How Much Does a Dental Check-Up and Clean Cost in Australia?

What a check-up and clean costs

These are the average fees and usual ranges from the Australian Dental Association's 2022 fee survey, as published by CHOICE. They reflect fees charged by ADA member dentists as at 1 July 2022, so your practice may charge more today. Ask for its current fee when you book.

More recent figures come from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which reports median charges from private health insurance claims, so they cover only services where a health fund paid a benefit. In 2024-25, the median charge was $60 for a check-up (item 012), $118 for a scale and clean (item 114), $34 for fluoride (item 121) and $46 per X-ray (item 022).

If it's your first visit to a practice, the first check-up is usually longer and billed as a different item, which costs a little more.

What's included

Healthdirect describes a check-up as a look at your teeth and gums for signs of decay or bleeding, plus questions about your dental and general health. It may also include X-rays and preventive care such as fluoride and polishing.

Each of those is usually billed as its own item, which is why two practices can quote very different totals for "a check-up". One may include two X-rays and fluoride, and another may quote the exam alone. Ask which item numbers the fee covers.

What adds to the bill

X-rays are the most common addition. They're charged per image, so two small X-rays at the 2022 average add about $90.

A heavier build-up of tartar can take more than one visit, and a clean that goes below the gum line for gum disease is a different, more expensive treatment. If the dentist suggests either, ask for the item numbers and fee before you go ahead.

How often you need one

Healthdirect's guidance is to aim for a check-up every 6 to 12 months, and says your dentist can tell you how often you need one in your situation. Over a year, that's the difference between paying for one visit or two.

Ways to pay less

Medicare doesn't cover most check-ups. Healthdirect notes that most are done in private clinics, and that private health insurance can help with some of the cost.

Healthdirect lists check-ups, cleaning, fluoride and X-rays under the routine dental part of extras cover, and notes that some funds have preferred dentists with lower fees and higher rebates. Some funds pay the full fee for a check-up and clean at those dentists, often called no-gap. It depends on your policy, your waiting period and what you've already claimed this year, so check with your fund before you book.

For children, the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS), a Medicare dental program for eligible kids aged 0 to 17 in families getting payments such as Family Tax Benefit Part A, covers up to $1,158 in benefits over two calendar years for children whose two-year period starts in 2026. From 1 January 2026 it pays $50.70 for a check-up, $103.90 for a scale and clean, $40.05 for fluoride and $35.30 per X-ray image. Healthdirect notes that most CDBS services are bulk billed, so you don't pay anything.

Adults with a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card can use public dental services, according to Healthdirect, which also warns you may wait up to a year or more. Healthdirect lists the service for each state and territory.

What to ask when you book

Ask what the check-up fee covers and which item numbers it includes, whether X-rays are likely and how much each one costs, whether the practice is in your health fund's network or offers no-gap check-ups, and, for children, whether it bulk bills the CDBS.