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Gipplanders Feel The Bite As Dental Waiting Lists Rise

Gippslanders are waiting over five years to see a dentist, new figures reveal.

By Helen Shardy - Shadow Minister for Health - 24th April 2006 - Back to News

Dental care waiting list figures posted on Department of Human Services website also show that some Gippslanders are waiting more than four years to get dentures.

Overall Gippsland is one of the worst places in Victoria if you need to see a dentist.

The figures show how many months people are waiting for dental care:

	Denture Care*	General Care¡Þ
Central Gippsland Health Service	42	20
Bairnsdale Regional Health Service	16	50
Latrobe Community Health ¨C Moe	49	65
Orbost Regional Health	4	41
Bass Coast Regional Health	41	30

*Denture care is the waiting list for false teeth and prosthetics.

¡ÞGeneral Care is the waiting list to see a dentist ¨C including fillings

Labor admits it is failing to meet its targets in dentistry. Budget papers show that Labor has missed its targets for 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 and is expected to miss its targets for 2003/2004.

	Denture Target*	Denture Expected Outcome*	Denture Actual Outcome	General Target*	General Expected Outcome*	General Actual Outcome
2001-2002	23	24	24	20	22	23
2002-2003	24	28	29	22	24	26
2003-2004	24	33		22	29

*times are set in months.

The Bracks Government doesn¡¯t want Victorians to know how badly it is failing in dentistry.

Why else would it remove old figures from the website which would tell us where waiting lists are increasing?

It is unacceptable and cruel that vulnerable Gippslanders in pain should wait over five years to see a dentist. It is time the Bracks Government fixed the mess that is Victoria¡¯s public dental health system.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com