Report on adult dental services tabled in Parliament

The House of Representatives Health Committee has tabled a report in Parliament looking at how access to public dental services can be improved for adult Australians most in need.

The committee’s inquiry examined priorities for additional adult dental services to be delivered by State and Territory Governments from next year with the assistance of a $1.3 billion Federal funding under a National Partnership Agreement.

Committee chair Jill Hall MP (right) said that poor dental health can have significant impacts on a person’s quality of life, causing pain and social anxieties about appearance.

The committee made a range of recommendations which will be supported by the ADA to address these issues, including:

• The improvement of the interaction between the public and private dental sectors;

• A greater focus on the delivery of preventive dental services; and

• A long-term commitment to funding public dental services.

 

Other recommendations, at odds with the position advocated by the ADA, include:

• The Department of Health and Ageing and Health Workforce Australia work with the Dental Board of Australia to amend the professional scope of practice registration standards to allow dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists to practice independently.

• The Department of Health and Ageing investigate enabling dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists to hold Medicare provider numbers so that they can practice independently as solo practitioners within the scope of practice parameters stipulated by their professional practice registration standards.  The provision of Medicare provider numbers to these practitioners could be piloted.