Mapped: The suburbs with the most expensive and cheapest dentist appointments

The amount you’ll pay at the dentist could vary by hundreds of dollars depending on your suburb, exclusive analysis reveals. SEE THE MAP AND SEARCH YOUR SUBURB

There is a $342 difference between the most expensive suburb to see the dentist and the cheapest in Australia if you don’t have private health cover, exclusive analysis of thousands of clinic prices reveals.

Healthcare directory Cleanbill’s 2025 National Dental Listings report, which collects prices from 6700 dental clinics across Australia, reveals that Sydney’s inner-eastern Paddington was the most expensive suburb for a standard dental check-up and clean in 2024-25, with a price tag of $441.

The next most expensive suburb was Kambah in the ACT where the price was $425, followed by leafy Myrtle Bank in Adelaide where it was $420.

Inner-Melbourne’s St Kilda East and Paynesville in Gippsland were the most expensive suburbs in Victoria at $350, while Townsville’s North Ward was the highest in Queensland at $384.

It can be revealed that although NSW had six suburbs in the top 10 for the steepest prices in the country, overall it was the cheapest state to get your mouth looked at with an average cost of $234 across all dental clinics.

That’s because the state also had some of the cheapest suburbs, including Old Toongabbie, where it only cost $99 for a standard check-up.

In Prestons it was $120, St Andrews $130 and Punchbowl $140.

By comparison the average statewide prices for other states were $238 in Victoria, $236 in Queensland, $248 in South Australia, $260 in Tasmania and $245 in Western Australia.

The ACT and Northern Territory had the most expensive averages at $283 and $285 respectively.

It can also be revealed that prices rose 4.4 per cent last financial year nationwide for a standard dental appointment compared to 2023 prices.

However for a new patient appointment there was only a 1.3 per cent increase nationwide.

Chief executive of Cleanbill, James Gillespie, said the increases in standard appointment pricing were on par with what they’d seen collating GP charges.

But he said he was surprised by how little the new patient prices had risen across Australia in the same period – or in some places decreased.

“In Queensland it’s increased by 10 cents since 2023 and in the ACT the average cost has actually gone down,” he said.

“It shows just how hard dentists are working to get new patients in the door.”

The northern Gold Coast electorate of Fadden was the seat with the highest price rise for a standard check-up and clean in Australia.

In 2023 it cost $216 for an appointment, but last financial year this spiked to a $266 average, which equates to a 19 per cent rise.

In that time the number of clinics rose from 43 to 51.

Interestingly in Victoria, seeing a dentist in central Geelong cost an average of $50 more than what residents were paying for a standard check-up and clean in the affluent suburb of Toorak.

However when moving over to Newtown (Greater Geelong), East Geelong and Geelong West the average cost was more on par with Toorak hovering at about $250.

Corio was even cheaper at $169.

The most expensive electorate in Victoria to get your pearly whites checked was Kooyong, where it was on average $269 – an increase of 5.6 per cent compared to 2023.

The cheapest electorate, by contrast, was Calwell, on the northwest fringe of Melbourne where it cost $198.

In South Australia, Barker, in the state’s south east, was the priciest seat.

On average people were charged $272 to see one of the 27 dentists in the region for a standard check-up.

Australian Dental Association president Dr Chris Sanzaro said dentists had been absorbing increasing costs because they didn’t want to pass them on to patients.

He said regional areas were more expensive because of the difficulty in getting staff, while rent in certain capital city suburbs were higher and had to be passed on.

Mum-of-three Aimee Fraser warned of the importance of regular check-ups to prevent having to pay more later on.

Her daughter, Isla, had six fillings by the age of 10.

Isla has had six fillings.

The Northern Beaches mum said she didn’t realise it was best to take a child in for a check-up as soon as their first tooth had come through as a baby.

“With each child I gained more knowledge, I didn’t take my eldest to the dentist until she was five,” she said.

Isla with her mum Aimee.

“She had her first cavity at six and since then she’s had quite a few.”

But her younger children have had very healthy teeth and no issues.

Isla now takes very good care of her teeth. With her mum, Aimee.

Her biggest piece of advice to parents was: “Make sure you’re watching your children brushing their teeth, because they’ll just do the front teeth not the back teeth.”

Originally published as Mapped: The suburbs with the most expensive and cheapest dentist appointments