Skip to content Skip to navigation
MENU
COTA Victoria Logo
Login
Get Involved
Home CLOSE
MENU
  • About
    About
    CLOSE MENU
    • Annual reports and financial statements
    • Management Team
    • Board of Governance
    • Contact Us
    • Work with us
    • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
  • News
    News
    CLOSE MENU
    • Latest News
    • Media
      • Media Releases
    • COTA Connects
      • COTA Connects Archive
      • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
    • COTA Conversations podcast
    • ONE COTA magazine
  • Events
  • Policy
    Policy
    CLOSE MENU
    • Our policy priorities
    • Policy positions
    • Aged Care
    • Assistive Technology for All
    • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
    • Social Isolation
    • Submissions
    • Publications
    • End of life
  • Programs
    Programs
    CLOSE MENU
    • Seniors Rights Victoria
    • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
    • Care Finders
    • Carer Employment Support
      • Women Working Together
    • Living Longer Living Stronger
    • Victorian Seniors Festival 2023
    • COTA Cycling
    • Past Programs
  • Information
    Information
    CLOSE MENU
    • Looking for information?
    • COTA WISE services
    • How-to guides
    • Resources
    • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
  • Support us
    Support us
    CLOSE MENU
    • Become a member
    • Sign up for COTA Connects newsletter
    • Volunteer with us
    • Donations and Bequests
  • About
  • News
  • Events
  • Policy
  • Programs
  • Information
  • Support us
  • Login
About
  • Annual reports and financial statements
  • Management Team
  • Board of Governance
  • Contact Us
  • Work with us
  • COTA Victoria Privacy Statement
News
  • Latest News
  • Media
  • COTA Connects
  • COTA Conversations podcast
  • ONE COTA magazine
Media
  • Media Releases
COTA Connects
  • COTA Connects Archive
  • Sign-up for e-Newsletter
Policy
  • Our policy priorities
  • Policy positions
  • Aged Care
  • Assistive Technology for All
  • Elder Abuse | Seniors Rights Victoria
  • Social Isolation
  • Submissions
  • Publications
  • End of life
Programs
  • Seniors Rights Victoria
  • Older Men: New Ideas (OM:NI) men’s discussion groups
  • Care Finders
  • Carer Employment Support
  • Living Longer Living Stronger
  • Victorian Seniors Festival 2023
  • COTA Cycling
  • Past Programs
Carer Employment Support
  • Women Working Together
Information
  • Looking for information?
  • COTA WISE services
  • How-to guides
  • Resources
  • It’s Your Energy - New Energy Rights for Victorians
Support us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for COTA Connects newsletter
  • Volunteer with us
  • Donations and Bequests

Oral and dental health care require urgent attention

18 April 201903/05/2021
Aged Care, Dental Care, Health and Wellbeing
Oral and dental health care require urgent attention preview image

A new report from the Grattan Institute again highlights the gap between the dental care people need and the care they receive. This is the worst gap for any major disease in the health system in our state. Oral health care is a critical component of primary care, but access to oral health care is notably more difficult for many eligible people (41% of Victorians) because of the length of public waiting lists and higher cost structure in comparison to other key parts of primary care.

Public waiting lists in Victoria are growing. The average wait is nearly 20 months, but in many rural parts of the state it can be over two years. Even in metropolitan Melbourne the wait is over 40 months at some clinics. Current funding mean that only one fifth of those eligible can be treated in any one year in public clinics. Lack of regular care means many people end up requiring emergency care or even hospitalisation. For example, 16,000 Victorians every year have hospital care for dental conditions that could have been prevented, costing government $60m.

The associated health, economic and service access issues are considerably different for older people, particularly for those on low incomes and those living in Residential Aged Care Facilities.

Research suggests that the health implications associated with oral and dental health issues are significant for older people, and potentially greater than for the overall adult population.

COTA Victoria is a member of the Victorian Oral Health Alliance calling for greater State and Federal funding for Oral Health.

COTA Australia has called for the following measures and were disappointed that oral health was not addressed in the recent Federal Budget:

  • Introduce an oral and dental health support scheme for older Australians on low incomes, and for people living in Residential Aged Care Facilities. Consider a scheme that would be similar in supports to the existing Child Dental Health Scheme but designed for older Australians.
  • Implement a new National Partnership on Public Dental Services for Adults (the existing partnership expires 30 June 2019), with the inclusion of performance benchmarks to provide adequate support for people in Residential Aged Care Facilities. Moreover, consider the inclusion of increased support for mobile dental services to people living in Residential Aged Care Facilities.

For older people on low incomes or living in Residential Aged Care Facilities, these measures would significantly contribute to improved oral and dental health, leading to an improved quality of life and a potential reduction of other related health issues.

We encourage you to speak to your local MPs (both State and Federal) to encourage them to urgently address this important health issue for older Australians.

aged care, Australian Federal Budgets, dental care, dental health, oral health, Residential Aged Care, Victorian Oral Health Alliance

RELATED NEWS

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria statement on new Victorian cabinet announcements preview image

COTA Victoria and Seniors Rights Victoria statement on new Victorian cabinet announcements

2 October 2023
Read more
Read more
COTA Victoria & Seniors Rights Victoria CEO’s message, October 2023 preview image

COTA Victoria & Seniors Rights Victoria CEO’s message, October 2023

28 September 2023
Read more
Read more
Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse: Seniors Rights Victoria launches new professional education program preview image

Recognising and Responding to Elder Abuse: Seniors Rights Victoria launches new professional education program

28 September 2023
Read more
Read more
SHARE THIS CONTENT:
COTA Victoria Logo
  • About
  • News
  • Events
  • Policy
  • Programs
  • Information
  • Support us
Seniors Rights Victoria Registered Charity
Follow on
Facebook
COTA FEDERATION
  • ACT
  • New South Wales
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia
COTA Western Australia COTA Northern Territory COTA Queensland COTA New South Wales COTA ACT COTA Victoria COTA South Australia COTA Tasmania
Follow on
Twitter
GET INVOLVED
  • Seniors Rights Victoria
  • COTA Connects newsletter
  • Get Involved
  • COTA Insurance
  • Follow on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on LinkedIn
  • Follow on Instagram
  • Follow on Threads
  • Contact Us
Seniors Rights Victoria
TERMS PRIVACY CONTACT SITEMAP
© 2023 COTA Victoria ABN 81 960 500 420 WEB DESIGN CODE AND VISUAL
Back to top
All correspondence may also be collected and stored, particularly in regard to registrations, including Email. Any information collected by COTA Victoria is collected via correspondence from you or your organisation. This may be via the telephone, Email, mail, fax or directly through our website.AcceptReject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT