Commonwealth Dental Scheme Essential:AMA
The Australian Medical Association has commended the ALP for its commitment to re-establishing the Commonwealth Dental Health Program for the benefit of low-income Australians and pensioners who are suffering immeasurably since the scheme was scrapped four years ago and called on the Howard Government to match the commitment.
AMA Federal President, Dr Kerryn Phelps, said the publicly funded system ensured that pensioners and low-income earners received the dental care they needed which they would have otherwise not been able to afford.
"We are hearing disturbing stories of people who are unable to eat properly because of serious denture problems and are waiting up to five years for basic dental care," Dr Phelps said.
"In 1996 the Federal Treasurer cited reduced waiting times for dental services as a justifiable reason for scrapping the Dental Health Program.
"In May 1998 the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Report on Public Dental Services, found that at the conclusion of that program there were approximately 380,000 Australians waiting an average of six months for dental care. By May 1998, that figure had blown out to 500,000 people waiting for between 8 months and five years.
"The Dental Health Program was progressively reducing the long dental waiting lists but now we are back to a stage that's worse than square one.
"Research has shown that oral disease is the sixth most frequent illness and causes an estimated loss of one million days' work. Dental care should not be treated as a privilege - it's fundamental to health care overall. Serious dental problems can be linked to other health problems including:
- an inability to eat fresh fruit and vegetables which in turn reduces vitamin and mineral in-take;
- digestive problems;
- periodontal infections have been associated with premature labour; and
- problems in managing blood sugar levels for diabetics.
"Patients suffering pain are seeing their general practitioners for pain relief when in fact they should be getting dental treatment to fix their problems and the pain. It is essential for the Commonwealth Government to share its responsibility for those Australian who cannot afford dental care," Dr Phelps said.