Affordability of dental care

The Victorian Population Health Survey also seeks information about avoidance or delaying a visit to a dental professional due to cost.

Overall, 33.1 per cent of Victorians avoided or delayed visiting a dental professional due to cost.

This proportion was significantly higher in women (35.2 per cent) compared with men (31 per cent) (Department of Health and Human Services 2018).

There was a significant decline in the proportion of adults who avoided or delayed visiting a dental professional due to cost with increasing total annual household income.

Similar findings were identified in the National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2017-18, which found that nearly four in ten Australians aged 15 years and over reported that they avoided or delayed visiting a dental professional due to cost (Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, 2019). Just under one quarter reported they would have a lot of difficulty paying a $200 dental bill. This study found that that strongest associations for financial barriers to accessing dental care were with dental insurance status - those without dental insurance were twice as likely to report avoiding dental care due to cost compared to those with dental insurance (Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, 2019).

Find out more

To find out more about adult oral health, access the Victorian population health survey.

References

Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health 2019, Australia's oral health: National Study of Adult Oral Health 2017-18, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide.

Department of Health and Human Services 2018, Victorian population health survey 2016, State Government of Victoria, Melbourne.