stalling.
• Understand which waits are biological and which are administrative. Bone healing takes the time it takes. A four-week wait for an appointment does not.
• Know what the temporary is and how long it is meant to last. Temporary crowns, temporary dentures and healing abutments have a design life, and living in a temporary long past its intended span is where problems start. See what do I do if a temporary filling comes out?
• Ask what happens if you pause. Sometimes pausing is fine. Sometimes it undoes a stage — an unrestored root canal will fail, an unretained orthodontic result will relapse, and an unrestored implant site can lose bone. Will my teeth need retainers after I've had braces? covers the orthodontic case.

Staging treatment across time and across a financial year

A practical point that saves real money and is rarely volunteered. Indicative fees are published on the price guide.

Private health extras limits reset annually, usually on 1 January. Splitting a large plan across that boundary can materially change what you pay out of pocket — and where treatment is not urgent, the sequence can often be arranged around it.

Ask specifically:

• ‘Which parts of this are urgent and which can wait?'
• ‘If I do half this year and half next, what breaks?' Sometimes nothing; sometimes the clinical sequence does not allow it, and that is a clinical answer, not a commercial one.
• ‘What is my remaining limit, and what are the waiting periods on the items I have not used?'
• ‘What are the item numbers?' so you can check with the fund yourself.

And the more important question first: is there a cheaper clinically acceptable option? Financing a larger plan is not the only alternative to declining it.

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.

The wider question of how these arrangements have changed dentistry is discussed in patient dental payment plans: the next big disruption on the dental horizon. For what actually drives a fee in particular treatments, see how much does a dental crown cost in Melbourne?, dental implant costs in Melbourne, what is the cost of braces? and Invisalign cost in Melbourne.

Cost is not a marginal issue in Australian dentistry. A submission to the Australian Parliament's inquiry into dental services cites an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2013) survey finding that "nearly a third of people aged 5 or older (32%) avoided or delayed visiting a dentist due to cost", and notes that Australia has no national dental fee schedule and "no public body for patients to complain to about Australia's high dental fees". That is the environment a conversation about staging takes place in, and it is a reason to ask the blunt questions rather than a reason not to.

If something goes wrong mid-treatment

This is where a coordinator earns their place, and where people most often do the wrong thing — which is nothing.

Contact the practice if:

• A temporary crown or filling comes out. Keep it. It can often be recemented, and the prepared tooth underneath is vulnerable and will move if left uncovered, so the final restoration may no longer fit.
• A restoration feels high when you bite. Two minutes to adjust; left alone it causes soreness and can crack the tooth.
• Pain is increasing rather than settling, or wakes you at night — how can I relieve a toothache? covers the interim, not the fix.
• A denture or appliance is rubbing. Sore spots are adjusted, not endured. My denture is broken. What should I do?
• You have lost a retainer. Teeth move within days. Replacing it two months later may not work.
• Your circumstances have changed — a new medication, a pregnancy, a new diagnosis, a change in what you can afford. All of these legitimately change a treatment plan, and none of them are an imposition to mention.

Go to a hospital emergency department instead if there is spreading facial swelling, difficulty swallowing or breathing, a stiff neck with a dental infection, or uncontrolled bleeding. Call 000 if breathing or swallowing is affected. For everything short of that, see what is considered a dental emergency? and what should I do in a dental emergency?

Changing your mind

You can stop, pause or change a treatment plan. Consent is ongoing, not a signature captured at the start.

• You can decline a stage and ask what the consequences are.
• You can ask for a different practitioner within the practice, without giving a reason.
• You can seek a second opinion mid-treatment, and ask for your records and radiographs to take with you. You have a right of access to your own health information.
• You can ask for the plan to be rewritten around a smaller budget.

None of this is unusual, and none of it should attract friction. If it does, that is information. How important is communication in dentistry? makes the case from the clinician's side. If the appointment itself is the obstacle rather than the plan, dental anxiety is treated as a clinical issue here, not a personality trait.

