Great article and summary of the report that really outlines why a universal dental scheme is desperately needed. There is a petition campaign called 'Save Australia's Teeth - make universal dental a reality' calling for this and it would be fantastic if readers could jump on and sign. It takes less than a minute http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_Australias_Teeth_make_universal_dental_care_a_reality/?wOnZTcb

I know, I know, I'm a cynic when it comes to these government-sponsored "reports". They are merely vehicles to describe in 124 pages, what can be simply stated in one sentence.

Here's the 124 page report:

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/final-report-of-national-advisory-council-on-dental-health.htm

Here's the simple sentence: "we don't have enough dentists, in the right places, providing services cheap enough for people to comfortably use."

Did I miss anything? Don't think so.

So what are the options? Train more dentists. Send them to rural areas. Pay them enough so they don't zip off into private practice. Subsidize the public's attendance at the dental surgery so they have no excuse not to go.

Have I missed anything? Didn't think so.

Oh yes. How much would that cost? The costings are outlined in Appendix C, under three headings, Children, Adult Card Holders and an amalgamation of the two. They range, depending on the options for coverage, from $9.6 billion to $13.9 billion.

Bearing in mind that these are figures provided in a government report, I'd treat them with immense suspicion. For example, no costs for acquiring the additional dentists are attempted. Instead, they are alluded to only under the heading of "Issues":

"[These proposals w]ould require measures to develop workforce capacity to meet increased service demands and address gaps in access to services"

Well, duh.

I could have knocked out a more useful report than this in an evening, using a pencil, the back of an envelope, and a couple of stiff gins. No wonder problems like this never get solved, and no wonder in consequence that the problem itself gets worse each year.

But not to worry. When it gets even more embarrassing, and our cash-strapped population ends up with gums like a cartoon family from the Louisiana swamps, the government of the day will commission another report.

No doubt it will look really handsome, sitting on the shelf next to this one.

one nice thing about living in the Philippines is that on my small pension, I can afford good quality dentures without becoming destitute.
Something that an orthodontist would charge me $AUD6000 in NSW would cost me no more than P20,000, which at the current rate of exchange of 45 pesos to the Oz dollar makes it about $AUD444.

(same with ophthalmologists, I had a microbial infection in my right eye, went to see my opthalmo, who charged me P500 (app $AUD20) for examining my eye and digitally photographing it, then the script for tobramycin dexamethasone which cleared it up in a fortnight.)

A shame Mr Whitlam did not see fit to have dental and optical services included in the original Medibank. We're all paying for that error of omission now.