Key points
- The funding for Australia’s public dental system only covers 30 per cent of those who are eligible for it.
- The Australian Dental Association wants the government to overhaul Australia's dental care system.
- Long waitlists mean Australians who cannot afford private treatment are going without dental care.
When Kate Paul's GP said her four-year-old son Louie needed urgent surgery to treat a tooth abscess, she wasn't prepared for the financial shock that was to come.
After seeing the GP, she took Louie to a dentist, who said his situation was not extreme enough for him to get emergency care in the public system.
Having Louie treated as a non-urgent patient in the public system would mean a 12-month wait, so Kate and her husband are now facing a bill of around $4,700 in the private system for him to get the abscess treated and removed.
"For us to wait 12 months, he's already got an abscess in the tooth," she said.
"We'd had X-rays done and an ultrasound done that showed the infection from his tooth was actually in the bone.
"So waiting 12 months. We know that dental infections can lead to things like sepsis as well.
"It's extremely expensive and not something that we anticipated on having to pay this year, but we just didn't really have another option."
Due to the unexpected costs of Louie's dental care, Kate and her family will have to have a scaled-back Christmas. Source: Supplied
"I guess all up by the end of the experience we'll probably be out of pocket close to about $4,700," she said.
She said her own experience has made clear how dire the situation is, especially for those who can't afford the substantial costs of private dental care.
“It just feels like a really inadequate system,” she said.
'Dental divide'
The Australian Dental Association (ADA) said unequal access to our dental care system needs to be urgently addressed and is calling on the federal government to take action.
"Australian dentists have long recognised there's an inadequate amount of funding for dental treatment for in particular disadvantaged groups or people with special needs, such as residential aged care and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders," ADA federal president Dr Scott Davis said.
"And of course, we need more public funding for disadvantaged Australians on low income."
Research published by the ADA suggests the public dental care system is drastically underfunded.
Funding for the public dental system only covers 30 per cent of those eligible, and the vast majority of dentistry in Australia is done by dentists in the private sector.
The high cost of the private system is leaving significant sectors of the population without adequate dental care.
This is creating what Dr Lesley Russell from the Menzies Centre for Health Policy calls a distinct dental divide.
"You can tell a lot about an Australian's socio-economic status, where they live and their abilities to get a job, by their smile," Russell said.
"There are kids who don't even have a filling. And then there are children who have decay even in their first teeth. There are adults who have had to resort to pulling their own teeth because they're in pain and they can't afford to get access to treatment. So the issue really comes down to affordability and accessibility."
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Oral Health and Dental Care found that
Russell said not enough is being done to address the drastic inequality that exists in access to dental care - an inequality that is perpetuating disadvantage.
Calls for targeted schemes
While there have been calls for dental care to be integrated into Australia's Medicare system, Russell said the cost of this process - estimated at between $7 billion and $10 billion a year - has deterred governments from doing so.
With these costs in mind, the ADA is advocating for the government to instead set up schemes targeted at Australia's most disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.
Davis said the ADA has proposed the first scheme to be rolled out should support aged populations.
"We identified there are particular Australians who have very poor oral health and this is impacting significantly on their general health," he said.
The ADA is asking the government to commit $100 million to a dental scheme for seniors.
The ADA suggests rolling out similar schemes for other vulnerable populations such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, people living with a disability and those on low incomes would dramatically improve general health, which would ultimately reduce government spending in the long run.
Multiple studies, including the 2023 Global Oral Health Status Report, by the World Health Organization, show that there is an association between poor oral health and a number of chronic diseases, including stroke and cardiovascular disease.
A Senate inquiry into access to dental services in Australia is underway and is set to hand down its findings in February.
Davis said he's hopeful the findings of the inquiry will instigate much-needed government action.
"What's important is that we'll be able to highlight these needs and hopefully educate the government members as to how important it is to address these very significant challenges that the Australian community faces," he said.
