By William Ton in Melbourne

Two-in-three Australians are only visiting the dentist when they have a problem as cost of living pressures continue to bite, amid calls for dental subsidies to be expanded.

In an oral health survey of 25,000 people, 61 per cent delayed oral treatment in the past 12 months, with affordability accounting for 63 per cent of the reason.

It marks a 17 per cent increase in people delaying regular check ups in the past 13 years, while the issue of costs increased by 12 per cent compared to 2022.

One-in-three people has suffered tooth and gum pain, face swelling or infection in the past year, with those issues more prevalent in older groups.

The Australian Dental Association is calling for government subsidies to be expanded to senior Australians.

People would be less likely to face complex and expensive dental treatments down the track if they saw their dentist regularly, association president Scott Davis said.

“Government-funded schemes for our most vulnerable populations would go a long way to making this a reality for millions of Aussies for whom at the moment a dental visit isn’t a financial reality,” he said.

The survey figures show only seven per cent of people have visited the dentist in the past six months, while 10 per cent visited in the past six-to-12 months.

Almost half had their problems treated, but about one in four did not due to cost barriers around treatments.

“The current system of government assistance for them is ailing – eligible people wait years on public dental waiting lists just to have their first appointment, often enduring years of pain,” Dr Davis said.

“There are hundreds of thousands of Aussies suffering this way.”

The dental association wants the health minister to introduce a seniors scheme in Medicare which, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, would cost $15.7 billion over a decade.

“This is cheap compared to trying to deliver dentistry to every Australian at a cost of around five times that at $77 billion a decade, according to Treasury costings.”

Children are already offered subsidised dental treatments under the Dental Benefits Act with the structures in place to extend this to seniors, Indigenous people, those on low incomes and people with a disability.