A survey of nearly 450 Australian dental practitioners has found two thirds support the expansion of Medicare to include more dental services, while many reported that their patients were increasingly delaying treatment due to cost.
The research, led by Associate Professor Matt Hopcraft at the Melbourne Dental School and Professor Alexander Holden at the University of Sydney, also found one third of participants’ patients experienced difficulty paying for preventive care and 41.6 per cent for general dental treatment.
A/Prof Hopcraft said the survey’s findings, to be published shortly in the Australian Dental Journal, also revealed the strongest support for expanding Medicare was to establish a means tested and capped scheme.
“More than 80 per cent of those surveyed agreed that examination, diagnostic and preventive treatment should be subsidised, followed by restorative and periodontal treatment, oral surgery and dentures,” he said.
“In 2023, the Senate Select Committee into the Provision of and Access to Dental Services in Australia found that there was an urgent need to reform our dental system and recommended a range of options from a universal dental scheme to more targeted schemes.
“With an election looming and access to dental care featuring in the policy platforms of some of the candidates, this research is timely in helping to inform the future policy directions that are necessary to improve access to oral health care.”
The survey was conducted between November 2024 and February 2025, and included dentists, oral health therapists, dental therapists, dental hygienists and dental prosthetists.
“This study is significant in that it clearly demonstrates support amongst a cohort of dental practitioners that transcends vested interest voices in the profession to take the necessary steps required to reform public dental funding in Australia and further the universal health coverage agenda to include oral health care,” A/Prof Hopcraft said.
