Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

In this country, we face a quiet crisis—a crisis where too many people cannot afford to go to the dentist. The Greens have been clear: the mouth is part of the body. Dental care should be part of Medicare. At the last election, we took a simple policy: if you have a Medicare card, you should be able to get the dental care that you need without breaking the bank. Right now, that's not the reality. Most people can't access public dentistry. For those who can, the waitlists are years long.

Think about that. That's years of preventable tooth decay, years of headaches and years of not being able to eat properly. And yet, already in this term of parliament, both the government and the opposition have voted against the expansion of dental care. Shame on you both! Every Australian knows what happens when you go and sit in the dentist's chair. You are asked to open your wallet wide. Well, it is time to end that situation. When you go to the dentist's chair, you will always be asked to open your mouth wide, but let us end that situation where first you must open your wallet wide as well.

This is not just about teeth; this is about overall health. Our dental and oral health workforce are calling for dental to be brought into Medicare. A recent survey of dental practitioners found that over 64 per cent of those surveyed support expanding Medicare to include more dental services. And we know who is affected: people in rural and regional Australia. We know that oral health generally declines as remoteness increases. The dentist drought is costing teeth, and people cannot afford to travel to the dentist.

Older Australians, people over the age of 65, on average have lost 14 teeth. Some 25 per cent are avoiding certain foods. We have seen promising results from a seniors dental benefits scheme trial. Why are we waiting any longer for action? A person recovering from cancer may have surgery that removes their teeth. The implants may be funded by the government. But the actual teeth in those implants are not. If someone has radiation therapy, their salivary glands are often damaged. They will need to see a dentist twice a year for the rest of their life, yet that care isn't funded by Medicare. Why?

From survivors of abuse, I have heard so many stories of people being assaulted and losing their teeth. In one story shared with me, a woman lost her front teeth, and the others began to blacken and die. For decades she lived with trauma and stigma because repairing her teeth was simply too expensive. Why are we relying on charities to fund restorative work and not agreeing to fund this restorative work under Medicare for survivors of abuse?

Disabled people—well, for us, the dentist chair is often inaccessible. People may need longer appointments or treatments under anaesthetic in a hospital setting. All of this adds up to the point where disable people are not getting the oral health care that we need. First Nations communities already face higher rates of poor oral health and barriers to care. We are seeing First Nations led services leading the way in community care, yet this government is not funding these services to scale.

All of this happens even when we know that the flow-through impacts of untreated dental problems are heart disease, dementia, respiratory disease and even things like pregnancy complication or indeed links to rheumatoid arthritis. respiratory, cardiac, even pregnancy complication or indeed links to rheumatoid arthritis. Oral health is not a luxury; it is fundamental to dignity, to confidence and to being able to eat, speak and live free of pain. Let us bring dental care into Medicare now.