By Laura Michell
Public dental patients in the Thomastown electorate are facing one of the longest waiting times for dental treatments in Melbourne, new figures reveal.
Public dental care waiting times released by the Australian Dental Association Victorian branch (ADAVB) stated that the Thomastown electorate patients wait an average of 28.6 months for treatment.
Only the Brunswick electorate had a longer waiting time at 32.2 months.
The average waiting time in Victoria is 19.7 months. The Yuroke and Broadmeadows electorates also face longer-than-average waiting times at 22.6 months.
ADAVB chief executive Matt Hopcraft said the waiting times highlighted the need for greater state and federal investment in public dental care.
“At current funding levels, only 16 per cent of people who are eligible to access public dental care in Victoria were able to see a dentist in any given year – that is only 400,000 who get much-needed treatment each year out of the 2.5 million Victorians who are eligible,” Associate Professor Hopcraft said.
“People who are eligible for public dental care may have to endure pain, have difficulty speaking and eating, miss school, struggle to find a job or develop other serious health problems in that time.”
The ADAVB wants governments to increase its funding to allow 800,000 patients to be treated each year by 2023-24.
The association estimated that governments would need to increase their funding by $40 million each year to allow this to happen.
A spokesman for state Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the government was taking action to drive down waiting lists in the northern suburbs, with DPV Health to receive more than $450,000.
“The Andrews Labor government has invested more in oral and dental health every year but the Liberals’ cuts have meant more than 140,000 people are waiting for public dental care. We’re fixing that,” he said.
The federal health department did not respond to Star Weekly’s questions before deadline.
