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Report
Cost of living impacts Australians' access to dental care
ABC NEWS (Australia)
Follow
9/17/2023
As the cost of living continues to bite many Australians can't afford to see a dentist. That can have profound impacts, causing excruciating pain an inability to eat properly and knock-on health conditions.
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00:00
Each week, hundreds of people gather for help from a charity started by Mark McDonald.
00:13
It's a cruel irony that a man who devotes his life to feeding others doesn't have enough
00:18
teeth to eat properly.
00:20
Virtually since 2019 I've been eating a soft mush diet.
00:25
Five years ago, the 61-year-old had radiotherapy for skin cancer.
00:30
It damaged his salivary glands and his teeth started to rot.
00:35
A retired nurse, he couldn't afford to pay $10,000 for treatment.
00:41
The pain was intense, your breath stunk.
00:44
You were cautious about talking to people because you were worried about overcoming
00:49
them with really bad breath.
00:51
He eventually had all but seven of his teeth removed.
00:55
His hollow cheeks are a sign of the 25 kilos he's lost.
01:01
There's no pleasure in eating.
01:03
It's a job you have to do.
01:05
Some Australians, including Mark, can get free public dental care in state-run clinics
01:10
and hospitals, usually if they have a concession card.
01:15
But waiting lists are jammed.
01:16
Even if you've been waiting, you know, several years, well, you're still not the high priority
01:23
for them.
01:24
How are you?
01:25
Associate Professor Ritilal Laloo has been tracking the wait for free care in Queensland
01:30
for almost a decade.
01:32
The people who need to be seen more quickly are not being seen on time.
01:37
Long public waiting lists are seen across the country.
01:41
But most Australians aren't eligible for free care.
01:45
And one in six adults delay or avoid seeing a dentist because of the cost.
01:51
Medical barriers are so significant that people make the choice of suffering through their
01:56
problems and not having them fixed, which I think is extremely unfortunate and sad that
02:01
people have to make those choices.
02:03
Shockingly, one in 25 people aged 15 and over have no natural teeth.
02:09
Poor oral health is also associated with other chronic conditions.
02:14
There's so many other costs involved in life at the moment, so dental work comes lower
02:19
down the list.
02:20
Nothing, there's nothing you can do.
02:21
You can go on a waiting list or grin and bear it.
02:25
Jordan Steele-John is chairing a Senate committee into oral health care.
02:30
What we have in Australia is a system in decay, a dental health system that does not work
02:37
for the community.
02:39
The Greens have long pushed to include dental in Medicare, which they say would cost about
02:45
$77 billion over a decade.
02:49
Successive governments have balked at the price tag of universal care.
02:54
The current one says it acknowledges there are barriers to accessing affordable dental
02:59
services and it's committed to the long-term goal of expanding Medicare.
03:05
The Australian Dental Association wants more public funding for vulnerable groups.
03:11
By targeting those socio-economic demographics that need it most, like those in aged care,
03:17
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and those with low incomes, we could assist in
03:23
turning around the burden of Australia's oral disease.
03:26
After much lobbying and almost two years of waiting, Mark has now had bone grafts in his
03:33
jaw.
03:34
He'll go back on a waiting list for more treatment and still can't eat much.
03:39
I wouldn't mind a steak.
03:40
It's been years since I've had a steak.
03:42
Yeah.
03:43
[BLANK_AUDIO]
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