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Early super access allowed Damian to fix his teeth. For Melinda, it was a ,000 nightmare
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Early super access allowed Damian to fix his teeth. For Melinda, it was a $48,000 nightmare

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Australians are increasingly raiding their retirement savings to pay for dental work, prompting warnings from authorities about the risk of doctors exploiting vulnerable patients.
Data released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) earlier this month showed tens of thousands of people were allowed to take more than $1.41 billion in superannuation last financial year on compassionate grounds.
That’s an increase of 210 percent – ​​almost $1 billion – compared to 2018-2019, when $456 million was approved for release.
The vast majority of last year’s compassionate super release – $817 million – was for dental treatments, a figure that has increased 12-fold in seven years.
According to current rules, super should be used for dental work only if it is necessary to treat a life-threatening disease or relieve acute or chronic pain.

But authorities say some practitioners are flouting the rules to encourage unnecessary or overpriced treatments.

$48,000 for broken dentures and unfinished work

For some, using superannuation for dental work has been positive and given them access to treatments they would otherwise not be able to afford.
But others, like Melinda Amourous, have been left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket and with unfinished treatment after their dental provider was placed into voluntary administration.

For years, the mother from Nelson Bay, NSW, struggled with self-confidence and dreamed of replacing her slowly deteriorating top teeth.

Source: SBS news

She couldn’t afford the treatment, but when she came across a Facebook ad from NSW-based Supercare Dental and Cosmetics promising to help patients access their pensions to pay for dental work, she thought she had finally found a solution.

After completing an online form, Amourous underwent a free consultation at Supercare’s Kotara clinic in Newcastle in mid-2022.

She expected only her top teeth to be replaced with dentures, but staff encouraged her to have both rows done, she said.

A middle-aged Caucasian woman smiling and wearing a floral dress.

Melinda Amourous paid tens of thousands of dollars for dental work that was never completed. Source: Delivered

“They basically talked me into having a matching smile,” she told SBS News.

“I think they were trying to take advantage of desperate people.”
Supercare – which operated five clinics in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle – put her in touch with a parole agent, allowing her to withdraw $48,000 from her super to pay for the procedure.
She said she was guided through the process, which involved a GP signing off on the treatment and submitting the paperwork to the ATO.
“It was a very simple process,” she said.
“I was just so busy jumping up and down and thinking, ‘oh great, I could finally get my teeth done.'”
Within weeks the money was in her account, which she then transferred to Supercare as a prepayment.

But more than three years later, Amourous says her dream of a perfect smile has turned into a nightmare.

A close-up of dentures split in two.

Melinda Amourous had to use super glue to hold her broken dentures. Source: Delivered

She described experiencing excruciating pain during a four-and-a-half-hour procedure – performed under local anesthesia – to remove her teeth.

The clinic went into voluntary administration earlier this year and Amourous is left with incomplete work and bleeding gums.
She was also forced to glue her broken dentures with super glue and has to remove them every time she eats.

Dozens of emails and messages sent to Supercare asking for her teeth to be fixed or a refund have gone unanswered.

Hundreds of patients were left out of pocket

Amorous is far from alone.
According to an administrator’s report to creditors cited by the ABC, 441 patients paid more than $2.1 million for treatment that was never carried out.
Among them was Peter Hazell, from Musswellbrook in NSW, who also came across Supercare through a Facebook advert.
“[The ad] said, “get the smile you want,” he said.
Hazell withdrew nearly $83,000 from his pension to pay for a full set of implant teeth.

But after being diagnosed with kidney cancer, he said his doctors advised him to cancel the procedure, even though his teeth had already been removed.

A close-up of a middle-aged Caucasian man with his mouth open, showing that he has no teeth.

Peter Hazell was left without teeth after Supercare was administered on a voluntary basis. Source: Delivered

He said he accepted an offer to get dentures instead, with the rest of the money paid back in weekly installments of $10,000.

But before the procedure could be completed, the clinic had closed its doors.
“I have no dentures, no teeth and no money,” he said.
SBS News made several attempts to contact Supercare, but the telephone numbers of the company and its owner, Syma Usman, were disconnected.

Usman previously told A Current Affair that she denied wrongdoing and was committed to completing the procedures that had been paid for.

Positive experience for others

Not everyone who withdraws from their super will regret it, as the scheme makes treatment available to those who otherwise couldn’t afford it.

Melbourne man Damian Cody broke some of his back teeth by grinding them while he slept.

A middle-aged white man who is bald, wears glasses and has a black jacket. He has a gray mustache and a short beard around his chin, and an earring on his left face. He is sitting among a crowd of people.

Damian Cody withdrew $6,000 from his super for dental treatment and has no regrets. Source: SBS news

“It felt like something was stuck in your teeth, I was very aware of that. I was afraid that my tooth would completely fall apart because I heard all the horror stories,” he told SBS News.

He was quoted around $6,000 for dental crowns and fillings, and learned about the early release of super during the COVID-19 pandemic, when temporary access for financial hardship was made available.
He said his dentist recommended an early super release agent, but it was easy to prepare and submit the application yourself.
The dental work was completed in several sessions and he is no longer paranoid about losing his teeth.

“[Withdrawing super for dental work] was totally worth it,” he said.

Growing trend of early super access

Such cases reflect a growing trend of Australians using their retirement savings for medical treatment, including dental work.
This trend has prompted the ATO and the medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), to issue a joint warning that some practitioners are encouraging early super withdrawal due to unnecessary or overpriced dental treatments.
“While compassionate pension can be claimed early, it is strictly available in very limited circumstances, including for critical medical and dental procedures,” ATO Deputy Commissioner Emma Rosenzweig said.

“I want to make it clear: the compassionate release of Super should only be considered as a last resort, when all other options to pay eligible expenses have been exhausted.”

AHPRA said it was concerned that some practitioners were putting their own financial gain above the interests of their patients, including by preparing the paperwork required for early super access.
“Practitioners are aware that we will take action to protect the public,” a spokesperson said.

“This includes calling on practitioners to ensure they meet their obligations and acting on reports we receive in relation to the scheme.”

Early super adopters are at risk of ‘massively overpaying’

Super Consumers Australia CEO Xavier O’Halloran told SBS News he had noticed a growth in early super admissions since COVID-19.
“I think people were somewhat alert to the idea that super could be available for other uses, and it’s really led to a huge awareness and revival,” he said.

He said his organization had also noticed that some dentists were charging more for patients who paid with Super.

“[Practitioners] “I know people can tap into super, which isn’t normally something they can tap into,” he said.
“They don’t treat it the same way and so there is a real threat of massive overpayment for services.”
He warned that Australians who accessed their superannuation super early risked being tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement because they would miss out on compound interest.

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