Top image: AI-generated illustration.
You’ve moved, your dentist has retired, or you simply want your next appointment closer to home. But you already have a dental implant. Does changing dentists mean starting again, and what paperwork are you meant to bring?
Start by asking the new practice what information it needs to assess your existing implant. Australia’s privacy regulator says you generally have a right to request your health information. Ellen Stirling Dental in Ellenbrook provides dental implant care, but you’ll need to confirm what assessment and ongoing care are appropriate for your implant.
Summary of the content
- Ask the new practice which existing implant records it would like.
- Request available information from each provider involved in treatment.
- Keep a copy of your requests and tell the receiving team what is still missing.
What should I request from my previous dentist?
Request the records the practice holds about your implant, rather than asking only for a document called a passport. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) says you can identify the health information you want and ask how it can be provided.
For an implant handover, you could ask whether the practice has the implant’s identifying details, treatment notes, relevant X-rays and reports, and the dates of treatment and later reviews. These are requests for available information, not a statement that every practice holds every document or that all of it can be supplied in your preferred format.
If one clinician placed the implant and another made the tooth attached to it, contact both practices. Explain which part each provided. You may already have letters or appointment summaries naming them; those can help you address the request without needing to understand the technical details yourself.
| Record to ask about | Where to start looking |
|---|---|
| Implant card or device details | The practice or facility where the implant was placed, plus any documents you were given. |
| Placement notes and reports | The clinician or practice that performed that part of treatment. |
| Crown or bridge records | The practice that made or fitted the tooth or teeth attached to the implant. |
| Earlier X-rays and reports | The dental practice or imaging provider that holds them. |
| Recent review information | The practice that has been seeing you for ongoing care. |
Use this as a way to organise your enquiries. It isn’t a clinical specification for every implant system. The receiving dentist can tell you which details are relevant once you explain your circumstances.
How do I ask for access to my records in Australia?
Contact the provider that holds the information and explain that you’re changing dentists. OAIC’s guidance begins with this rule:
“Australian privacy law gives you a general right to request access to the health information a health service provider holds about you.”
That’s from OAIC’s Access your health information guidance, checked 2 November 2026. The page also explains that there are exceptions and different ways access can be provided.
- Ask the former practice how it accepts an access request.
- Give your name and the identifying information it reasonably requests.
- Describe the implant records you’re seeking and the approximate treatment dates, if known.
- Say whether you want a copy yourself or authorise a copy to go to the new provider.
- Confirm the receiving practice’s details and ask about a suitable delivery method.
- Ask about the likely response time and any access charge.
Keep a copy of the request and the reply. If a family member is helping, ask what authorisation is needed. OAIC says the request may be made by you or someone you’ve authorised; a relative does not automatically have access just because they are organising the appointment.
How long will it take, and can there be a fee?
OAIC generally considers 30 days a reasonable response period. That is guidance about responding to an access request, not a promise that a complete implant file will arrive before a particular appointment.
Ask early if you’re arranging a routine handover. If the appointment is sooner, tell the receiving practice which records have been requested and what has arrived. Don’t describe an unanswered request as a completed transfer.
A provider may charge for giving access, but OAIC says the charge cannot be excessive or used to discourage access. Its guidance says the provider should, if possible, tell you the likely charge and discuss ways of reducing it. Ask about that before assuming either that all copies are free or that you must pay an unexplained amount.
The general right of access also has limits. OAIC describes circumstances where access can be refused, information redacted or another access method offered. If access is refused, its guidance says you must receive written notice explaining why and how to complain. That is a separate issue from whether a new dentist can carry out a particular treatment.
What if I don’t have an implant passport?
Ask about the available records without assuming a document with that name must exist. The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s patient implant information guidance, updated 18 August 2026, explains the purpose of implant cards and leaflets, but also lists exemptions.
Those exemptions include tooth crowns and screws, among other articles. So the general wording about implant cards should not be turned into a claim that every dental component comes with a compulsory passport. Nor does the absence of a passport tell the receiving dentist everything about the implant.
