Warning - E-cigarettes and water pipe smoking could cause cancer

Highlighting World No Tobacco Day, the Australian Dental Association is targeting non-traditional forms of smoking and tobacco consumption.

Dr Peter Alldritt, Chair of ADA’s Oral Health Committee, said: “While tobacco consumption by Australians is decreasing, a building body of reports indicate that instead some Australians are ‘soft’ substituting through use of e-cigarettes sometimes referred to as vaping, and water pipe smoking (also known as hookah, argileh, hubbly bubbly, nargila, shisha and goza).

“However this ‘soft’ substitution is a double-edged sword ... water-pipe smokers of either tobacco or non-tobacco products face the same health risks as cigarette smokers, including cancers, heart disease, lung disease and problems in pregnancy such as low birth weight. This is because a water-pipe smoker may breathe in as much smoke during a typical one-hour session as a cigarette smoker would inhale from 100-200 cigarettes.”

Every day, at least three Australians are diagnosed with oral cancer. Oral cancer is an aggressive disease which often goes undetected until it reaches an advanced stage, with a survival rate of only 50% over five years.

The signs and symptoms of oral cancer include:
• A sore, irritation, lump or thick patch in the mouth, lip, or throat
• A chronic ulcer or blood blister in the mouth that does not heal
• Difficulty chewing or swallowing
• Difficulty moving the jaw or tongue
• Prolonged swollen glands
• A sore throat that does not go away
• Difficulty speaking, or a change in the voice
• Numbness in the tongue or other areas of the mouth
• Swelling of the jaw that causes dentures to fit poorly or become uncomfortable.

World No Tobacco Day was established by the World Health Organisation.

Water menu at London department store

London’s famous department store Selfridges will open a new bar concept that will offer free filtered water. It will also provide water infusions, cocktails, wines and spirits. later this year, according to the online news service Metro.

Metro corrected media reports that the bar would provide only water.

Ray’s and Stark Bar in Los Angeles has had a water menu since 2013, offering 20 different types of water, with one priced at about Australian $24. This water menu was created by German water sommelier, Martin Riese (pictured), who says: “Water has a taste … Like wine, one can actually taste the region and depth from which the water comes”.

Although there is no Australian water on the menu, there is Antipodes which is “sourced from the deepest high quality aquifer in New Zealand. According to the menu, it “was specifically chosen for a mineral content subtle enough not to alter the palate”.

ADA advocates people to drink water but has warned that bottled water will not be fluoridated, potentially putting teeth at risk. The ADAVB has supported the Choose Tap and H30 Challenge water campaigns, and cautions consumers that the bottled water industry is not a sustainable one. Consumer body Choice has looked critically at the marketing of bottled water and this article is recommended reading

Not-for-profit health funds growing, agency claims

Australian consumers are turning to the not-for-profit and member-owned health insurers, according to health insurance body The Health Insurance Restricted and Regional Association of Australia (hirmaa).

The agency claims that Commonwealth Ombudsman data for 2010/11-2014/15 shows that complaints against the country’s largest for-profit insurers increased by more than 90%. Complaints against hirmaa member-funds during the same period fell by 8%.

Agency CEO Matthew Koce says that the Ombudsman’s State of the Health Funds Report shows that hirmaa’s member funds are growing at twice the pace of the bigger for-profit insurers and retaining far more policy holders.


N.B. The ADAVB does not endorse or recommend any individual health fund, and notes advice from Choice that "Unless you're confident of receiving more in benefits than you're paying in premiums, you should consider dropping your extras insurance. Our analysis of extras cover shows low average payout rates and savings of up to 45% available to consumers who drop it."
Choice, 2 March 2016

"Unless you're confident of receiving more in benefits than you're paying in premiums, you should consider dropping your extras insurance. Our analysis of extras cover shows low average payout rates and savings of up to 45% available to consumers who drop it."

Choice, 2 March 2016

"Unless you're confident of receiving more in benefits than you're paying in premiums, you should consider dropping your extras insurance. Our analysis of extras cover shows low average payout rates and savings of up to 45% available to consumers who drop it."

Choice, 2 March 2016

One-in-four Australian children under 10 have untreated tooth decay

Results of a national oral health survey show that a quarter of all Australian children aged 10 and under has untreated tooth decay.

The National Child Oral Health Survey 2012-2014 is the first population-based study of its kind in Australia for 25 years, involving data from more than 24,000 children aged five-14 years in each State and Territory.

The survey is a collaborative project between the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, based in the University of Adelaide's School of Dentistry, and State and Territory dental services.

The prevalence of tooth decay was similar to other comparable countries, such as the United States and New Zealand, but the prevalence of untreated decay was higher in Australia. Queensland and Northern Territory children had the highest prevalence and severity of tooth decay.

