Book an appointment

Book online at any hour — the calendar is open 24 hours, including weekends and public holidays.

Or call the clinic — (03) 9088 5808, Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.

If your preferred time is not showing online, please call. Our team can often find something that is not visible in the online calendar, including short-notice cancellations.

Not sure what to book?

This is the most common question we get, and booking the wrong appointment type usually means less gets done on the day.

• Due for your regular visit — book a check-up and clean
• Haven't been for a while — also a check-up and clean. There is no lecture waiting for you.
• A specific concern, or interested in a particular treatment — book a general dental examination first, so we can assess and plan properly
• In pain, or something has broken — call us rather than booking online, so we can prioritise you

Our what to book page covers this in more detail.

Roughly how long to allow

These are guides so you can plan your day. Your actual appointment length is set when you book.

Online or by phone?

Both work. They suit different situations.

Online booking runs 24 hours; the appointments themselves fall within clinic hours, Monday to Friday.

Cancelling is different — that must be done by phone. See below.

Dental emergencies

Call (03) 9088 5808 during clinic hours and tell reception what has happened. We keep capacity for urgent problems and will fit you in where we can.

Outside our hours we do not operate an on-call service:

• Life-threatening symptoms — difficulty breathing or swallowing, spreading facial swelling, uncontrolled bleeding — call 000 or attend your nearest emergency department
• Urgent but not life-threatening — Nurse-on-Call on 1300 60 60 24, 24 hours
• Public emergency dental care — the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne, 720 Swanston Street, Carlton, for eligible patients

When you ring, it helps to be able to say which tooth, when it started, whether there is swelling, and whether you can sleep or eat. That is what decides how urgently you are seen.

Full guidance, including first aid for a knocked-out tooth, is on our dental emergency page.

New patients

Welcome. A few things that make the first visit smoother:

Complete your forms before you arrive. We are a largely paperless clinic. You will receive a link by email or SMS to complete your details and medical history on your own device. Doing it beforehand means your appointment time is spent on your teeth rather than on paperwork. Clinic iPads are available if you would rather do it here.

Bring your health fund card if you have extras cover — we claim on the spot through HICAPS, so you pay only the gap.

Bring a current list of your medications, and tell us about any medical conditions. This genuinely matters: blood thinners, diabetes, heart conditions, prosthetic joints, bisphosphonates and immune conditions all affect how treatment is planned.

Have your records transferred. If you have had X-rays or treatment elsewhere recently, we can request them with your permission rather than repeating the imaging and the cost. Use our transfer of records form, ideally before your appointment.

Check the current new patient offer on our promotions page before you book.

What the first visit is actually like

1. Arrive and check in. If your forms are done, this takes a moment
2. A conversation first, chair upright — what has brought you in, your history, what you want from your teeth
3. The examination — teeth, gums, soft tissues, jaw joints, existing work
4. Radiographs only if there is a clinical reason, explained before they are taken
5. What we found, shown to you on screen where there are images
6. A plan in writing if anything needs doing, with costs — taken home, not decided in the chair
7. Your clean, if you booked one at the same visit

Booking for someone else

• For a child, book under the child's name and bring your Medicare card in case they are eligible under the CDBS. A parent or guardian needs to attend to give consent
• For a family, ask reception about consecutive appointments — it can often be arranged
• For an adult who needs support, tell us when booking so we can allow time and make sure there is room for a support person
• If an interpreter would help, mention it in advance

A practical note for children: mornings tend to go better than late afternoons, and a first appointment scheduled around a nap or the end of a school day rarely shows a child at their best.

If you are anxious about coming

Say so when you book, not on the day. With notice we can allow more time so nothing is rushed, and a first appointment can be a conversation with the chair upright and nothing done at all.

Booking online, put it in the notes field. See dental anxiety.

