Doctors Reform Society of Australia
			supporting health care reforms to ensure justice, equity and quality care for all
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Summary:
Dentistry is the least subsidised area of health services. In 1994/95, 67% of expenditure on health services was subsidised by government compared with 13% for dentistry.

While low income earners do not suffer substantially more dental decay than the wider community, their experience of dental treatment is very different. They tend to delay treatment until they have pain and are nearly twice as likely to have had all their teeth extracted. The cost of private dental care and waiting lists of up to 5 years for public care are important factors in decisions made by low income earners about their dental treatment.

The Commonwealth Dental Health Program (CDHP) was introduced in 1994 with the aim of increasing the number of low income earners who sought and received dental care with an initial emphasis on reducing the number of teeth extracted. At its peak the CDHP added $100 million pa to the states' dental expenditure of about $160 million for concession card holders.

The full text of this article is not currently available online. Contact Carol at the DRS national office for more information.

About the author:

Dr Martin Dooland is Chief Executive of Dental Health Services Victoria

.		.	The Doctors Reform Society of Australia, Box 14, 4 Goulburn Street, Sydney 2000. Phone 02 9264-9084 Fax 02 9267-4393.	.
			This page was last updated on 10th February, 2003.
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