Australia
Also known as: AU
Australia has a national schedule of dental item numbers but deliberately no national scale of fees: the Australian Dental Association declines to publish recommended fees, so every practice sets its own, and the only published fee figures for implant items come from government payer schedules covering particular groups of patients.
AU · prices quoted in AUD
How implant treatment is priced and regulated
| Official fee schedule | There is no recommended fee scale for private dentistry in Australia, by deliberate policy. The Australian Dental Association's Policy Statement 6.26 states that "The Australian Dental Association (ADA) does not publish a scale of recommended fees because: such scale takes no account of variation in overhead costs; variation in the clinical content of any item of service ... differs in each case; and such action may breach the Competition and Consumer Act 2010." Its position is that "Dentists must be able to determine their own fees", while "Fixed fee schedules for government schemes have been accepted as a service to the community by the ADA and its members."Verified spec[7]Policy Statement 6.26 was last amended by ADA Federal Council on 17 November 2023. |
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| Procedure coding system | The national schedule is a coding schedule, not a price list. The Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary, Thirteenth Edition, in effect from 1 July 2022, states that "Item numbers describe treatment outcomes. Fees associated with item numbers may vary to reflect the time, complexity or materials used to achieve the treatment outcome." Implant items sit in the 600s: 684 insertion of the first stage of a two-stage endosseous implant, per implant; 688 insertion of a one-stage endosseous implant, per implant; 691 second-stage surgery of a two-stage endosseous implant, per implant; 687 insertion of a mini-implant (under 3.0 mm diameter), per implant; 661 fitting of implant abutment, per abutment; 663 removal of implant and/or retention device; 671, 672 and 673 for a full crown attached to an osseointegrated implant (non-metallic, veneered and metallic respectively); 679 surgical implant guide; 665 to 667 for implant-retained prostheses per arch.Verified spec[8][9]The schedule separates placing the implant (684/688), uncovering it (691), fitting the abutment (661) and making the crown (671-673) into four distinct items, so a single quoted figure for "an implant" spans several item numbers. |
| Government scheme fees | The Department of Veterans' Affairs publishes an item-by-item fee schedule, effective 1 January 2026 and built on the 12th edition of the Australian Schedule, which is the only Australian schedule located that attaches money to implant items. It does not price the surgery: items S684 (first stage of a two-stage endosseous implant), S688 (one-stage endosseous implant), S691 (second-stage surgery), S661 (fitting of implant abutment) and S679 (surgical implant guide) are all marked "FBN", which the schedule defines as "Fee By Negotiation", and all require prior approval. It does price the crown on the implant: as at 1 January 2026, a full crown attached to an osseointegrated implant is AUD 1,617.70 for a dentist and AUD 2,151.60 for a dental specialist when non-metallic (D671/S671), AUD 1,832.60 and AUD 2,374.20 when veneered (D672/S672), and AUD 1,428.05 and AUD 1,899.25 when metallic (D673/S673) — all excluding GST. The schedule's Note 10 states that "Requests for osseointegrated implants should be directed to DVA."Verified spec[5][6]These are amounts a government payer will pay for eligible members of the veteran community with prior approval. They are not market prices, not quotations, and not what an ordinary private patient is charged. The machine-readable schedule file dated 1 July 2026 on the same index page carries higher figures for the same items (D671 AUD 1,659.80, D672 AUD 1,880.25, D673 AUD 1,465.20). |
| Public funding for implants | Not funded for the general population. The Child Dental Benefits Schedule, a statutory scheme under the Dental Benefits Act 2008, provides eligible children aged 0-17 with a capped benefit of AUD 1,158 over two consecutive calendar years for basic dental services (examinations, radiographs, cleaning, fissure sealing, fillings, root canals, extractions and partial dentures), and its schedule of 76 item numbers contains no implant placement or implant prosthesis item — the word "implant" appears only in the descriptor of item 88111, removal of plaque and/or stain. Adult public dental care is delivered by state and territory governments to eligible patients, and the Commonwealth notes that people with private health insurance "may be able to claim for dental treatments" under extras cover.Verified spec[1][2]Whether any state or territory public dental service provides implants, and on what criteria, was not established here and would have to be checked service by service. |
| Regulator and public register | Registration is national. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) maintains a single public Register of practitioners covering dental practice alongside the other regulated health professions, and dental practitioners are registered with the Dental Board of Australia under that scheme. Ahpra states that "When a health practitioner's name appears on the list, you know that they are allowed to practise", and that any registration type or conditions limiting what a practitioner may do are published on the register too. Ahpra also publishes separate lists of cancelled or prohibited practitioners and of practitioners who have given an undertaking not to practise. The register is searchable at https://www.ahpra.gov.au/registration/registers-of-practitioners.aspx.Verified spec[3][5] |
