Poor Oral Health Costs Australian Economy More than $1 Billion a Year
A report has suggested that poor oral health costs the Australian economy more than one billion dollars each year.
The report, which was compiled by the Christian organisation, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, claims that $1.3 billion is lost each year as a result of people taking time off work and students missing out on valuable classroom time.
Authors of the report suggested that thousands of people were isolated because they cannot afford dental treatment and the dental services currently offered are not targeting the poor.
The report, entitled ‘End the Decay: The cost of poor dental health and what should be done about it’, was written by Professor Jeff Richardson from Monash University and Bronwyn Richardson from Campbell Research and Consulting.
According to the study, at least one million days of work are lost each year in addition to 600,000 school days. Adults on low incomes were also much more likely to suffer from oral health diseases and those on the lowest incomes were 60 times more likely to have no teeth than high earners.
In light of the findings highlighted in the report the Brotherhood of St Laurence is calling for the government to do more to help people on low incomes to access dental care.
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