Dentist and dental prosthetist guidelines
These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the information at Working with the TAC.
Who can provide dental services?
You can provide services if:
- you are a dentist registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law with the Dental Board of Australia to practice in the dental profession (other than as a student), or
- you are a dental prosthetist with the minimum qualification of an Advanced Diploma in Dental Prosthetics registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law with the Dental Board of Australia.
What we can pay for
Within the first 90 days of a client’s accident, we can help pay for dental treatment and services without the need for you or the client to contact us for approval first. The treatment or service must be recommended by a health professional, related to the client’s accident injuries and delivered in line with the Clinical Framework.
We can also pay for the repair or replacement of dentures that are damaged or lost in the accident.
If you intend to continue treating a TAC client beyond 90 days after their transport accident you will need to send us a request in writing or a copy of their treatment plan. We will review our client’s treatment to ensure it’s reasonable, clinically justified, outcome focused and in line with the Clinical Framework. We will assess your request and let you and the client know our decision about what we can help pay for and for how long.
If our client has not received treatment in 6 months they will need to seek approval from us before we will pay for further treatment. Ask our client for a copy of their approval if you haven’t seen them in 6 months.
For details see What we can pay for and How to seek TAC approval.
General dental services
We can help pay for:
- diagnostic services
- preventative services
- adjunctive general services
- restorative services
- temporomandibular joint therapy
Specialist dental services
We can help pay for:
- prosthodontics
- periodontics
- endodontics
- orthodontics
Bridges, crowns and restorative services
We can help pay for:
- dental implants
- implant based bridge maintenance
- crown and bridgework
Surgical procedures
We can help pay for:
- in-room oral surgery.
For information about surgical procedures performed by a registered oral and maxillofacial surgeon, please see our Medical practitioner guidelines.
Dental prosthetist services
We can help pay for:
- a partial or full denture
- relining of a full denture
- a mouth guard
- repair to, or replacement of, a client’s denture that was damaged or lost in the transport accident
Other things to note
Certificates of Capacity
As part of your patient’s treatment, dentists can complete a Certificate of Capacity to assess and certify your patient’s capacity for work.
Medical excess
For accidents that occurred prior to 14 February 2018 a medical excess may apply. Visit the medical excess page to see if it applies to your patient. If the medical excess applies you will need to invoice the client directly.
Patients with a severe injury
If your patient has a severe injury, the discussion, referral and approval of services may form part of the independence planning process between your patient's treating team and our TAC coordinator.
If your patient already has an individualised funding package, dental services may be included as part of that.
How much we can pay
We can pay for services in line with our Dental services fee schedule.
If your fee is higher than our fee, you may choose to charge the client the difference in the form of a gap payment. Please let the client know there will be an out of pocket expense. Clients can contact us to discuss options if the out of pocket costs will prohibit treatment or services from going ahead.
What we cannot pay for
We cannot pay for dental treatment that your patient would have had regardless of their transport accident.
See items we cannot pay for.
For more information
Access our policy for Dental services.