| taxTreatment | Dental is one of the listed health services that are GST-free, provided the service "is performed by a recognised health professional in that listed health service" and "is generally accepted in that listed health profession as being necessary for the appropriate treatment of the recipient of the supply", according to the Australian Taxation Office. Consistently with this, the Department of Veterans' Affairs states the fees in its dental schedule excluding GST.Verified spec[4][5]The ATO guidance does not name implants. Whether a particular implant service meets the appropriate-treatment test was not resolved here — ask the practice whether the quoted figure includes GST. |
| Published figure | Not publicly verified(No published Australian source states a fee for placing a dental implant privately. Checked: the Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary, 13th edition (item numbers and descriptors only, and it says so explicitly); the ADA's Policy Statement 6.26 (the association declines to publish a fee scale at all); the ADA Dental Fees Survey, which does collect fees charged by members in private practice but releases the results to members only, behind a login; the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (no implant items); and the Department of Veterans' Affairs schedule, which marks every implant surgical item "Fee By Negotiation". What the DVA schedule does state for implant crowns is recorded under governmentSchemeFees and is a payer's rate, not a market price. Clinic websites and press estimates were not used and may not be used to fill this field.) |
| Fee survey availability | The Australian Dental Association runs a regular Dental Fees Survey summarising fees charged by members in private practice — its 2022 release refers to 122 items surveyed for general practitioners — but full results are released to ADA members only and require a membership login. The ADA describes the survey's purpose as supporting advocacy "in relation to private health insurance, closing the gap between benefits schedules used for the CDBS and Veterans Affairs dental schemes, and the actual costs of providing treatment under these schemes".Verified spec[10][7]This is the closest thing Australia has to a published implant price benchmark, and it is not public. Whether it reports implant items at all could not be established from outside the member area. |
What actually drives the price here
Because nothing anchors Australian fees to a published scale, the variation between quotations is real rather than a rounding difference, and the item numbers are the only reliable way to see where it sits. A quotation may or may not include the surgical guide (679), the abutment (661), the second-stage surgery (691) and the crown (671 to 673) alongside the implant itself (684 or 688), and two totals that look comparable often are not counting the same items. Beyond the itemisation, the usual drivers apply: whether a general dentist or a registered specialist does the surgery, whether grafting or a sinus procedure is needed, whether sedation or theatre time is involved, and the practice's own overheads — which is precisely the reason the national association gives for not publishing a scale. Private health insurance is an extras benefit rather than a fee schedule, so a rebate reduces what the patient pays without setting what the practice charges; the ADA's own policy notes that "Rebates offered by funding agencies may not reflect fees charged by dentists."
What to ask for, wherever you are treated
A quote you can compare is itemised. Ask for each of these in writing before you commit — the answers matter more than the headline figure, and a clinic that will not put them in writing has told you something useful.
- — The implant system by name, so the components can be sourced later
- — Fixture, abutment and crown priced separately
- — Whether a CBCT scan and the surgical guide are included
- — What a bone graft or sinus lift would add, if one turns out to be needed
- — The guarantee terms in full, including what voids them
- — Who provides follow-up care, and what a corrective visit would cost
Sources
Numbers match the citations beside each claim above.
Primary sources
- [1]Guide to the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) — Version 14, effective 1 January 2026 — Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, 2026. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [2]Dental health — Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [3]Register of practitioners — Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra). Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [4]GST and health — Other health services — Australian Taxation Office, 2024. Accessed 2026-07-22.
Clinical evidence
- [5]Fee Schedule of Dental Services for Dentists, Dental Specialists & Other Dental Practitioners, effective 1 January 2026 — Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia), 2026. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [6]Dental and allied health fee schedules — Department of Veterans' Affairs (Australia). Accessed 2026-07-22.
Additional references
- [7]Policy Statement 6.26 — Dental Fees — Australian Dental Association, 2023. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [8]The Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary, Thirteenth Edition (2022) — Australian Dental Association, 2022. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [9]Australian Schedule of Dental Services and Glossary (Australian Dental Association services page) — Australian Dental Association. Accessed 2026-07-22.
- [10]Dental Fees Survey (Australian Dental Association) — Australian Dental Association. Accessed 2026-07-22.