Queen's Speech confirms UK sugar tax

The Queen's Speech, which outlines the UK Government’s agenda for the next year, confirms the introduction of the 'Soft Drinks Industry Levy' - the sugar tax.

In response to concerns about child obesity, the levy will hit fizzy drink companies with taxes worth up to 24 pence (Australian 48 cents) per litre, forcing them to reduce their drinks' sugar content or increase prices to put people off buying these products.

The tax, to be introduced in 2018, will fund primary school sport, let secondary schools extend the school day, and expand 1600 school breakfast clubs.

Through the Rethink Sugary Drinks campaign, the Australian Dental Association supports the introduction of a sugar tax in Australia to fight obesity and dental decay and erosion.

Spend more on preventing ill health, advocacy group urges

Australia remains deeply focused on treating illness once established, rather than preventing ill health and creating healthy lives in the first place, according to the Australian Health Care Reform Alliance. 

The Chair of AHCRA, Mr Tony McBride, said that whilst Australia is an acknowledged world leader in addressing tobacco control, reducing HIV/AIDS, drastically cutting motor vehicle accidents, and immunisation, it seems to have stalled or gone backwards on equally important issues such as oral health, mental health, alcohol misuse, obesity, and health inequalities due to race, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Government spending on prevention has been less than 2% of total health spending for many years and is going further backwards since 2013. Mr McBride said that leading experts suggest an investment of 5% is required, but that it comes with longer-term benefits to Australians and the bottom line.

Child Dental Benefit Schedule continues - for time being

The Child Dental Benefit Schedule will continue operating until there is a change in legislation.

A Senate Estimates' Community Affairs Committee hearing has confirmed that any legislation will have to be presented to the new Parliament following the 2 July election.

This means that dentists can continue to treat children under the scheme after 1 July.

The Australian Dental Association is continuing its fight to retain the scheme long term.

Campaign continues to save child dental scheme

Following the release of the Federal Budget, the Australian Dental Association will continue to campaign for the retention of the Child Dental Benefit Schedule (CDBS).

ADA says this in a summary of what the Budget means to the oral health of Australians.

Budget papers show that funding for dental services have been decreased, resulting in the amount apportioned to dental services being reduced while the number of people who can access the services has gone up markedly, according to ADA.

Following the release of the Victorian Budget, ADAVB pointed out that the allocation for dental services was flat and public dental waiting lists grow because the Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme is to be delivered mainly via public dental services.

If legislation for the new scheme does not pass both Houses of Parliament, the CDBS is expected to continue.

Tax sugary drinks - public dental health expert

A public dental health expert has told listeners of Melbourne radio station 3AW that a sugar tax is needed to combat dental caries, obesity and diabetes.He told presenter Tom Elliott that revenue could be used to fund health promotion and education programs, and relieve pressure on public dental waiting lists.

Earlier, in an editorial piece published in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Associate Professor Matthew Hopcraft, a former President of the ADAVB, said voters should use the July Federal election to tell the major parties that a sugar tax is needed.

He claimed that a tax on sugary beverages could raise up to $400 million a year. Making out the case for the tax, A/Prof Hopcraft wrote: “This is the only way to have a meaningful impact on the epidemic of diet-related diseases – tooth decay, obesity and diabetes – that are overwhelming our children”.

The UK Government recently announced a sugar tax.

Sparks fly over dental scheme

The Federal Government’s proposed dental scheme featured in a lively Budget-eve Question Time.

Shadow Health Minister Ms Catherine King asked the Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull, whether it was “better for kids to get easy access to check-ups from their local family dentist instead of spending years on public dental waiting lists.”

Health Minister Ms Sussan Ley responded on behalf of the Prime Minister, saying “that this is a public scheme that will matter to every public dental patient in Australia. It is a scheme that Labor could not get right. Every state government will have twice as much of their current funding locked in and legislated for the long term.”

Under the new scheme, children will usually only receive treatment if they attend public dental clinics. The previous scheme, the Child Dental Benefit Schedule, provided vouchers allowing children to see a private dentist.

Following Ms King (pictured) asking about $1 billion being cut from dental services, Ms Ley replied: “When you talk about $1 billion being removed from dental services, it is actually Labor's $1 billion. The scheme that they introduced, $4 million of which is now the subject of questions of rorting and misuse, only targeted one in three children.”

In the Senate, Greens Leader Senator Richard Di Natale asked that the Senate to recognise "that the broad exclusion of dental care from Australia’s public health system causes hardship and poor patient outcomes for millions of Australians."

The Australian Dental Association, the National Oral Health Alliance and other bodies have criticised the new scheme.