Why there are no patient testimonials on this website

You have probably arrived here looking for reviews of Victorian Dental Group. There are none on this site, and that is deliberate rather than an oversight.

Australian law prohibits the use of testimonials in advertising a regulated health service. It applies to every registered dentist, doctor, physiotherapist and psychologist in the country, and it applies to us.

What the law says

The National Law that governs registered health practitioners in Australia makes it an offence to advertise a regulated health service in a way that uses testimonials or purported testimonials about the service or the business.

In practice that means a dental practice must not publish, on its own website or in its own advertising:

Written patient testimonials or quotes about their treatment
Star ratings or review scores it has collected and displayed itself
Video testimonials
Screenshots of positive reviews from elsewhere
Testimonials shared or reposted on the practice's own social media accounts

The restriction is on clinical or symptomatic content — a person's account of their treatment, their practitioner or their outcome. It exists because a reader cannot verify someone else's clinical experience, because outcomes genuinely vary between individuals, and because a curated selection of good experiences is not evidence of anything.

AHPRA and the Dental Board of Australia publish guidance on advertising a regulated health service, and this is one of the clearest rules in it.

Where the line sits

The rule is narrower than "no positive comments anywhere", and the distinction is worth understanding.

Generally a testimonial	Generally not
"My root canal was completely painless"	"Parking was easy to find"
"Dr X fixed a problem three dentists missed"	"Reception answered the phone quickly"
"My implant changed my life"	"The rooms were clean"
A star rating for clinical care, displayed by the practice	A description of the practice's opening hours
A before-and-after account of a smile makeover	A statement that the practice is accredited

Anything that speaks to clinical care, a practitioner, a treatment or an outcome is the part the law is concerned with. Comments purely about non-clinical matters sit differently — but in practice, most enthusiastic reviews mix the two, which is why the safest course is the one we have taken.

Who is responsible for what

A practice is responsible for its own website, its own advertising, its own social media accounts, and anything it commissions or pays for
A practice is not responsible for what a patient independently posts on a platform it does not control
But it becomes responsible the moment it solicits, incentivises, curates or republishes that content as marketing

That is the whole mechanism, and it explains why you may find reviews of any practice online while finding none on its own site.

What this means when you are comparing practices

This is the useful part, and it is worth knowing before you judge a practice by its website.

A dental website covered in glowing patient testimonials is not showing you a better practice. It is showing you a practice that is either unaware of the rule or has decided to ignore it. That is a reasonable thing to weigh up when you are choosing who to trust with your teeth.

It also means comparison is harder than it should be, so here is what we would actually suggest looking at instead.

Look for	Why it tells you something
Registration	Every practitioner must be registered with the Dental Board of Australia. You can check any practitioner by name on the AHPRA public register, free, in under a minute
Accreditation	Accreditation against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards is assessed by an independent body, not self-declared. See accreditation
Whether fees are given in writing before treatment	A practice that will not quote before starting is telling you something
Whether alternatives are explained	Including the option of doing nothing, and the option of a referral elsewhere
How referrals are handled	A general practice that refers to registered specialists when a case warrants it is behaving correctly
What claims the website makes	"Painless", "guaranteed", "Melbourne's best" and similar are all claims a regulated practice should not be making

A practical way to research a practice

Check the practitioners on the Ahpra register — registration category, conditions, and whether specialist registration is held
Read the fees page, if there is one. Published fees are a form of accountability
Ring reception and ask what the first appointment includes and how long it takes
Ask what happens if something is found — written plan, alternatives, no same-day pressure
Ask about referrals — what they refer out, and to whom
Notice the language on the website. Superlatives and promises are a signal in themselves
Go once for a check-up before committing to anything larger. A first visit tells you more than any review

Independent review platforms

A distinction worth understanding: the restriction is on what a practice publishes in its own advertising. Reviews that patients leave independently on third-party platforms are outside a practice's control, and a practice is not required to remove them.

What a practice must not do is collect, curate, incentivise or republish them as its own marketing. So you may well find reviews of us elsewhere online. We do not solicit them, we do not offer anything in exchange for them, and we do not reproduce them here.

If you do read them, read them the way you would read any review: a handful of accounts, self-selected, describing individual experiences that may have nothing in common with yours.

What we will tell you instead

Rather than showing you other people's experiences, we would rather be specific about what we do:

Written treatment plans with itemised costs before any treatment begins, which you take away and consider
Options explained, including the least invasive one and the consequences of doing nothing
Referral to registered specialists where a case calls for it — we are a general dental practice and hold no specialist registration
On-site digital radiography and OPG, so imaging happens during your appointment rather than at another address
HICAPS on-the-spot health fund claiming, plus Afterpay and Zip
Independent accreditation against the national standards
A talk-first appointment for anyone anxious, with nothing done at the first visit if that is what you want

Those are things you can check, hold us to, and ask about on the phone before you book.

