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As the new federal parliament begins this week, the government will be under fresh pressure over an issue affecting millions of Australians - dental care. The Greens are returning to Canberra with the sole balance of power in the Senate - and are planning to use it to pressure Labor to add dental to Medicare. Data shows more than two million Australians delay or skip dental visits each year because they can't afford an appointment.

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00:00Don Batty has always looked after his teeth, but age has taken its toll.
00:08These days the eight-year-old pensioner finds it hard to look in the mirror.
00:13I'm very embarrassed by my teeth and I try not to smile.
00:19The former police officer is missing multiple molars, which affects his speech and ability
00:24to chew.
00:26He can't afford to see a private dentist and has been on Queensland's public dental
00:30waiting list for 21 months.
00:33The waiting period to see a dentist here, other than for an emergency, is two years.
00:39Experts say it's a nationwide problem.
00:42The public dental system is overwhelmed.
00:44It's far too small to meet all of the demand for dental care.
00:48Around a third of Australians are eligible for free or low-cost dental care delivered by
00:53the states and territories with some federal funding.
00:57But unless a patient's issue is urgent, they're likely to be waiting months, if not years.
01:02As a result, we're seeing rising rates of untreated dental decay and toothaches.
01:08While each state report started differently, for non-urgent dental care, New South Wales
01:12aims to get patients off the waiting list within one and a half years.
01:16In Victoria, the average wait is just over 12 months.
01:19If those waiting lists were shorter, people would be able to keep more of their teeth
01:23for longer.
01:24The queues are quicker in South Australia and WA, but in Tasmania in the past 12 months,
01:29the median wait was two and a half years.
01:32There's a lot of links between poor dental health and overall health.
01:35One link that we know is very strong is between diabetes and poor dental health.
01:39The issue is also adding pressure to other parts of the health system.
01:42Each year, more than 80,000 people are turning up at hospital emergency departments with oral
01:47health problems that experts say are largely preventable.
01:51As the new federal parliament commences this week, the Greens are vowing to get teeth back
01:56on the table.
01:56We've got to get to work to bring dental care into Medicare right now.
02:03The minor party has lost former leader Adam Band, but gained the sole balance of power
02:08in the Senate, and hasn't ruled out blocking bills in a bid to force the government to act.
02:13There is an opportunity to raise this issue in the course of the passage of a debate, or
02:20in the course of the passage of a piece of legislation.
02:22Health Minister Mark Butler told ABC News,
02:25I can't say to people in the short term there's going to be any changes to dental, but I do
02:31recognise in the longer term there's a lot of ambition for dental to be covered by Medicare.
02:36In the meantime, people like Don will wait in long lines.
02:40That's just not acceptable in a modern country like ours.
02:44Many Australians have no choice but to accept it.

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