NHHRC recommends Denticare

The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) report, entitled A Healthier Future for All Australians, recommends a public dental system at a cost of $3.6 billion a year and a national one-year dental intern scheme.

The NHHRC made the following recommendations on oral health matters:

• "that all Australians should have universal access to preventive and restorative dental care, and dentures, regardless of people’s ability to pay. This should occur through the establishment of the ‘Denticare Australia’ scheme. Under the ‘Denticare Australia’ scheme, people will be able to select between private or public dental health plans. ‘Denticare Australia’ would meet the costs in both cases. The additional costs of Denticare could be funded by an increase in the Medicare Levy of 0.75 per cent of taxable income.
• the introduction of a one-year internship scheme prior to full registration, so that clinical preparation of oral health practitioners (dentists, dental therapists and dental hygienists) operates under a similar model to medical practitioners. We recognise that this will require an investment in training and capital infrastructure.
• the national expansion of the pre-school and school dental programs.
• that additional funding be made available for improved oral health promotion, with interventions to be decided based upon relative cost-effectiveness assessment."

The ADA Inc. has issued a media release which welcomes inclusion of dental issues in the report but expresses concern at the approach taken.

Study on the oral health of children who visit dentists

Less than 12% of Australian children regularly experienced toothache or the need to avoid eating certain foods because of problems with their teeth or mouth, according to a new study.
The report, Oral health impacts among children by dental visiting treatment needs, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, provides information on the oral health impacts experienced by children during the period 2004–06.
It investigates differences in parent-reported toothache, eating difficulties and poor oral health perception between children with different dental visiting patterns and treatment needs. The main findings are:

• More than 90% of parents considered their child’s oral health to be good, very good or excellent
• Oral health impacts varied by children’s age, sex and state of residence.
• Children with more oral health impacts were more likely to visit the dentist regularly.
• Reduced dental visiting was associated with poorer oral health.
• Greater treatment need was strongly associated with more oral health impacts.
  

ADAVB raises concerns over national registration legislation

Although supporting national registration and accreditation of health professionals, ADAVB has serious concerns about some aspects of the drafting of the enabling legislation, particularly errors and oversights.

Our submission on the draft Bill which will create the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) highlights the following concerns, amongst others:

• The lack of procedural fairness when a complaint is referred to a disciplinary body before any investigation has been undertaken;
• States and Territories being able to opt out of a national law complaint process which will lead to inconsistencies and be perceived to be unfair;
• Proposals to allow practitioners who have not met local qualification requirements to practice in ‘areas of need';
• Using the new system for workforce reforms such as ‘workplace substitution’;
• Potentially giving health funds more control over the shape of health services, in particular clinical decisions;
• The potential for the Public Interest Assessor to turn the regulation of professional conduct into an adversarial consumer complaint system;
• Having only three dentists on the Dental Board of Australia, while regulating five types of practitioners and 11 specialties, may jeopardise the Board effectiveness and credibility, and
• Mandatory reporting arrangements are too wide.

As part of the process of exposing the draft legislation to stakeholders, consultative meetings have been held nationally and submissions invited. As well as the Branch submission, the ADA Inc. and Branches also made written representations. As they are lodged, submissions are published on the NRAS website. Governments want the legislation passed by each State and Territory by the end of the year, with the new scheme starting on 1 July next year.