In order to have a full set of working teeth, Daniel was forced to raid his superior, cutting his retirement funds in half

A childhood bicycle accident resulted in a Perth man having to save more than half his pension to pay for dental work and being hit with a windfall tax bill.

Daniel Wright’s dental problems began when he was just five years old.

“I was at my aunt’s farm and I fell off my bike over the handlebars and completely knocked out both my front teeth,” Wright told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.

Two photos of a smiling man show a change in his teeth — Daniel Wright before and after dental work. (Providers: Daniel Wright)

When his adult teeth came in, they were crooked.

“I had major gaps in my teeth and over the years I started to hate the dentist. I avoided visits and some of the work I needed to do at the time,” he said.

He developed gaps due to tooth extraction, gum disease that caused the tips of his teeth to blacken, and severe pain.

He lost so many of his back teeth that he was unable to chew his food properly.

“When I had my last tooth pulled, I thought, ‘I need to get urgent help now,’” he said.

“I also started having stomach problems and stuff like that. Then I went and started checking what the cost was.”

The cost of all necessary work was $67,000.

“I needed immediate treatment for six teeth, and then all the other teeth needed treatment as well,” he said.

“I heard about a friend of mine who used a super and thought, ‘I’ve got a lot of super there, so I’ll go that route.’”

Unexpected costs

Mr Wright contacted SuperCare, who offered to handle all the documentation and medical reports necessary to access his compassionate pension early.

For a fee of $600, SuperCare arranged for him to receive the $67,000 he needed to pay his dental bills, and the money was properly deposited into his bank account.

But when he checked his superannuation balance online shortly afterwards, he was shocked to see $86,300 had disappeared from his super balance.

General image of Australian banknotes — The sum of $67,000 was transferred to Mr Wright’s bank account, but more than $19,000 was withdrawn from his super account. (ABC News)

When contacted by SuperCare, they explained that the extra $19,300 was because the withdrawn super product was subject to income tax and the extra money had been paid to the ATO.

“No one informed me about it (in advance). I just didn’t even think about it. It’s my money,” he said.

The withdrawal very early on meant that it was counted as income in the eyes of the Australian Taxation Office and was subject to a tax rate of between 17 and 22 per cent.

This also had serious consequences for the child support he is obligated to pay for his children, because on paper his last tax return showed that his income had increased from $80,000 a year to almost twice that amount.

“Once again, I had no idea this was going to happen either, so there’s a lot of hidden stuff I didn’t know,” he said.

The ABC has contacted SuperCare for comment.

Big hit in retirement

Despite sacrificing more than he initially expected, Mr. Wright does not regret having had his dental surgery.

However, it believes that there should be greater transparency on the actual costs.

“I’m 43 (years old), I have a lot of time left to chew,” he said.

“But people who think they’re going to want to go and do it should just be aware that it’s not just that (required) amount.”

Before withdrawing $86,300 from his super account, he had $148,000 in his super account.

Financial planner Nick Bruining said withdrawing from the fund would significantly impact Wright’s pension.

“I absolutely understand why he would do it, and that’s why it’s great for some people,” Bruining said.

“That said, the $80,000 that came out of the super, let’s say the super was in the game for another 20 years, understand that it’s going to cost him, and at the end of the day it’s going to cost him about a 6.5% return, which is about $300 000 dollars.

“That’s a lot of money. My dental problems have been completely fixed, which is fantastic. But this will undoubtedly have an impact on their retirement plans.”

A man is about to put a coin into a white piggy bank next to other piles of coins — Taking $86,000 from his super balance could cost Daniel Wright $300,000 in retirement savings. (Freepik: Hand putting coin into piggy bank and growth chart; license)

Push for a dentist on Medicare

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the details of Wright’s dental bills were a “horror story”.

“In a country as rich as ours, everyone should be able to get the health care they need, including dental care,” he said.

The Greens are currently campaigning to include dental care in the Medicare program.

Some dental care is available under Medicare for children, but Bandt said it should be expanded to adults.

“What we want to do now for people like Daniel and the 60 percent of people across the country who said last year that they put off going to the dentist citing the cost of the visit as a reason is whether we want to include dental services in Medicare.” he said.

The federal government has said it has no intention of including dental care in Medicare despite agitation by some Labor supporters to support it.