Wait times down after Covid causes huge dental delays

Public dental patients have faced wait time blowouts of up to almost three years due to the Covid pandemic.

Wait times for public dental care have dropped in the region after blowing out to up to almost three years, amid concern over deteriorating oral health.

Average wait times for general dental care sat at 12.9 months for Barwon Health and 22.9 months for Bellarine Community Health (BCH), new data for the 2021-22 financial year showed.

Public dental waiting times increased on average to 26.7 months across Victoria, according to the figures released by the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch (ADAVB) during Dental Health Week, which ends on Sunday.

In July 2021 the Bellarine Community Health (BCH) wait time for general dental services was 34.9 months, with the blow out in wait times largely due to the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.

But between December and June BCH reduced that to 8.1 months, due to short term additional funding provided by the federal government through Dental Health Services Victoria.

BCH dental manager Robyn Bastiaan said the reduction was achieved through a combination of additional in-house appointments and a voucher system that allowed patients to access services at private dental clinics.

“BCH has also developed a new program of oral health education sessions which is providing additional support for dental patients,” she said.

Associate Professor Michael Smith, head of oral health at Barwon Health, said as of 31 July, there were 24 people on the general wait list, with an average waiting time of one month.

“To meet the challenge of providing care to our community after long periods of service disruption, Dental Health Services Victoria is offering additional funding sources to support agencies,” he said.

Geelong dental patient wait times revealed.

“This includes a one-off 2021-22 State Budget investment for dental and oral health (deferred care), to provide immediate access to public dental services for those Victorians whose access to care has been affected over the past 18 months during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

ADAVB chief executive Matt Hopcraft said that while people waited years for dental care, their existing problems worsened and often led to the need for emergency treatment.

Associate Professor Hopcraft said the association was calling on governments to prioritise the importance of dental health.

ADAVB president Dr Warren Shnider said dental practices in Victoria had been prevented from providing routine dental care during each of the lockdown periods since the pandemic began.

“In almost six of the last 18 months dental practices have been restricted to only providing urgent or emergency dental care,” he said.

“Patients have had to defer routine dental care, regular dental check-ups and preventive treatment, leading to a deterioration in their oral health.”

Dental diseases lead to pain, discomfort and tooth loss, and can lead to difficulties with chewing, swallowing and speech.

Originally published as Wait times down after Covid causes huge dental delays