Australians are increasingly raiding their retirement savings to pay for dental work, prompting warnings from authorities about the risk of practitioners exploiting vulnerable patients. Data released by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) earlier this month revealed tens of thousands of people were allowed to withdraw more than $1.41 billion in superannuation on compassionate grounds last financial year.That’s an increase of 210 per cent — nearly $1 billion — compared to 2018-19, when $456 million was approved for release. The vast majority of last year’s compassionate super release — $817 million — was for dental treatment, a figure that has increased 12-fold in seven years. Under current rules, super can only be used for dental work if it’s necessary to treat a life-threatening illness or alleviate acute or chronic pain.

But authorities say some practitioners are flouting the rules to push unnecessary or overly expensive treatment.

$48,000 for broken dentures and unfinished work

For some, using superannuation for dental work has been positive and allowed them to access treatment they would otherwise be unable 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 in NSW suffered self-confidence issues 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 advertisement from NSW-based Supercare Dental and Cosmetics promising to help patients access their superannuation to pay for dental work, she thought she’d finally found a solution.After filling out an online form, Amourous attended a free consultation at Supercare’s Kotara clinic in Newcastle in mid-2022.

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

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

“They basically talked me into having a matching smile,” she told SBS News.”I think they aimed to take advantage of desperate people.” Supercare — which operated five clinics in Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle — connected her with an early release agent, which helped her withdraw $48,000 from her super to pay for the procedure.She said she was guided through the process, which involved having a GP sign off on the treatment and the lodging of paperwork with the ATO.”It was a really easy process,” she said.”I was just so busy jumping up and down thinking: ‘oh awesome, I could finally get my teeth done’.”Within weeks, the money had landed in her account, which she then transferred to Supercare as an upfront payment.

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

Melinda Amourous had to use superglue to hold in her broken dentures. Source: Supplied

She described experiencing excruciating pain during a four-and-a-half-hour procedure — conducted under local anaesthetic — to remove her teeth. The clinic went into voluntary administration earlier this year and Amourous has been left with incomplete work and bleeding gums. She was also forced to superglue her broken dentures and has to remove them whenever she eats.

Dozens of emails and messages sent to Supercare asking that her teeth be repaired or she be given a refund have gone unanswered.

Hundreds of patients left out of pocket

Amourous 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 delivered.Among them was Peter Hazell, from Musswellbrook in NSW, who also came across Supercare through a Facebook advertisement. “[The ad] said: ‘get the smile you want,” he said.Hazell withdrew nearly $83,000 from his superannuation to pay for a full set of implant teeth.

But after a kidney cancer diagnosis, he said his doctors advised him to cancel the procedure despite already having his teeth removed.

Peter Hazell was left without teeth after Supercare went into voluntary administration. Source: Supplied

He said he accepted an offer to have dentures instead, with the rest of the money refunded in weekly $10,000 instalments.But before the procedure could be completed, the clinic had shut its doors.”I got no dentures, no teeth, and no money,” he said.SBS News made several attempts to contact Supercare but the phone numbers for the business and owner, Syma Usman, were disconnected.

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

Positive experience for others

Not all those who withdraw from their super come to regret it, with the scheme allowing treatment for those who would otherwise be unable to afford it.

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

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

“It felt like when you get something stuck in your teeth, I was hyper aware of that, I was worried about my tooth totally breaking apart because I heard all the horror stories,” he told SBS News. He was quoted about $6,000 for dental crowns and fillings, and learnt about 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 himself. The dental work was completed over several sessions, and he no longer feels 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.The trend has prompted the ATO and medical regulator, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), to issue a joint warning about some practitioners encouraging early super withdrawal for unnecessary or overly expensive dental treatment.”While superannuation can be accessed early under compassionate grounds, this 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, compassionate release of super should only be considered as a last resort, where all other options of paying for the eligible expenses have been exhausted.”

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

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

Early super users risk ‘massively overpaying’

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

He said his organisation had also noticed some dentists were charging more for patients paying with super.

“[Practitioners] know people can tap into super which … isn’t something they can normally tap into,” he said.”They don’t treat it the same way and so there’s a real threat of massively overpaying for services.”He warned Australians accessing their super early risked being tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement as they missed out on compounding interest.

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