New Dental Research Reports

During June the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Dental Statistics and Research Unit published three new research reports

Access to dental services among Australian children and adults
Urban and rural variations in child oral health
Dental therapist labour force in Australia, 2003

Key findings in the first of these include:

• Approximately 13% of dentate adults across Australia reported that they would have difficulty paying a $100 dental bill
• Between 46-47% of Ausralian children and adults have private dental insurance. Victorian residents were less likely (35-36%) to have dental insurance than other Australians
• Only 10% of Victorian children usually visit the dentist for treatment of a problem compared with 22% of children in NSW