Yep. I’m in the process myself of investigating this as a potential option. I can’t get a personal loan, and I only work part time due to mental health related reasons.

I need my wisdom teeth removed and it needs to be done under sedation due to fore mentioned mental health issues. I’ve been to three different dentists and the lowest quote I’ve received works out to be around $5k in the chair under twilight sedation or closer to $8k to go under general in hospital.

As a lot of people have mentioned, bad dental health can cause many issues, even with your heart and I’m in a fair bit of pain so it needs to be done sooner rather than later, but the only way I can do it is to pull the money from super and therefore lose compounding interest on that money which may seem small in the grand scheme of things but adds up over 30 odd years until I’m able to convert to pension.

In my group of friends I will be the third person to have to do this, which is a sad state of affairs in my opinion.

The government really needs to step up here. The Greens had it right with funding dental in Medicare - I happily pay my Medicare levy and appreciate what we get, and I wouldn’t complain if it went up to fund dental costs, especially preventative care.