The cost of tooth crowns without private extras insurance can range from $1,000 to $2,000 or more.
Tooth crowns are covered under major dental in extras policies from $7 per week.
Major dental coverage generally comes with a 12 month waiting period.
What is a tooth crown?
A crown is a fitted cap placed over an entire tooth, for reasons including:
To protect a broken or cracked tooth.
To protect a vulnerable tooth from decay.
To serve as support on either side of a false tooth.
To cover up a dental implant or discoloured tooth.
To protect teeth that have undergone root canal.
Most crowns are made from porcelain, metal (such as gold alloy) or porcelain-fused-to-metal (PFM), which is a combination of porcelain fused to a metal base. Your dentist will attach it to the tooth using a special type of dental cement.
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How much does a tooth crown cost?
A single crown can cost anywhere from $1,000 to more than $2,000 due to the complex nature of sizing, crafting and fitting the crown.
The price is also affected by the material you choose for your crown. Crowns made of 100% porcelain or 100% gold alloy cost more than those made of porcelain-fused-to-metal.
If you are more budget conscious, you may want to consider a crown made of porcelain-fused-to-metal.
How is a tooth crown covered by insurance?
Dental work is covered under private extras insurance, which helps pay for non-hospital services like dental, optical and physio.
However, not just any extras policy will do! You'll need a mid- to top-tier policy which covers Major Dental, which includes tooth crowns. This will come with a 12-month waiting period.
The good news is, the waiting periods for more minor treatments like check-ups and cleans will be much shorter, usually only two months. Some insurers will waive shorter waiting periods to attract your business. This gives you quick access to preventative treatment as you sit out your waiting periods for major dental.
Are tooth crowns covered by Medicare?
It's extremely unlikely that Medicare will pay for your crown. In some cases, Medicare will cover dental work if it forms part of a treatment that is typically covered (for example, you break your jaw and they need to remove a tooth to fit your jaw back into place). However, a crown wouldn't usually fit into such a scenario.
The one big exception are kids who receive a Service Australia benefit, or whose parents do. Services Australia will pitch in up to $1,095 every 2 years under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. This goes to a range of dental treatments, which can include crowns.
Most states also have their own public dental scheme and will offer free or discounted emergency dental treatment to pensioners and other concession card holders. However, most people will need private health insurance if they want to be covered for tooth crowns.
Frequently asked questions
Without health insurance, tooth crowns may cost you from $1,000 to $2,000 or more, depending on your dentist.
Generally, dental work is not covered under Medicare in Australia, and that includes tooth crowns. To avoid paying for tooth crowns out-of-pocket, it's important to take out an extras policy that covers major dental. Compare health insurance policies that include tooth crowns from just $7 per week.
Sizing, producing and fitting the crown is a rather complex procedure. Here are the typical steps you'll go through:
The dentist will examine your teeth. Your dentist will look at your teeth to determine whether or not you need a crown. If there's not enough of your tooth left to support a crown, your dentist may add filling to your tooth until it's big enough.
The dentist will take a mould of the questionable tooth. Next, the dentist will make a mould of your tooth to use as a blueprint for your form-fitting crown.
You will choose your crown's material. You can usually choose between porcelain, a metal alloy or porcelain-fused-to-metal.
You may get a temporary restoration. It could take a couple of weeks for the dentist to get the crown back. If your teeth are in really bad shape, they may give you a temporary restoration to tide you over.
You'll come back for the crown. When the crown comes back, you'll return for your second appointment and your dentist will fit the crown onto your tooth.
Tim Bennett is a Finder insurance & utilities expert. For over 10 years he's reported on news, politics, finance and other topics as a journalist and radio presenter. Tim's roles have included radio news reader and breakfast at the ABC, news producer for SBS and producer for Fairfax Media. Tim regularly appears as a health insurance expert on programs like Sunrise and SBS news, as well as in the Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail and more. See full bio
Tim's expertise
Tim has written 121 Finder guides across topics including:
James Martin was the insurance editor at Finder. He has written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years. James often shares his insurance expertise as a media spokesperson and has appeared on Prime 7 News, WIN News, Insurance News, 7NEWS and The Guardian. He holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, both of which meet the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio
James's expertise
James has written 247 Finder guides across topics including:
If you want that perfect smile, you need to be aware of what your private health fund offers you.
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Depending on your age, you may be eligible for an
aged-based discount. This is used to estimate your
rebate.
Under 65
65 - 69
70 or older
What's your household's taxable income?
This is the combined income you and your spouse earn before tax. It's needed to calculate the correct Australian government rebate.
$93,000 and under
$93,001 to $108,000
$108,001 to $144,000
$144,001 and over
What kind of health insurance do you need?
Combined (Extras + Hospitals)
Extras
Hospital
What level of hospital coverage would you like?
You can change this at any time later.
Legend
Covered
Restricted cover, You may be partially covered for
this category.
Not covered. Optional for insurer to include.
*Prices updated March 2024, in line with Finder's
database of health insurance policies. Prices are based
on a single individual with less than $93,000 income and
living in Sydney with a $750 excess.
What extras cover do you need? (Optional)
Select as many as you want or move to the next step
Preventative & general dental
Major dental & implants
Optical
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Non-PBS pharmaceuticals
Chiropractic
Emergency ambulance
Remedial massage
Email me my results (optional)
To get a copy of your results for later, add your email below