Urgently needed dental reforms welcome news: Brotherhood of St Laurence

29 August 2012

The dental reforms announced by Health Minister Tanya Plibersek today should help to put dental care within the reach of many disadvantaged Australians who have long suffered dental problems they can’t afford to fix and which affect their lives and employment, national welfare agency the Brotherhood of St Laurence said.

“This would help to turn around the situation, reported in a Brotherhood of St Laurence research report last year, of 1 million work days and 600,000 school days lost annually because of poor dental health at a cost to the economy of $660 million in lost productivity,” said Tony Nicholson, Executive Director of the Brotherhood.

“The report, “End the Decay”, also found that the direct and indirect costs to the economy of poor dental health are between $1.3 billion and $2 billion annually,” Mr Nicholson said.

“It is the disadvantaged that bear most of the burden of unaffordable dental care, with low income people being 60 times more likely to lose all of their teeth - often a consequence of not being able to afford private dental care and the lengthy waiting lists for public care. Early treatment avoids conditions that cost more to fix - dental admissions are the largest category of acute preventable hospital admissions with about 50,000 admissions a year and between 7% and 10% of GP services are related to poor oral health.

“At the Brotherhood we see the direct impact on people’s lives. Poor dental health can cause pain that impairs eating and speaking and it can disfigure people’s faces, eroding their confidence, undermining their employability and excluding them from mainstream economic and social life. Poor and missing teeth are a sign of poverty, and of social exclusion.

“We welcome the significant increased investment in public dental health clinics which should see funding increase by about 50% and will improve timely access to dental care for thousands of disadvantaged Australians.

“One particularly welcome feature of the new $2.7 billion dental scheme for children is that it will introduce a schedule of fees that can form the basis of a more universal system.

“We agree with the report earlier this year of the National Advisory Council on Dental Health that the goal should be an integrated national oral health system as part of the broader health system that provides equitable access to Australians to dental care – and that goal should be reached as quickly as possible.”

Media inquiries: Jeannie Zakharov on 0428 391 117 or 9483 2463

Download the media release (PDF file, 156 KB)

Media inquiries: Jeannie Zakharov on 0428 391 117 or 9483 2463