If you want to give us feedback

We do want to hear it — we simply cannot publish it.

Tell reception, tell your practitioner, ring (03) 9088 5808, or email info@victoriandentalgroup.com.au. Feedback about what worked is genuinely useful internally even though it will never appear on this page, and feedback about what did not is more useful still.

We will not ask you to leave a review, offer you anything for one, or send you a link after your appointment. That is not modesty; it is the rule.

If you want to know what to expect

These pages describe what actually happens, appointment by appointment:

What to book — which appointment type suits your reason for coming
Check-up and hygiene — what a routine visit involves, with the fees
Dental anxiety — what a first visit looks like if it has been a long time
Payment options — how claiming and payment plans work
Our clinic — the practice and its equipment

If you have had a poor experience with us

We would rather hear it directly. Ring the practice on (03) 9088 5808 or email info@victoriandentalgroup.com.au and ask to discuss it.

If you would prefer to raise it independently, you are entitled to do so. In Victoria, complaints about a health service can be made to the Health Complaints Commissioner (hcc.vic.gov.au), and concerns about a registered practitioner's conduct to AHPRA (ahpra.gov.au). Both are independent of us, and we would not regard either as an unreasonable step.

Questions we are asked

Does this rule apply to every dentist? Yes — to every registered health practitioner and every business advertising a regulated health service in Australia.

Can I still leave a review somewhere? Yes. What you post independently is your own business, and we have no part in it.

Why do so many dental sites have testimonials then? Some are unaware of the rule and some disregard it. Ahpra accepts advertising complaints from the public about either.

Are before-and-after photos allowed? Their use in advertising cosmetic dental procedures is restricted, and we do not use them as advertising.

Can you tell me about another patient who had this treatment? Not in any identifying way — that would breach both the advertising rules and their privacy. We can tell you what is typical, what varies, and what the known risks are.

Is a practice with no reviews anywhere a bad sign? Not on its own. Registration, accreditation, written quotes and how the practice answers your questions tell you considerably more.

Book an appointment

Victorian Dental Group — 291 Wattletree Road, Malvern East VIC 3145

Phone (03) 9088 5808 · Monday to Friday, 8:00am–5:00pm · closed weekends and public holidays

Book online at any hour.

This page is general information and does not replace advice from a registered dental practitioner about your own circumstances. It is a plain-language summary of advertising obligations and not legal advice. Please see our Disclaimer.

Does Victorian Dental Group publish patient testimonials?

Testimonials about clinical care cannot be used in advertising a regulated health service in Australia. Section 133 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law prohibits it, and it applies to every registered dentist and dental practice, not only to this one. That is why you will not find patient reviews of treatment presented here as promotion.

Why are testimonials prohibited for health services?

Because someone else's experience is a poor guide to your own. Dental outcomes depend on your teeth, your gums, your medical history and what the examination finds, and a favourable account from another patient can create expectations that are not realistic for you. The rule exists to protect patients from being influenced by anecdote when choosing care.

How should I choose a dental practice, then?

On things you can verify. Check the practitioner's registration, and any conditions on it, free on the AHPRA public register at ahpra.gov.au. Ask whether the practice is accredited against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards. Ask what the fees are and expect them in writing. Ask what the alternatives are, what happens if you do nothing, and what the risks are — a practice that answers those plainly is telling you more than any review could.

What should I expect from Victorian Dental Group?

A written treatment plan with item numbers and fees before treatment begins; the alternatives and the risks set out, including the option of doing nothing; time to consider it away from the surgery; and no pressure to decide on the day. Victorian Dental Group is a general dental practice and holds no specialist registration — where a registered specialist is the right course, you are referred.

Can I give feedback about my own experience?

Yes — feedback is welcome and useful, and complaints are taken seriously. Phone (03) 9088 5808 or email info@victoriandentalgroup.com.au. If a concern is not resolved with the practice, the Health Complaints Commissioner in Victoria handles complaints about health services and AHPRA handles concerns about a registered practitioner.

How do I make an appointment?

Victorian Dental Group, 291 Wattletree Road, Malvern East VIC 3145 — phone (03) 9088 5808 or email info@victoriandentalgroup.com.au, Monday to Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, or book online. If you are in pain, phone rather than booking online so it can be triaged.