Government receives tax review report

The Federal Government today received the report of the Henry tax review but will not release it or give its initial response until early next year. Treasurer Wayne Swan says there will be enough time for comment on the report. The report is the result of an 18-month inquiry into Australia's taxation system.

General dental practice arrangements tax fact sheet

The Australian Taxation Office has released a fact sheet that supplements the advice provided in the guidance booklet Your service entity arrangements (NAT13086), particularly in relation to case studies 15 and 16, for general dental practitioners and their advisers. It further illustrates the risk assessment guidelines that the ATO uses when reviewing a general dental practice that has a related party service arrangement in place.

Budget submission lists ways to improve the oral health of Victorians

In its pre-Budget submission to the State Government, ADAVB called for funding to continue to improve the oral health of Victorians.
The Branch says the Government should consider the boosting oral health by:

1. Capital and workforce plans need to be reviewed to build capacity to address the requirements for delivery of universal access to dental care via Denticare, the proposed dental intern program, and expanded clinical placement facilities.

2. Funding of $18m is required to support the establishment of an 80-chair specialist training facility at the Melbourne Dental School.

3. Health care policy planners must recognise that the provision of oral health care is an integral part of the concept of accountability to the community, comprehensive care to patients, and the standard of care for many disease processes and medical diagnoses.

4. A capital plan is required to ensure that all public dental clinics are fitted with ISO 11143 compliant amalgam retention filters to prevent mercury-bearing waste entering the sewerage system.

5. Changing population demographics and disease patterns are increasing the numbers of patients who face barriers to accessing basic oral health care in the traditional dental office setting. Hospital dental programs serve the special needs of these patients, and also provide a safety net for indigent patients. These programs should continue to receive State Government funding. Estimated cost - $200k

6. The critical interface with medicine, so essential to the changing face of dental education and clinical practice, cannot be provided solely within the dental school environment, underscoring the importance of hospital rotations for all undergraduate dental students and the value of hospital-based postgraduate general practice residencies. These educational programs need to receive State funding. Estimated cost - $400k

7. The establishment of hospital-based dental services at public hospitals with more than 200 beds. With the hospitals having the necessary healthcare facilities (from access ramps to staff training), what is required is a dental surgery and equipment, documentation, a dental team and appropriate and adequate funding. Initially establishing a dental unit at St Vincent’s at an estimated cost of $1.5m.

8. Consideration be given to establishing a nursing home program where private practitioners treat residents and are paid by DHSV on a special fee schedule (essentially DVA rates, but with special item codes specific to nursing homes). The service involves setting up portable equipment, writing notes in nursing home records, travel to the residences etc. Estimated initial cost - $0.5m.

9. Funding for several research projects: • Reducing hospital admissions for dental treatment • Interdisciplinary preventive and health promotion activities • Estimated cost - $200k

10. Funding for the teaching of the Diploma and Masters courses on Victim Identification thereby ensuring that Victorian based forensic odontologists are available in the event of emergencies. Estimated cost - $211k.

11. Continue the very successful program of fluoridating Victorian town

Fight against black cola campaign wins health award

The Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch last night congratulated the Obesity Policy Coalition for being the joint winner of a VicHealth Advocacy award for opposing Coca-Cola’s “myth-busting” campaign.
The Council, along with the Parents’ Jury and ADA Inc., last year lodged a complaint with the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission saying that the campaign misled and deceived consumers. The ACCC agreed that the campaign was potentially misleading and asked Coca-Cola to give court-enforceable undertakings to publish corrective advertisements in newspapers across the nation.
ADAVB’s President, Dr Anne Harrison, said the award was deserved because people should not be misled by claims that black cola drinks are healthy.
“There is ample evidence to show that the excessive consumption of acidic soft drinks is a cause of obesity and contributes to the deterioration of oral health,” she said.
The other joint winner was the Alcohol Policy Coalition for a campaign which saw a Jim Beam advertisement withdrawn when the Advertising Standards Council upheld a complaint that the advertisement associated alcohol with dangerous behaviour.

ADAVB submission on e-Health Bill

The ADAVB has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing in response to the Exposure Draft of the Healthcare Identifiers Service Bill 2010 (FED), as it affects dental practice and the provision of dental services.
ADAVB is particularly concerned that the role of the professional indemnity (PI) insurer is not recognised. ADAVB says that it is necessary for health practitioners to provide their PI insurer with a copy of the patient record in order to comply with contractual obligations to the insurer and to allow agents of the insurer (e.g. peer advisors and lawyers) to provide advice on claims management.
While the Government’s concern to closely guard the use of healthcare identifiers is understandable given that an Health Identifier (HI) will link to so much information, the Branch suggests that the use of patient health records in the resolution of disputes and complaints has not been adequately considered in the framing of these purposes. ADAVB therefore suggests that the relevant sections of the Bill be amended to accommodate the role of the practitioner’s PI insurer.
ADAVB also contends that the way the Bill is currently - contrary to the e-Health objectives.