Where to direct what

• Clinical questions, risk, diagnosis — the treating dentist or specialist; why would I need to see a dental specialist? explains when one is involved
• Quotes, item numbers, health fund estimates, staging — a treatment coordinator
• Appointments, records, access — reception and operations, via the contact page
• Unresolved complaints — practice management, then the Health Complaints Commissioner in Victoria, or AHPRA for practitioner conduct

Registration

The Dental Board of Australia registers dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists — not treatment coordinators, practice managers, dental assistants, dental nurses or dental technicians.

The registration that matters for your care is that of the practitioner who examined you and proposed the treatment, verifiable free on the AHPRA public register at ahpra.gov.au.

How to check them, and what you will see

The Dental Board of Australia states that "Ahpra publishes an online register of all dental practitioners that provides the profession and the public with up-to-date information about a dental practitioner's registration status", and that the register "also includes details of the specialty or specialties for dentists who hold specialist registration". Search by name or registration number; it is free and takes under a minute. Finding a dentist online in Australia goes through how to read what comes back.

Two things the register settles that a quote never will:

• Whether a specialty title is real. There are 13 dental specialties recognised in Australia, "approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council", and a specialist must have "completed a minimum of two years general dental practice" on top of the specialist qualification. Descriptions such as ‘cosmetic dentist' or ‘implant surgeon' are not among them.
• Whether any conditions apply. Conditions and undertakings are recorded on the public register.

Whoever treats you is also bound by the Board's Scope of practice registration standard (in effect 1 July 2020), which requires "dental practitioners to practise within the scope of their education, training, and competence at all times". ‘Are you registered for this, and can I check?' is a fair question, and the answer is a few seconds away.

Common questions

How do I know whether the quote I have been given is reasonable?

You largely cannot, and it is worth understanding why rather than assuming the problem is you.

Australia has no national dental fee schedule. The parliamentary submission quoted above states the consequence directly: “There are no consumer guidelines to ascertain the reasonableness of dental fees charged.” There is no published benchmark to hold an invoice against, and no regulator that sets or reviews a private dental fee.

The one published Australian dataset is the Australian Dental Association's Dental Fees Survey 2022, based on 3,819 valid responses from ADA members in private practice as at 1 July 2022. Two findings from it are useful to a patient:

• Fees moved modestly. Across the 122 items surveyed, fees charged by general practitioners “appear to have increased by 3.7% during the two-year period since 1 July 2020”, with the smallest increases in “Preventive Services and Periodontics (1.6%)” and the largest in “Orthodontics (6.9%)”.
• Variation is the headline, not the average. The ADA reports “considerable variation in the fees charged within and between states”. On average, general practitioners in South Australia and Western Australia charged the lowest fees and those in the ACT and Northern Territory the highest — though the ADA cautions that the ACT and NT samples were small.

That survey is four years old, it covers ADA members generally rather than this or any particular practice, and it is a survey rather than a schedule. It tells you the range is wide. It does not tell you what any single item should cost.

So use the two things you can actually control. Get the quote itemised with item numbers, because item numbers are the only common language between a practice, a health fund and a second opinion — they make two quotes comparable and let you ask your fund for an estimate before you commit. And ask what is not included: the temporary, the review appointments, the laboratory component, and what happens if a stage has to be repeated.

A cheaper quote is not automatically the better one, and a dearer one is not automatically more thorough. What makes them comparable is the item list, not the total. Understanding your treatment sets out what a written plan should contain, and the price guide publishes indicative fees here.

Why does the same treatment cost more when a specialist provides it?

Three things are being paid for, and it is fair to ask which applies to your case.

The training. Specialist registration is added to general registration, never substituted for it. The Dental Board requires an applicant to hold an approved qualification in the specialty and to have “completed a minimum of two years general dental practice” plus all the requirements for general registration as a dentist — with the specialty qualification itself a three-year full-time postgraduate programme on top.

The case mix. Specialist departments tend to take the cases that are complex, extensive, or that have already been treated once and failed. Those take longer and carry more risk, and the fee reflects the time booked as much as the procedure named.

The time itself. The ADA's Dental Fees Survey 2022 found that a fifth of responding specialists charged an hourly rate, and among those the mean was $921 an hour in 2022 and the median $800, “ranging between $450 and $1,500 per hour”. The ADA attaches a strong caveat to its own figure: only 284 specialists responded, the classification was self-assigned, and the results “should be interpreted with considerable caution”. Those are members' charges across all dental specialties in 2022 — not this practice's fees, and now several years old.