Before you arrive

• Allow about an hour for a first visit, less for a routine recall
• Arrive a few minutes early if you have not completed your forms online
• Parking is free on site at the rear, entered via White Street — the way in is not obvious, so read the parking directions first
• Eat normally beforehand unless you have been told otherwise. There is no need to fast for ordinary dental treatment
• Take your usual medications as normal, and do not stop blood thinners without speaking to your prescriber

Worth telling us when you book

Not at the door, and not halfway through — these change how the appointment is planned.

• You are pregnant, or might be
• You take a blood thinner, a bisphosphonate or denosumab
• You have a heart valve replacement, or have had endocarditis
• You are about to start chemotherapy, radiotherapy or a bone medication
• You have diabetes
• You have a latex allergy, or have reacted to a local anaesthetic before
• You gag easily
• You use a wheelchair or need step-free access
• You are deaf or hard of hearing, so we know not to speak while masked and out of view

Running late, or feeling unwell

If you are running late, ring — we can usually tell you whether there is still time to proceed or whether it is better to move you. Arriving very late sometimes means the treatment planned cannot be done safely in what remains.

If you are unwell with a fever, a respiratory infection or gastro, ring rather than attend. Tell us it is illness; it is the kind of short-notice change we would rather you made than sat on.

Changing or cancelling — please read before you book

Minimum notice is two (2) business days, and cancellation has a required method.

How to cancel or reschedule: telephone (03) 9088 5808 during business hours, or leave a voicemail. An SMS or email does not cancel your appointment unless and until we confirm it in writing.

A voicemail only counts as valid notice if it includes:

• your full name
• your date of birth or mobile number
• the appointment date and time
• a clear request to cancel or reschedule

If you give less than two business days' notice, do not attend, or arrive so late that there is not enough time to proceed safely, a cancellation / missed appointment fee of $150 per hour of the booked appointment duration may be charged. It can apply even where we manage to fill the time, because it also reflects administrative cost and short-notice disruption. Fees may be waived or reduced at our discretion.

We send reminders by SMS and email as a courtesy. Not receiving one does not excuse a late cancellation.

Deposits

A deposit may be required to hold certain appointments:

Cancel with at least two business days' notice and the deposit is refunded or transferred to the new appointment — your choice. Cancel later or fail to attend and it may be retained against the cancellation fee and any third-party costs already incurred, such as laboratory fees.

The full terms are on our attendance policies page, which governs booking and billing, and our terms and conditions.

Your information

What you tell us at booking — your medical history, your medications, your reason for coming — is part of your health record and is handled under our privacy policy. Reminders go to the mobile number and email you give us, so tell reception if either changes.

Questions we are asked

Do I need a referral? No. Book directly.

Can I request a particular practitioner? Yes — select them online, or ask when you ring. See our team.

How far ahead should I book a check-up? A few weeks is usually comfortable. Ring if you want something sooner.

Are you open weekends? No. Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm, closed public holidays.

Can I cancel by text? No. Cancellation must be by phone or a detailed voicemail — an SMS or email does not cancel the appointment unless we confirm in writing.

What will it cost? Current check-up and clean fees, with item numbers, are on the check-up and hygiene page. Anything further is quoted in writing before it begins.

Can I book the clean and the check-up together? Yes — select the combined appointment online, or say so when you ring, so enough time is set aside.

Can I be seen today? Ring and ask. Same-day capacity is held for urgent problems and it depends on the day.

Do you take walk-ins? We would always rather you rang first, even from the car park, so you are not waiting for a gap that may not come.

Can I bring my children with me to my own appointment? You can, though there is no supervised area. If you are having treatment rather than a check-up, it is usually easier for everyone if they are not in the room.

What if I need to change a whole course of treatment? Ring reception. Staged treatment is normal and appointments can be moved — the notice period is what matters.

Victorian Dental Group — 291 Wattletree Road, Malvern East VIC 3145 · (03) 9088 5808 · Monday to Friday, 8:00am–5:00pm · book online

This page is general information and does not replace advice from a registered dental practitioner about your own circumstances. Attendance and fee terms are summarised here; the attendance policies and terms and conditions pages govern. In a life-threatening emergency call 000. Please see our Disclaimer.