writes Deborah Cole (CEO Dental Health Services Victoria) Jan 8th 2012
An entire, large article in the Sunday Age on dental health in Victoria / Australia
(the crisis in dental health and need for a national ‘denticare scheme’)
and not one mention of FLUORIDE or fluoridation. ** Fluoridation first started in Melbourne Victoria in 1977 with
increased ‘fluoridation’ ongoing.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/a-system-in-decay-20120107-1ppd0.html
Why?
Remember 2002 to 2009, when health department and all the dental organizations were spinning their PR in order to get
Geelong, Castlemaine, Warrnambool, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Horsham, Mildura etc, fluoridated. Their PR was always:
“Fluoridation will stop tooth decay, cut it massively, miraculous !!”
Well now they have succeeded in getting almost every last town in Victoria fluoridated, and yet there is still this ‘crisis in
poor dental health’. So the spokespersons for Dental Health Victoria and all these groups have become mysteriously
silent on fluoridation when they talk to journalists. We all suffer fluoridation, and yet the dental crisis is still there.
I will try to compose a Letter to Editor reply, but how to get this information into the hands of decision makers in a way
that they might take notice? We tried a lot of things over those years 2002 – 2009, and very little seemed to work. Even
when one polly, Peter Kavanagh in Victoria, understood the issue and started to raise it regularly in Parliament he was
ridiculed by other pollies, who of course had not looked at any of the evidence or arguments – and did not even attend a
presentation given in Victorian Parliament House by Prof Paul Connett (2004, I think). (name removed)
Australia is in desperate need of a national dental health scheme, writes Deborah Cole.
HERE’S what we know for sure: poor dental health is costing the Australian economy up to $2 billion a
year. Dental decay is connected to major chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease, diabetes
and dementia. Diseases of the mouth are a key marker of social disparity and yet almost all oral
diseases are largely preventable.
A report recently published by the Brotherhood of St Lawrence, End the Decay: The cost of poor
dental health and what should be done about it, found that poor dental health is costing the Australian
economy between $1.3 billion and $2 billion a year in direct and indirect costs, including avoidable
hospital admissions, lost productivity and induced illnesses such as periodontal-related coronary heart
disease.
Yet dental care constitutes only 6 per cent of national health spending, and a large amount of that
spending is out-of-pocket expense by the individual.
It’s time to act. We need to introduce a universal dental scheme so that everyone who needs to see the
dentist for basic healthcare can.
Research shows that in the past two years, almost 2 million Australians who needed dental care were
unable to get treatment because they couldn’t afford it.
So it’s no surprise that children from low socio-economic areas have 70 per cent more dental decay
than children whose parents are well off. Adults on low incomes are 60 times more likely to have no
teeth than prosperous people.
Visiting the dentist can be an expensive exercise. Many Australians cannot afford to see a private
dentist and, when they try to access public dental services, they are faced with long waiting lists – a
national average of more than two years. As a result, poor dental health has reached epidemic
proportions. Our children and those experiencing financial hardship are suffering the most.
In November, I met the National Advisory Council on Dental Health to advocate a universal dental
scheme.
In the lead-up to my meeting, I collected stories from everyday Australians who are suffering from
poor dental health. Some of the people who shared their stories were under the age of 35 and had none
of their natural teeth left. That simply isn’t good enough.
We need a system that helps people get the care they need when they need it. A system that encourages
education, prevention and early intervention of oral disease. A system that will enable Australians to
access dental care before their oral health becomes so bad that their only option is to have their teeth
extracted.
Dental health is a vital component of general health and wellbeing. A 2010 study found that a person
who has fewer than 10 of their natural teeth left is seven times more likely to die of coronary disease
than someone with more than 25 of their own teeth. A report, reviewing almost 100 publications,
released by Dental Health Services Victoria last month, explains how poor oral health has also been
linked to diabetes, respiratory diseases, stroke, kidney diseases, dementia and adverse pregnancy
outcomes.
In addition to its links to chronic diseases, dental health has a huge impact on people’s everyday lives.
Poor dental health affects people’s ability to eat, speak, socialise and find work. Many Australians who
have lost some or all of their natural teeth are too embarrassed to leave their homes for fear of ridicule
and judgment.
Despite its strong links to general health, dental health is currently treated as a separate entity. If you
have a health concern relating to your eye, ear or throat, you can make an appointment to see your local
GP within a day or two and your bill is mostly covered by Medicare. But if you need a dental check-up
you have one of two options: find the money to see a private dentist, or go on a waiting list to access
public dental services if eligible.
In the lead-up to my meeting with the National Advisory Council on Dental Health, I commissioned a
survey of 1081 Australians to examine their perceptions of the current health system and measures that
would be supported to advance dental health. The survey found that 73 per cent of respondents were in
favour of receiving basic dental care through a system such as Medicare, even if it results in an
increase to the Medicare levy.
A universal dental scheme is estimated to cost $9 billion over four years. You might think that sounds
like a lot of money, but if every Australian had all of their natural teeth, that $9 billion works out as $3
per tooth per year. That’s less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Dental health can no longer be ignored. We need a system that supports prevention and early detection
of dental disease. We need a system that breaks down the barriers that Australians are facing when
trying to access dental care.
The federal government has shown a strong interest in improving dental health by establishing the
National Advisory Council on Dental Health. The council’s interim report, which has not been made
public, has been forwarded to the government for consideration. This is a positive first step and sets the
scene for the introduction of a universal dental scheme.
It will take at least four years to fully implement a universal dental scheme, and that is why decisions
and planning need to start today.
We cannot afford to wait any longer for a scheme that will not only benefit those in our society who
need support, but a scheme that will have enormous benefits for all of us in reduced costs of disease
and increased productivity.
I urge the federal government to commit to a universal dental scheme that will help all Australians live
happier and healthier lives.
Dr Deborah Cole is chief executive officer of Dental Health Services Victoria.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/a-system-in-decay-20120107-1ppd0.html#ixzz1ipwWjm77
Diane Drayton Buckland Independent Chemical Researcher/Activist