Oral health and dental care in Australia

Oral health and dental care in Australia : key facts and figures 2011, has been released this week by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.  Some of the findings include the fact that:

• In 2010, approximately 21% of adults aged 65 and over were edentulous (without natural teeth).  Of these people, nearly half (47%) wore dentures.
• In 2010, around 15% of adults reported experiencing toothache in the previous 12 months, and 25% reported feeling uncomfortable about their dental appearance. 
• In 2010, 64% of persons aged 5 and over visited a dentist in the previous year, ranging from 78% in children aged 5–14, to 57% in adults aged 25–44. 
• The majority (54%) of persons aged 5 and over had some level of private dental cover, with those living in Major cities (59%) having higher rates of insurance than those in Inner regional (47%) and Outer regional areas (46%).  
• In 2009–10 the total expenditure on dental services was $7,690 million, a 13% increase from the previous year. 

The capacity for the dental labour force to supply dental visits is expected to range between 33.0 and 40.1 million visits by 2020, compared to a projected demand for between 33.6 and 44.1 million visits.