Dental Group innovation eases financial pain for patients

1300SMILES Limited in partnership with Dental Members Australia (DMA) has commenced rolling out interest-free payment solutions in all twenty-four 1300SMILES dental practices. 1300SMILES has also taken a strategic stake in the growing Brisbane-based company.

1300SMILES patients will be some of the first in Australia able to pay for their dental care through DMA with small interest-free payments, designed to fit their budget.

DMA provides the only Australian dental plan that caters for all routine oral hygiene visits as well as high value treatments, offering patients interest-free dental solutions and discounted dental treatment.

DMA is a membership-based solution. It makes the cost of dentistry more affordable for all Australians, and helps them to have access to ongoing preventative care. At the same time, it supports dentists to form the long-term relationships with patients that they need to be able to provide great treatment.

1300SMILES founder and Managing Director Dr.Daryl Holmes commented 'The likes of Harvey Norman and Amazon and many others have been providing interest-free terms to their customers for ages, and now DMA provides an innovative way of bringing that concept to dentistry in Australia. DMA represents an exciting new chapter in the market, and 1300SMILES is excited to announce the 1300SMILES Care Plan and partner with DMA to take this Australia-wide.'

DMA director and founder Dr. Safa Souzani said 'Dental disease is a highly preventable health condition, yet treatment is becoming more difficult for patients to afford. Patients shouldn't have bill shock when they visit the dentist. DMA helps patients, and in turn dentists - everybody wins.'

Founded and managed by practising dentists, both DMA and 1300SMILES have extensive experience in understanding the challenges facing patients and the dental industry overall. DMA is rolling out throughout Australia in 2013, with practices in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland the first to provide the DMA services for patients.