Residents in the north requiring public dental care may need to grit their teeth, with average wait times climbing to 25.4 months according to data obtained by the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch (ADAVB).
The ADAVB obtained data under freedom of information from Dental Health Services Victoria shows the wait time to access general dental care at DPV health rose 0.4 months since December.
The statewide wait time had also risen 0.4 months in the same period to 16.4 months.
ADAVB president Jonathan Teoh said long waiting times for dental care can lead to worsening problems resulting in the need for emergency care. The ADAVB reports that one third of all courses of care are for emergency treatment rather than routine and preventive care.
“A lot of dental diseases are progressive in nature, and so we know that the longer people are waiting for care, and the longer you leave it, the worse it is going to get,” Mr Teoh said.
“If you leave a hole in your teeth for a long period of time, it is only going to get bigger. If we get to things earlier, then we might be able to save peoples teeth instead of having to remove them. Losing teeth is going to impact not just peoples dental health, but it will also impact their wellbeing and more broadly their ability to participate in society.”
Mr Teoh said that without further ongoing investments into the public sector, he predicts that the waiting time for public dental care is only going to rise.
“We had some injection of funding in the public sector post-covid that has certainly been welcome. However, inevitably waitlists are going to creep up after that point as the system does not have enough capacity to meet the needs of the population“ he said.
DPV Health chief executive Don Tidbury said DPV Health is committed to supporting all people to access services in a timely manner.
“Over the last year DPV Health has expanded its dental workforce to support community needs and is working closely with government and other agencies on strategies to expand dental services and strengthen dental workforce development opportunities.
“To respond to population growth, DPV Health is planning to grow its dental service capacity by at least 20 per cent, with new chairs scheduled to open in 2025.”