Where a card is available, the TGA describes information such as device name, model, manufacturer and batch, lot or serial details. It recommends keeping the card somewhere accessible and taking a photograph in case it is lost. Bring the complete card or a clear copy rather than typing only the part you think matters.
If you’ve lost it, the TGA suggests contacting the provider or facility where the device was implanted. They may be able to provide the details or help obtain a replacement. Ask what is possible; neither this article nor a card establishes that every component or service will be available through the new practice.
Will the new dentist see everything in My Health Record?
Don’t assume so. The TGA distinguishes a healthcare provider’s Event Summary from a personal health note that you create yourself. Its guidance says personal health notes can only be viewed by the patient and cannot be accessed by healthcare providers.
That distinction is easy to miss. You might have carefully typed the implant details into your own record, yet still need to show or share that information with the new dentist. Ask how the practice wants to receive it and confirm what has actually arrived.
You don’t need to put personal health details into an ordinary online enquiry to start this discussion. Ask the practice about its records process first. Keep your own copy of correspondence so you’re not relying on memory about who sent what.
Do old records mean I won’t need another X-ray?
No. Earlier images are useful information, but the dentist decides whether they answer the current question. The Australian Dental Association’s dental X-ray guidance explains that dentists compare old and new images to look for changes in teeth and jawbone.
The same guidance says the type of image depends on what the dentist is looking for. So changing practices doesn’t, by itself, establish a need for a particular scan, and an old scan doesn’t automatically rule out further imaging.
Tell the dentist where the images were taken and roughly when. If you have a report but not the image, bring the report and explain that distinction. You can ask: “What would a new image show that isn’t available in these records?”
What if I have symptoms while records are being requested?
Describe the symptoms when you contact the practice rather than waiting for a complete file. Healthdirect’s tooth abscess guidance says a suspected abscess needs urgent dental or medical attention. That does not mean every problem around an implant is an abscess; it means paperwork shouldn’t be used to decide the urgency yourself.
Explain what is happening, when it began and which records are still outstanding. Ask what the next step should be. An administrative handover and assessment of a current concern are different tasks, even when they involve the same implant.
What should I ask Ellen Stirling Dental before booking?
Ask whether an appointment to assess your existing implant is appropriate and what information the team would like beforehand. Our dental implants page discusses ongoing hygiene and dental visits after implant treatment. It does not establish that every implant placed elsewhere can be serviced here.
For the broader care discussion, our implant maintenance article explains ongoing care, and our general dentistry page outlines the practice’s services. This guide focuses on getting your existing information to the next appointment.
Your records-handover checklist
- Names of the practices involved in implant placement, restoration and later reviews.
- Approximate dates and which part of treatment each practice provided.
- Any implant card, device details or treatment letters you already have.
- Relevant records and images requested, with the request date noted.
- Your authorisation and the confirmed receiving practice details.
- A note of anything missing, unavailable or still being processed.
- Your current concern and the questions you want answered at the assessment.
Call Ellen Stirling Dental on (08) 6192 1036 or use our contact page. We’re at 48 Ellen Stirling Parade, Ellenbrook WA 6069. You could say: “I have an implant placed by another practice and want to discuss ongoing care. Which records should I arrange before an assessment?”
Written by Dr. Rachit Shah, General Dentist, Ellen Stirling Dental.
Sources
Sources checked 2 November 2026. This is general published guidance about records and assessment, not advice about the condition or servicing of your implant.
- OAIC: Access your health information.
- TGA: Patient implant cards and information leaflets, updated 18 August 2026.
- Australian Dental Association: Dental X-rays.
- Healthdirect: Tooth abscess.
- Ellen Stirling Dental: the implant, general dentistry, maintenance, dentist profile and contact pages linked above.
- Photos in this article are AI-generated illustrations, not photos of Ellen Stirling Dental, its staff or patients.