New dental school officially opens in Wagga Wagga

The Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University's Community Dental and Oral Health Clinic was officially opened today. The Commonwealth Government has invested $19.6 million towards the construction and fit-out of the clinical school that includes two dental clinics with 24 chairs, a dental simulation laboratory, specialist dental teaching and research facilities, two IT lecture theatres and accommodation for 40 students.
The funding is part of a broader Government investment of more than $58 million for the university's dental school with sites in Albury, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and Wagga Wagga that will support 60 commencing student places each year across the five campuses.
The university says that the five sites will eventually deliver about 30,000 low-fee patient consultations to people in inland NSW and northern Victoria. The first students from the Wagga Wagga Dental Clinic are expected to graduate in 2014.

Teen Dental Plan benefits increased

The Federal Government has indexed the benefit for the Medicare Teen Dental Plan by revoking the Dental Benefits Rules 2008. The new rules - Dental Benefits Rules 2009 - indexes the benefit for the preventative check (item 88000) from $153.45 to $157.00. The new rules start on 1 January 2010.

Vaccine to treat gum disease being developed

Biopharmaceutical company CSL Limited today announced that a vaccine to treat severe gum disease is being developed in collaboration with Sanofi Pasteur, a leading manufacturer of vaccines.
Following more than 10 years of research, scientists from The University of Melbourne and CSL, in the Co-operative Research Centre for Oral Health Science, have identified candidate vaccine antigens for periodontitis.
Professor Eric Reynolds, CEO of the Centre, said the vaccine will provide dentists and patients with a less invasive treatment, which prevents diseaseprogression, rather than managing its symptoms and damaging consequences.
Professor Rob Moodie, Professor of Global Health at the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the university, commented that periodontitis poses a significant public health issue. "Its association with other health problems, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, meansthat prevention and early treatment through a vaccine will have widespread health benefits,” he said.
The vaccine development program involves identifying the bacterial peptides and proteins that trigger the immune response, and using these as the basis of vaccines.
The announcement received national news coverage.

2010 CPD Program Book Out Now

The highly anticipated 2010 CPD program book is in the mail and members should be receiving it from 9 December. If you have not received a copy, contact the Branch. Course details are also available on the Branch's website. For those interested in attending workshops, we encourage you to register early as places are limited.

Drop Denticare: provide dental care to 7m Australians - ADA Inc.

The Australian newspaper has reported that the Australian Dental Association is lobbying to have the Federal Government dump its universal dental scheme, Denticare Australia.

ADA Inc. has proposed an alternative scheme. Modelled on the former Commonwealth Dental Program, this scheme would focus on some 7 million Australians who might be eligible for dental care rather than Denticare's universal cover. Called DentalAccess, ADA Inc. says that it would provide dental care for those who currently cannot afford or gain access to dental services.

COAG discusses health reforms

The Prime Minister, Mr Rudd, today met with Premiers and Chief Ministers to discuss future directions for national health reform. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) met as the Australian health system faces huge pressures, including:

• An ageing population;
• A growing chronic disease burden;
• Health workforce shortages; and,
• Escalating costs of medicines and medical technology.

Because of these combined pressures, the health system has reached a tipping point. The Federal Government is using these pressures to justify the most significant health reforms since the introduction of Medicare.

It was agreed that the Prime Minister will correspond with Premiers and Chief Ministers by the end of December 2009, recommending a decision-making process on long term health and hospital reform. The Commonwealth then intends to put specific proposals to the States and Territories in the first half of 2010.

According to the Communique issued at the end of the meeting, "COAG completed another key step in the development of a national e-health system, with the signing of an agreement to provide the legislative, governance and administrative framework for national healthcare identifiers. This framework will underpin the future development of a nationally-consistent electronic health system, ensuring better medical records for patients while protecting individual privacy. COAG also signed a National Partnership Agreement on Elective Surgery, which provides significant incentives for the States and Territories (the States) to reduce substantially the number of patients waiting longer than clinically-recommended times for elective surgery".

Updated mouthwash advice

Most people don’t give a lot of thought to the type of mouthwash they use, but different mouthwashes have different purposes and some can have serious side effects, especially when not used properly.

Writing in the latest edition of Australian Prescriber, dental researchers Camile Farah, Lidija McIntosh and Michael McCullough warn of the potential side effects and recommend that people choose a mouthwash based on their personal oral health, considering the benefits and risks of each product.

“A mouthwash may be recommended to treat infection, reduce inflamed gums, relieve pain, reduce bad breath or to deliver fluoride,” the authors write.

“However mouthwashes should only be used for short periods of time and only in addition to brushing and flossing.”

The authors report there is increasing evidence of a direct relationship between the alcohol content of mouthwashes and oral cancer and do not recommend long-term use of mouthwashes containing alcohol.