One in four British people are delaying dental treatment due to fear of the costs in a trend that has been dubbed financial dentophobia. This comes on the back of yet another news story about Australia’s flocking overseas for major dental treatment with cost of treatment the driving factor.
For many Australians, dental care has quietly become a luxury — not a routine service but a decision weighed against rent, food, fuel and other essentials.
They avoid the dentist not mainly because they fear the drill — although dental anxiety does play a role — but because the system forces them to choose between essential living costs and essential health care. That’s not choice, that’s constraint. As cost-of-living pressures grow and health inequalities widen, ignoring dental care isn’t a cost-saving strategy; it’s a ticking public health time-bomb.
In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast I talk about our two tiered system that has split Australians into those who can afford routine visits and preventive care to maintain their oral health, and those who are trapped in a cycle of pain, delayed care and costly treatment as a consequence. It’s time we recognised dental health not as a discretionary service but as an integral part of health care worthy of protection, funding, and equality.
As a profession we must grapple these issues if we want to build future where all Australians have fair, equitable and affordable access to healthcare. Where prevention is prioritised and valued. And corporate interests and profits – of all sorts – take a back seat to an individuals right to health.
Without some reform of our current system, oral health inequities will continue to widen.
