Victorian dental waiting list data updated

Waiting times for public dental care as at June 2007 were recently updated at the Your Hospitals website, published by the Department of Human Services.

The VOHA website has now collated all of the new data, and provided summaries and graphs which provide a much clearer picture of trends and the overall situation.

While there have been improvements at many clinics, the average waiting time across the State remains at just over 23 months, and patients in some areas still experience waiting times of 4 to 5 years.

Dental report card - Federal Election 2007

A report card on the dental policies proposed by the major parties participating in the forthcoming Federal Election has been published by the ADA Inc.

The National Oral Health Alliance, representing a range of professional. community, welfare and consumer groups, issued a media release on 18 September which called for all parties to:

1. As a first step, ensure that all people on concession cards have a free basic course of dental care every 2 years;
2. Provide the funding for this initiative through the States and Territories on the condition that the States and Territories bring their own expenditure up to the new level of Commonwealth funding, extend water fluoridation to all communities, ensure that all children and eligible adults receive one course of general oral health care every two years, and ensure that no one waits longer than 24 hours to receive emergency dental care for swelling, infection and bleeding, or serious and persistent pain;
3. Conduct a full national review of the current oral health workforce.