Dental care a key concern for the poor

The Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW has just released a report entitled Experiencing Poverty: the voices of low income Australians, which highlights the lack of dental care as one of the key concerns for disadvantaged people.

The following extracts highlight just how central the issue of inadequate access to dental care is for the disadvantaged.

"Where services were under-resourced and allocated using waiting lists (as in the case of public dental treatment) waiting times were so long that many effectively missed out altogether. One participant’s description of the public dental system as being like that in a third world country vividly captures this disturbing problem and the urgent need for action. " (p.17)

"Lack of access to dental care was one issue that created considerable suffering over long periods and contributed to low self-esteem and reduced job prospects. " (p.38)

The ADAVB is a member of the Oral Health Alliance, an informal group comprised of welfare, consumer and professional organisations, concerned about the need to enhance access to dental care for the disadvantaged in our community. The Alliance continues to call on both State and Federal Governments to make dental care a higher priority, and to develop a coordinated and well funded program of accessible dental services for health care card holders and their dependants.