Last updated: September 2026
GMHBA is one of the few large not-for-profit funds still headquartered in regional Victoria, operating out of Geelong since 1934. Frank is its second brand, launched in 2009 to sell simpler cover at a lower price. Different cards, same organisation, which is why one page covers both.
Divine Dental Care at 59 Wicklow Avenue, Croydon is a preferred provider for both.
GMHBA defines preventative dental as routine check-ups, professional cleaning, and the topical application of remineralisation agents such as fluoride. On its SmartCare Extras cover, GMHBA states members can receive 100 per cent back on preventative dental. Other products pay a proportion rather than the whole fee.
That distinction is the one worth getting right before you book. Preventative is the appointment itself. Anything the appointment finds, a filling or a crown, is general or major dental and is claimed against a different part of your cover with its own limit. A check-up being fully covered does not make the visit free if the visit turns into treatment, and we will always tell you what something costs before starting rather than after.
GMHBA has partnered with smile.com.au, a national network of roughly 2,500 dentists. Members with dental extras cover can use it by presenting their member card, and dentists in that network reduce their fees by at least 15 per cent.
This is a separate mechanism from your fund rebate, and the two get muddled constantly. One is a discount on the dentist's fee. The other is the money your fund pays back to you. Which applies, and whether both do, depends on your policy and on the practice. It is a fair question to ask at the desk before treatment rather than to work out afterwards from a receipt.
HICAPS is at the front desk. You present your GMHBA or Frank card at the end of the appointment, the claim is processed on the spot, and you pay only the gap. There is no paying the full fee and waiting for a reimbursement, which across a family and a year is a real amount of money to leave sitting with an insurer.
GMHBA runs its own dental clinics, which is unusual among funds and occasionally leaves members with the impression that those are the only places their cover works properly. They are not. Your extras cover works at any dentist, and at a preferred provider the agreed fees apply, which is what keeps the gap down.
Most extras limits run on the calendar year and reset on 1 January, and anything unused on 31 December is simply gone. December is consequently the hardest month of the year to get an appointment in any practice. If you have not had a check-up by about October, book it then. Our guide to benefits expiring at the end of the year covers the timing, and this one goes through staging a larger treatment plan across two calendar years so two limits apply instead of one.
Ten dentists work here, and the practice is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 6:00pm and Saturday 8:30am to 5:00pm, with parking on site. Croydon Station is on the Lilydale line.
Call (03) 9725 8040 or book online. Say you are with GMHBA or Frank and we will check what your policy covers before your appointment.
Our health fund page lists every fund we are a preferred provider for, and there are separate guides for BUPA, Medibank, HCF and nib.
This article is general information. Benefit levels, limits and waiting periods depend on your particular policy, and your fund is the authority on what you are entitled to. Confirm with GMHBA or ask us to check before treatment.