Practice Information

Accreditation

St Ives Dental Group is accredited according to The National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards and is one of a few accredited dental practices in New South Wales. Accreditation provides our patients with the assurance that they receive a consistently high level of safe and quality care. Our practice systematically reviews its dental systems and processes.

Sterilisation

St Ives Dental Group complies with standards and exceeds the legal requirements. All sterilisable instruments are cleaned then sterilised in autoclaves, which are maintained regularly by qualified technicians. Critical instruments are wrapped, sealed and stored according to Australian standards, until use. We also incorporate batch control identification, for surgical procedures. This allows us to track instruments to a specific patient, should the need arise. The sterilisation process is tested, monitored and recorded daily.

Child Dental Benefits Schedule

Bulk-billing with no gap payment is available for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. This is a child dental program funded by the Federal Government that provides eligible children and teenagers aged 2 to 17 with up to $1,000 for basic dental services. It is capped over two consecutive calendar years. Eligible families, teenagers and approved care organisations will receive a letter from the Australian Government to confirm eligibility. If your child is eligible, all you need to do is call us to book an appointment. Please mention the CDBS Scheme when booking your appointment.

Multi-language Dental Care

We understand that for many patients, English is not their first language and they may be more comfortable using another language in a dental setting. At our St Ives practice many of our dentists and staff members are able to speak two or more languages, including English, and accordingly we are able to offer a comprehensive range of dental care services in Arabic, Farsi, Mandarin, Portuguese and Tagalog. If you require a dentist who speaks your language, we welcome your enquiry!

Fees

We strive to keep fees affordable, without compromising our quality care and materials. In fact, surveys by HCF health fund and the Australian Dental Association show our fees to be at or below the national average, and record the number of services per member as below average.
We keep the fees lower by the economies of scale that we create by having a group practice, and we are proud to restrict your services to no more than that which is required by you.

Health Fund

Which health fund for dental cover?
To help you compare and choose which health fund, you can visit
https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/

If you choose to purchase dental cover under health fund Extras insurance, points to consider are:

• Health funds have waiting periods that vary, depending on the service
• Keep in mind that there are categories such as general, major, cosmetic dentistry, orthodontics.... The categories can vary between health funds.
• Note that there are annual and lifetime limits
• As at Oct 2018, there has not been a government rebate on Extras premiums, unlike hospital cover
• If the premium for a large family is the same as for a small family, then obviously there is greater benefit for larger families
• A for-profit health fund has administrative costs and derives a profit from the premiums that reduce the payout ratio
• Historically, private health funds with their own dental clinics, for example Bupa, HCF & NIB, have discouraged patients from choosing their own dentist
• Health funds provide rebates based on items of service, not the quality or appropriateness of that service
• Patients tend to find health fund Extras insurance beneficial, in that it partially offsets their expenses on the day of service
• Some patients, instead of purchasing insurance, choose to have a personal bank account that they only use for dental expenses. They make regular weekly/monthly contributions into their own dedicated savings account.

Privacy Policy

Our practice respects your right to privacy. We realise that it is important that you understand the purpose for which we collect details about your health, as well as how this information is used at our practice and to whom this information might be disclosed.
The policy of our Practice is to follow these procedures:

• The information collected on your history form will be used for the purpose of providing treatment to you. Personal information such as your name and address will be used for the purpose of addressing accounts to you, as well as processing payments and writing to you about any issues affecting your treatment.
• We may disclose your health information to other health care professionals, or require it from them if, in our judgement, that is necessary in the context of your treatment. In that event, disclosure of your personal details will be minimised wherever possible.
• We may also use parts of your health information for research purposes, in study groups or at seminars as this may provide benefit to other patients. Should that happen, your personal identity will not be disclosed without your consent to do so.
• Your patient history, treatment records, x-rays and any other material relevant to your treatment will be kept here. You may inspect or request copies of your treatment records at any time, or seek an explanation from the dentist. If you want copies, a fee may apply. If you require an explanation of your records or a written summary, a consultation fee or other charge may apply.
• If any of the information we have about you is inaccurate, you may ask us to alter our records accordingly.

You can otherwise rest assured that your health information will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. Disclosure will not be made to any person not involved in either your treatment or the administration of this Practice, without your prior consent. If you have any queries or concerns about our handling of your health information, please do not hesitate to raise these concerns with our Practice. As part of our commitment to preserving the confidentiality of the information contained in your dental record we advise that strict secure storage policies are observed in this Practice. Your electronic records are accessible only by staff of this practice and are protected by a security password. Your paper records are kept in secure filing cabinets and accessible only by practice staff. Each staff member is well versed in the principles and importance of dentist-patient confidentiality.