The question that actually decides it is not the hourly rate but whether your case needs a specialist at all. That is a clinical judgement, and it is a reasonable one to ask about directly: what makes this case complex, what would be different if a general dentist did it, and what the referral is expected to add. Why would I need to see a dental specialist? covers the usual reasons.

Is there any government help with the cost?

For children, yes, and it is under-claimed. For adults, largely no.

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule pays up to $1,158 for each eligible child over two consecutive calendar years for basic dental services. Services Australia's eligibility test has three parts, all of which must be met: the child must be “0 to 17 years old for at least one day that calendar year”, must be “eligible for Medicare”, and the child or a parent must receive a qualifying government payment “at least once that calendar year”. The cap is indexed each 1 January.

What it covers: “check-ups, X-rays, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals, extractions.” What it does not cover: orthodontic work, and any dental services provided in a hospital. Services Australia also notes that “there are some restrictions for basic dental services” and that you should “check with your dentist if there are any item or time restrictions before starting your service”.

The catch worth knowing is in Services Australia's own worked example: eligibility opens a two-year period, but the family “can only continue to use it” in the second year if the qualifying payment continues that year.

For adults, dental care sits largely outside Medicare, which is the structural fact behind the figure quoted above — “nearly a third of people aged 5 or older (32%) avoided or delayed visiting a dentist due to cost”. Public dental services exist in Victoria through community health services and hospitals, are prioritised for concession card holders, and carry substantial waits for non-urgent care. Private health extras cover part of the cost up to an annual limit, which is why the staging point above matters.

If cost is the obstacle, say so at the consultation rather than declining the plan silently. A plan can usually be sequenced, reduced or re-scoped, and the clinically urgent part separated from the rest — but only if somebody knows that is what is needed. See the Child Dental Benefit Schedule and payment plans.

The invoice does not match the quote. Who deals with that?

Practice management and coordination, not the clinician — and in writing, as soon as you notice.

A fee dispute is an administrative matter, and raising it at the desk on the way out is the least effective way to settle it. Put it in an email through the contact page so there is a dated record of what you were quoted and when.

Ask for the itemised breakdown with item numbers and compare it line by line against the original quote. Most discrepancies turn out to be something genuinely added during treatment — an extra radiograph, an additional surface on a filling, a step discussed in the chair and never written down. That is a communication failure rather than a billing one, and an explanation usually resolves it.

If it is not resolved, the escalation is the one set out above, and getting it right saves months:

• The Health Complaints Commissioner in Victoria handles complaints about a health service, including fees, and can conciliate.
• AHPRA does not. It regulates practitioners — conduct, health and performance — and can act on a practitioner's registration. It does not resolve billing disputes or award compensation.
• There is, as the parliamentary submission notes, “no public body for patients to complain to about Australia's high dental fees” as such. A dispute about whether a fee was charged as agreed has a pathway; a complaint that a fee is too high generally does not.

And for next time: keep the written quote until the invoice is settled. It is the only document that makes the comparison possible, and it is the reason a plan should never be priced as a single undifferentiated number.

Related pages: Our Team, Understanding your treatment, Payment Plans, Emergency Dentistry, Everything under one roof.

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.

Sources for the externally verifiable statements on this page

• Ahpra — Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service, for the protected titles, the divisions and the holding-out provisions in sections 116, 117 and 119.
• Dental Board of Australia — Specialist Registration, FAQ: Specialist registration and the Scope of practice registration standard.
• Australian Dental Association — Dental Fees Survey 2022.
• Services Australia — Child Dental Benefits Schedule eligibility, cap, covered services and exclusions.
• A submission to the Australian Parliament's inquiry into dental services, citing Australian Institute of Health and Welfare survey data on cost as a barrier, and on the absence of a national fee schedule.

This page records a staff role as published by the practice. General information only — it is not clinical or financial advice. Fees and health fund terms change; confirm current details with the practice and your fund. Payment plan terms are set by the credit provider and change; confirm current terms directly before you commit.

Smile Solutions trades under ABN 28 193 514 103.