Zoe Moffatt
Macedon residents seeking public dental care will have to wait on average 19.3 months, while their Sunbury neighbours will have to wait 18.9 months on average, new data revealed.
The Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch revealed the latest wait time data on July 27, with Macedon and Sunbury recording wait times longer than the state average.
The state average wait time also increased from 16.5 months in December to 16.9 months in June.
Not-for-profit community health organisation Sunbury Cobaw Community Health (SCCH) provides public dental care. Chief executive Phillip Ripper said dental funding has failed growth areas.
“Dental Health Service Victoria which allocates public dental funding has failed growth areas for decades,” Mr Ripper said.
“There has been no increase in the number of dental clinics funded in the area for more than 20 years.
“[SCCH] continues to see the same number of clients each year, [while] over the past 20 years we have seen massive population growth.
“That population growth is ramping up every week of every year and there are… still no plans for additional funding on the horizon.”
Mr Ripper said he anticipates waiting lists for general dental care will grow significantly over the coming year amid cost of living pressures.
“It is important to note that only one in five eligible people use the public dental system,” he said.
“As the rising cost of living puts more pressure on household budgets we expect to see more people joining the public dental program waiting list.
“Increasing waiting times for general dental care can have significant impacts on people’s overall health and wellbeing.
“The lack of growth funding in the face of [a] rapidly growing population across Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges will force up waiting times for general dental care while we focus on treating those in most urgent need.
“It is also important to note that there are no public dental services in the Macedon Ranges, [and] clients [are] forced to travel up to 45 minutes to the closest services.”
ADAVB president Dr Jonathan Teoh said the state government’s one-off injection of funds last year helped to tackle wait times, but it is now starting to rise once again.
“We were pleased that our advocacy saw the government provide $27 million last year to target a waiting list that had blown out to 26.7 months and more than 151,000 people,” Dr Teoh said.
“But we warned that once funding returned to normal levels that waiting times would increase, and that is exactly what we are seeing now.”
