Julia Gillard - Shadow Minister for Health - Dental Care Fact Sheet

http://jgillard.com/policdocs/austdentalcare.htm

The Howard Government abolished the Commonwealth Dental Health Program (CDHP) in 1996. In May 1998, the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Report on Public Dental Services found that when the CDHP was abolished, there were approximately 380 000 Australians waiting an average of 6 months for public dental care. By May 2000, that figure had blown out to half a million people waiting for between 8 months and 5 years for public dental care. The collection of national figures has since stopped.

A recent national survey found that one-third of Australians in the $30,000 - $50,000 household income bracket had not been to a dentist for over two years, due to their inability to pay. Poor dental health means pain, inconvenience and poor health, embarrassment and discrimination.

Oral disease causes an estimated loss of one million days of work per year and costs the economy around $2 billion in direct costs and lost productivity. Tooth decay and its subsequent consequences for health account for up to 70 per cent of this amount.

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