9 April 2010
The NSW Oral Health Alliance says it is disappointed that little has been done to rectify poor oral health for low income and disadvantaged people in New South Wales one year after releasing a dental Report in the NSW Parliament in April last year.

"There has been a lot of talk about dentistry in the community over the past twelve months, especially at the federal political level, but unfortunately we have seen very little action as a result", said Alison Peters, Alliance spokesperson and Director of the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS).

"One year ago we identified that the three most significant barriers to maintaining adequate oral health for low income and other disadvantaged groups were waiting times, cost and difficulty accessing dental services."

"Overwhelmingly, waiting times for state government funded public dental services were the single biggest issue identified by Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and their clients", Ms Peters said.

"Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the intervening twelve months."

"With forthcoming elections at both the state and federal levels, the NSW Oral Health Alliance is calling on the major political parties to develop and implement policies to specifically address the oral health needs of low income and disadvantaged groups in the community", said Ms Peters.

“All the evidence clearly indicates that the more disadvantaged a person is, the worse their oral health is compared to those from higher socio‐economic groups."

"Sadly, in a developed country like Australia, oral health is a clear indicator of a person’s socio‐economic status."

"Both the state and federal governments must accept responsibility for oral health and commit to addressing inequalities for low income and disadvantaged groups as a priority."

According to Ms Peters this issue is particularly important at this point in time as the federal government is believed to be close to making an announcement on dental health as part of broader health reform processes currently under way.

"The NSW Oral Health Alliance and the wider NGO sector, as well as oral health professionals, will be watching closely to ensure that the dental health of those most in need, the disadvantaged and vulnerable people in the community, are front and centre in oral health debate and policy", said Ms Peters.

"In the mean time we will be stepping up our calls on the NSW government to increase funding for NSW public dental services to improve public dental workforce, infrastructure and service delivery capacity."

Media Contact: Alison Peters (NCOSS) Mob: 0425 231 814 Tel: (02) 9211 2599