Dental spending ‘out of pocket’
Individuals contributed 58% of the $7.9 billion spent on dental services in Australia in 2010-11, according to a report released last week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Individuals contributed 58% of the $7.9 billion spent on dental services in Australia in 2010-11, according to a report released last week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Oral health and dental care in Australia: key facts and figures 2012, shows the $7.9 billion spent on dental services in 2010-11 was 2% more than the previous year.
The report shows in 2010, 64% of people aged five and over had visited a dentist in the previous year. This ranged from 78% of children aged 5 to 14 to 57% of adults aged 25-44.
More than half of all people aged five and over had some level of private dental cover in 2010, most adults with some level of dental insurance made co-contributions towards the cost of dental visits.
Nearly one in 10 insured adults paid all their own expenses, and of these about 17% reported that this caused a large financial burden.
The report provides an omnibus ‘snapshot’ of the state of Australians’ oral health.
Some interesting statistics show:
- In 2010, about 15% of adults reported experiencing toothache in the previous 12 months, and 25% reported feeling uncomfortable about their dental appearance.
- About 21% of adults aged 65 years and over had no natural teeth, and this was slightly higher among women.
- Adults living in remote and very remote areas had higher rates of untreated decay than those in major cities – 38% compared with 24% in 2004-2006.
