Individual,
How do you measure Ability and Willingness. What is the balance between reward for work and choosing a career for it's rewards.
I doubt seriously that many people in Thailand can afford the dentist, i will go there and have big work done at a quater the price. If it weren't for the cheap dentist over there i would not be able to afford a dentist here to do all this work leaving me as a drain on the medical system as my health deteriorates. I have never found it a problem getting in to see a dentist in Australia if you are paying. They will always see you if it is an emergency and if not what is wrong with having to book two weeks in advance. If a builder only had two weeks work booked he would be in a panic. The really big problem is that many Australians can not afford the dentist and rely on the public system which is a complete disaster here in NSW. As for making dental a medicare service, can you imagine the trouble to establish a schedule fee with the industry and then expect it to be respected. After such, the hords of people that will want work done will make seeing the dentist even more difficult and costly. The answer lies in the youth and developing a way to help them protect their teeth. The best system i have encountered was in WA where in the country the dentist would check your teeth then apply for funding to fix them. When the money was granted (about two weeks average) He would do the work and the patient would pay the difference between the grant and the dentists bill (usually about a quater). Yes i know more or less the same as medicare but how do you get it to work on a national scale?

nairbe,
the hordes of people would be filtered down through the stages of necessity & their medical history. Hypochondriacs nearly always are the cause of the of the queues in public health centres. Firstly, if you have a national service people get medical attention, after national service people will have a greater sense of awareness, due to this awareness people will look after themselves better, then after having acquired a greater sense of responsibility less people will form a long queue = less waiting time =better service. Simplistic ? Yes, quite simple really ! I have seen the same brawlers & obese & drunks time & time again presenting themselves at outpatients & getting priority over genuine sick people & using up vital resources & not a cent to fork out. That is what I'd like to change.