Supercare Dental Destruction Of Patient’s Lives: How Does This Happen?
In Australia we pride ourselves on having high standards of dental practice within the profession. We pay a lot for this via expensive visits to the dentist for procedures and care. Supercare dental destruction of patient’s lives; How does this happen? The ABC has reported on hundreds of patients unhappy about their incomplete and botched dental care with the Supercare Dental and Cosmetics clinics. Aussie patients have been left with no teeth and their superannuation accounts drained in some instances. The NSW company at the heart of it has been placed into administration.
“There were more than 441 patients between the Kotara and Tuggerah clinics who appeared to have paid over $2.1 million for dental work yet to be delivered, the administrator’s report to creditors stated. Much of that money, according to patients and former dentists who worked for Supercare Dental and Cosmetics, was likely to have come from patient superannuation balances.”
- (By ABC national health reporter Elise Worthington and the Specialist Reporting Team’s Celina Edmonds)
Supercare Broke & Paid Up Patients Left With Broken Or No Teeth
Supercare dental destruction of patient’s lives; How does this happen? This is an Australian dental disgrace and a major failing of those in charge of the standards of dental care downunder. The greed of dental practices draining superannuation accounts for pricey dental implant procedures is sickening. In the Supercare clinics cases, they took the money and didn’t complete the dental work and/or botched the work to boot. This kind of thing damages the entire dental sector, as people lose trust in dentists and the private businesses they set up to practice dentistry in. Big ticket items invariably attract scumbags and rip off merchants, it is the natural order of things it seems. A solid case can be mounted in Australia that dental care is overpriced to the detriment of Aussie citizens. The private health model with no Medicare coverage for adults does not serve the community well, especially those struggling to make a living. Some dentists are making over a quarter of million dollars or more annually as a wage.
Dental Care Downunder
There is no denying that many dentists work hard for their living, but so do many other Australians without such generous returns. In the case of dental implants the costs of these in Australia are mighty high.
“Melinda Amourous was slowly losing her top teeth and struggling with self-confidence when she visited a Supercare Dental and Cosmetics clinic in 2022. It offered what seemed like the ideal solution: a full mouth of dental implants, giving her the perfect smile. The cost was $48,000, but they reassured her they would help the single mother of four apply to the tax office to access her superannuation.
“I have never spent that kind of money ever in my life. I literally jumped at the chance because it’s not anything I would ever be able to afford on my own,” Ms Amourous said.”
Supercare dental destruction of patient’s lives; How does this happen? Should replacement teeth cost as much as a new car, and not a small vehicle, but a roomy SUV? Especially, when a trip to SE Asia can see the same dental work done for a quarter of the price? Of course, the ADA warns of the dangers of getting dental work done overseas. Now, this argument is seriously damaged by Supercare clinics destruction and rip off involving hundreds of paid up patients.
Supercare Dentists Got Ripped Off Too
“Five dentists who worked for the company told ABC News they were collectively owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages and were concerned for patient welfare.
Several former staff described the company as “predatory” and “aggressive” in pushing patients to withdraw their superannuation to pay for treatment plans, costing tens of thousands of dollars.
“I’ve noticed they kept increasing prices, they were at $70,000 for the most expensive treatment but I noticed them trying to increase to $80,000 or $100,000 for a full mouth of implants,” one dentist told ABC News.
“They are very aggressive in pushing people to take out their superannuation,” the dentist said, adding patients were often lower- to middle-class with little financial literacy or way of accessing cash other than from their superannuation.” “
- (ABC Health Report, 28 May 2025)
There are no controls or pricing standards in place on Australian dentists, as they can charge what they like. Vulnerable people are those who are put in the position of desperately needing something, like functioning teeth that look OK. These folk may not know what charges are reasonable in the circumstance. Healthcare professionals wearing that saintly white coat can speak with an authority few others within the community can muster. Every individual oral diagnosis may have some technical issue that only an expert can understand and they can make the case for this to push up the price. The average punter does not know and cannot really be expected to know. This is the unfair imbalance of power in a privatized healthcare eco system.
Superannuation Accounts Being Drained For Dental Work
Ever since, dentists sold their souls to become cosmetic technicians for greater profits and boosts to their incomes Aussies have been selling their futures for gleaming white teeth. Vanity is a powerful force. Superannuation, which is supposed to fund retirements for ordinary folk, has become a source of honey for everyone but bees. Lots of greedy financial players want to get their hands on the trillions of dollars. Whether it be to finance home ownership or dental implants the rumbles downunder are getting ever louder about it.
“ “There’s $4.2 trillion of members’ money under management in superannuation,” says Mary Delahunty, chief executive of peak body the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).”
“The Australian Tax Office (ATO) allows patients to withdraw their superannuation to pay for medical and dental work to treat a life-threatening illness or injury, or to alleviate acute or chronic pain.
ATO rules do not allow superannuation to be used for cosmetic dental procedures.
Despite that, multiple Supercare Dental and Cosmetics advertisements spruiked that dental implants and porcelain veneers “to achieve the smile you’ve always wanted” were “potentially affordable through your super fund”. “
- (ABC Health Report, 28 May 2025)
In the current climate, looking good and feeling good are holistically connected for our wellbeing. Therefore, having a set of both functional and culturally acceptable white teeth cannot easily be separated for cosmetic vs healthily functional reasons. The Hollywood smile is de rigueur in 2025 in Australia. Fleecing folk for overpriced dental procedures should not be happening the dental sector downunder.
& Another Thing
“Think about the fact that a lot of people drink too much alcohol. That results in violence, especially among the young. Most of the booze these young folk drink is sweetened. If alcoholic drinks weren’t sweet there would be less people drinking too much. It is not rocket science. Children and adults who eat too much and become obese are, often, eating sweet foods and drinks because they like the initial sugary high they get. Litres of Coke and Pepsi and Fanta bought cheaply at supermarkets and drunk instead of water.”
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Bite & Smile: Delving into Dental Care for an Informed Choice.
©HouseTherapy
Bite & Smile PDF Version
You might think that gee, dentistry is a pretty dry topic to write about. I would remind you that when you sit back on that treatment couch and open wide to the scream of high pitched electric drills it does not feel that way then. Dental procedures are scary and experiences we brace ourselves to survive. At least, it feels like that anyway. Heartbeats go up amid the forge-work going on inside our gob. Bite & Smile PDF version by Robert Sudha Hamilton is more than just the best book on dentistry published in quite a while. Bite & Smile: Delving Into Dental Care for an Informed Choice is 350 pages of essential reading. How many books do you know that contain poems about dental hygiene?
Making that informed choice about your dental care can only come through getting to know the subject. Knowledge is power. This book will be split into bite sized topics, so that you can brush up on the stuff important to you. Whether it be finding out about specific dental procedures that you might be facing or more generic oral care matters.
