A 1 year wait for dentures?

[i-need-a-martini]

This woman had to wait 17 months which is outrageous. But then the article goes on to say that the wait is NORMALLY 1 year.

I didn't realise this the norm. 

I know that the public health system has this weird process whereas they will pay for you to go to a subsidised dentist to have all of your teeth removed if they are unstable or rotting. But surely this can be followed up immediately with replacement dentures? 

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/apology-for-woman-left-with-no-teeth-for-17-months-20140126...

[boris1gary]

very normal, it seems that even though teeth play a very important role in a persons general health, they are not considered important by successive govts.

I have heard some real horror stories from people involved in the struggle to get decent dental care for those who can't afford it.

[latina4621]

i was told by the public dentist it would be a minimum of a 10 moth wait

and had to go on the list i had already been waiting aprrox 4 months in the end i went private it cost  nearly 1200.00 for the full set    which i then had within 3 weeks

[boris1gary]

An acquaintance of mine had to have all of her teeth removed, had to wait 14mths for new ones and still had to travel over 100ks 3 days a week  to go to her very low paid job, i couldn't imagine having to leave the house at all if i had no teeth. There was nothing she could do about it, centre link told her that if she didn't keep working they would cut her benefit (tiny) and she would not be considered eligible for her new teeth.

[purple_haize]

my sister in law had to wait 10 months to be seen at the Melbourne dental hospital, she was on the list, once the 10 months was up they saw her and she had new teeth within a month cost $150.

My husband was on a plan from dr. he had his teeth out and had to wait 4 weeks till his new teeth, think that was cheaper than $150.

I had to go have some teeth removed late last yr. at the local community dental hospital, as I had a problem, they also filled 2 teeth, took 3 xrays, smoothed out two of my back teeth over a period of 7 weeks and cost me the grand total for all of it $25.

The dentist said if I have any more trouble with any of my teeth, just ring up and make an appt.

Going back to the dr/dentist plan, I saw my dr. last week and she was telling me, that now they can put you on plans for most things, so maybe they have brought back the dentist plan.

[boris1gary]

Victoria is obviously ahead of NSW when it comes to teeth, I have heard that there are some services in NSW but they only cover some not all who are in need and the wait is horrendously long.

[jean2579]

That is true boris. My OH has been on the waiting list for 6 months now and has great difficulty eating. He can only eat very soft foods. He has been told it will be at least another 6 months before he can even get an appointment for an assessment.

[purple_haize]

Boris........do they have Community Dental places in NSW?

Other than the Dental hospital.

[spotweldersfriend]

South Australia is good too.I know a woman in NSW who had to wait years for her dentures. Every service in NSW is pathetic compared with Vic & S.A.

[boris1gary]

THE FACTS

More than 650,000 people are on the public dental waiting list

35% of Australians say they cannot afford to go to the dentist

The average wait for public dental care is 27 months

The oral health of Australian adults rank second-worst among OECD

NSW

The next bit is from the Combined Pensioners and is a little dated, I really doubt much has changed, especially under the NSW State Govt.

Oral health is one of the greatest areas of health inequity in NSW. People from the lowest

socioeconomic groups have fewer teeth, are more likely to have all of their teeth missing,

have worse subjective oral health, and suffer greater social impact on their quality of life as

a result of oral conditions

. Those in possession of a Government concession card have

poorer health outcomes for most oral health indicators: they are more likely to visit a

dentist for a problem; avoid or delay dental care due to cost; are significantly more likely to

report their oral health as fair or poor, are significantly more likely to report they have

experienced tooth ache in the last twelve months and have the highest tooth extraction

rate

.

In rural and regional areas waiting times are twice as long as those in metro areas (3.9

weeks and 1.6 weeks respectively),

a significantly lower proportion of adults visit dental

professionals over a twelve month period

and a higher proportion of adults have all of

their natural teeth missing

.

Within NSW, public dental services are provided to all pre school aged children and full

time students under the age of 18, and to some eligible socioeconomically disadvantaged

groups (eligibility is based on possession of a means-tested health care or pensioner

concession card). This system is chronically underfunded, with the lowest per capita

expenditure on public dental services of all states and territories

and with approximately

147, 000 people currently on public dental waiting lists

.