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Ways to pay

Using your super for dental implants

A lot of Australians do not realise this exists. If you are in acute or chronic dental pain and cannot otherwise afford treatment, you may be eligible to apply to the ATO to release some of your super early on compassionate grounds. It is your own money. You are not borrowing anything.
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Compare all three routes
The first call is free and obligation free, and cost is usually the first thing people ask about.

At a glance

Who decides

The ATO, not us and not your dentist

How long

Typically one to three months in our experience

What it costs you

Ask the ATO, your super fund and the clinicians providing the reports

Guaranteed?

No. Nobody can guarantee an ATO approval

It is not just about teeth

When your teeth affect your everyday life

You deserve to understand your options.

Avoiding certain foods. Hiding your smile. Putting off a conversation because you are worried about the cost. If any of that feels familiar, you are not alone.
Start with a conversation. A consultant can explain the treatment options and ways to pay, then help arrange an assessment with an independent partner dentist when you are ready.
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What it is

What it actually is

Your own money, brought forward.

Superannuation is normally locked away until you retire. Compassionate release is a narrow exception the ATO can approve, and dental treatment is one of the grounds it covers. If it is approved, your super fund releases the money to your bank account and you pay the dentist directly.
It is not a loan and there is nothing to repay. It is your balance, reduced by whatever is released, which is worth thinking about properly rather than quickly.
What treatment costs
See the treatments

What it involves

  • An application to the ATO on compassionate grounds
  • A report from the treating dentist supporting it
  • A second report, typically from a GP or a specialist
  • Your super fund's own release process after an approval

Before you start

What has to be true

Set out plainly, so you can weigh it up yourself.

This is a guide to the conversation rather than a decision. Nobody on our side makes that decision, and this page is not advice about your own circumstances.

The ATO requires all of these

  • Acute or chronic dental pain. This is the test, and appearance or embarrassment alone does not meet it
  • The treatment is not readily available to you through the public health system
  • You cannot otherwise afford the treatment
  • A treating dentist supports the application with the reports the ATO asks for
  • A second report, typically from a GP or specialist, backing the first

Worth knowing before you start

  • Only the dentist can assess whether you are likely to qualify. Our consultants cannot, and neither can a website
  • It is slower than a payment plan. If you need to start sooner, that is the route to ask about
  • Releasing super reduces your retirement balance. You may want independent financial advice, which we are not able to give
  • A declined application is a real outcome, and it is why we never tell anyone to count on it

Step by step

How it actually runs

Including the parts nobody enjoys explaining.

Timings are what we typically see rather than commitments, because the decisions are not ours to make.

1

The consultation

The dentist examines you, takes the X-rays and 3D scans, and produces the written treatment plan with costs. Only after that can anyone say whether an application is worth making.

Your consult

2

The dentist's report

If your dentist believes you meet the test, they provide the report the ATO requires. This is their clinical judgement, not ours, and they may tell you that you do not meet it.

After your consult

3

The second report

The ATO also requires a second report, typically from a GP or a specialist. The ATO's own guidance sets out what is needed and who can provide it.

Alongside

4

The application

You follow the ATO's application instructions directly. Get Dental Implants does not prepare, check or lodge the application; our role is connecting you with the treating dentist.

You apply directly

5

The decision and release

The ATO decides. If it is approved, your super fund then runs its own release process and the money goes to your bank account. You pay the dentist directly from there.

Typically 1 to 3 months

A woman relaxing on the couch, using her phone

The timeline

01

The consultation

Your consult

02

The dentist's report

After your consult

03

The second report

Alongside

04

The application

You apply directly

05

The decision and release

Typically 1 to 3 months
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Decisions belong to the provider or the ATO, never to us.

What we will not tell you

  • That you will be approved. Nobody can say that, and anyone who does is selling you something
  • That there is a percentage or a success rate. We do not publish one and you should be wary of anyone who does
  • Whether it is the right financial decision for you. That is advice we are not qualified to give

Straight talk

We are paid by the clinic

Not by a lender, and not by a super fund.

We are paid by the clinic, not by any finance provider and not by any super fund. That is the whole reason we can tell you honestly which route is realistic for you instead of steering you towards one.
Get Dental Implants is not a dental practice, not a credit provider and not a financial adviser. We explain the routes at a general level and connect you with a dentist. We do not prepare or lodge ATO applications.
Talk to a consultant

Common questions

About using your super for dental implants

About this route in particular.

If you are weighing this against another route, the consultant will go through all three without pushing one.

Ask before you apply anywhere.

Leave your details and a consultant calls you back, usually the same day, and tells you honestly whether this route fits your situation.

Book your $75 consult →
You may be eligible. Early release on compassionate grounds is decided by the ATO, and the requirement is acute or chronic dental pain, that the treatment is not readily available through the public health system, and that you cannot otherwise afford it.
A treating dentist has to support the application, and the ATO also requires a second report, typically from a GP or specialist. Only the dentist can assess whether you are likely to qualify.
In our experience it typically takes one to three months from lodging to a decision, and both reports have to be in place before it goes in. Your super fund then has its own release process after an approval.
That timeframe is our observation rather than a commitment by the ATO. If you need to start treatment sooner, ask your consultant about a payment plan.
Get Dental Implants does not prepare or lodge the application. Follow the ATO's instructions directly and ask each practitioner whether their report has a fee.
Your dentist can explain the clinical reports they provide. The ATO and your super fund explain their own application and release processes.
You still have the written treatment plan, and the other two routes are still open. A payment plan is usually decided within days, and plenty of people who were declined for super proceed that way instead.
A declined application is a normal outcome rather than a disaster, which is why we never suggest anyone plans around an approval before they have one.
No. Financial hardship release is a separate pathway with different rules, administered by your super fund rather than the ATO. Compassionate release for dental treatment is the one described on this page.
The ATO's own material sets out the difference, and it is linked below.
No. Get Dental Implants is not a financial adviser and does not provide financial advice. We explain the routes at a general level, connect you with a treating dentist, and point you to the ATO's own material.
Whether reducing your super balance is the right call for you is your decision, and you may want independent advice before making it.

Your next step

Work out if this is right for you.

A consultant talks you through treatment, likely costs and all the payment options on the phone, so you have a clear picture before deciding what to do next.
  • A consultant calls you, usually the same day
  • The call is free and obligation free
  • No judgement, whatever state your teeth are in
$75 Valued at $375

Talk to a consultant

Three quick questions, then your details. A consultant calls you, usually the same day.

How many teeth are missing or failing?
How are you thinking of paying?

There is no wrong answer, and nothing here is a commitment. It only tells the consultant what to talk you through first. Early release of super is decided by the ATO, requires acute or chronic dental pain, and is never guaranteed. Read how each route works.

We will only use your details to contact you about dental implant treatment. Read our privacy policy.