The case for affordable oral health care: the public voice

Gagandeep Kaur; Georgios Tsakos; Tami Yap; Tania King; Manu Raj Mathur; Ankur Singh

doi:10.1071/PU24009

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Contents Vol 35(2)

The case for affordable oral health care: the public voice

Gagandeep Kaur ^A ^* , Georgios Tsakos ^B , Tami Yap ^C , Tania King ^D , Manu Raj Mathur ^E ^F and Ankur Singh ^A ^G

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^B Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.

^C Melbourne Dental School, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^D Centre for Health Policy, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic, Australia.

^E Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, Bethnal Green, London, E1 4NS, England.

^F Public Health Foundation of India, Plot No. 47 Sector 44, Institutional Area, Gurgaon, Haryana, 122002, India.

^G The University of Sydney School of Dentistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: gagandeep.kaur8@unimelb.edu.au

Public Health Research and Practice 35, PU24009 https://doi.org/10.1071/PU24009

Submitted: 13 October 2023 Accepted: 10 June 2024 Published: 11 April 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Sax Institute. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)

Abstract

Objectives

Although we have scientific and policy discussions on the need for oral health care, rarely have populations been asked about their expectations regarding this important matter. Therefore, the public voice has been absent from these discussions. This study aims to quantify public support among working-age Australian adults regarding the essentiality of oral health care and assess whether oral health care affordability differs by sociodemographic characteristics.

Study type

Descriptive analysis of nationally representative data from Australia.

Methods

Using cross-sectional survey weights, we analysed data from wave 18 (2018) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study. The analysis included 11,028 working-age Australians aged 20–54 years.

Results

Almost all (96.4%) working-age Australian adults considered oral health care as essential; however, 6.5% do not get treatment due to lack of affordability. Higher proportions of specific disadvantaged groups, such as the unemployed, those with lower educational attainment, lower income, and participants with disability, reported not availing themselves of oral health care due to lack of affordability compared to less disadvantaged groups.

Conclusion

Overwhelmingly, working-age Australian adults considered oral health care to be essential. The vast majority reported getting oral health care when needed, indicating no major affordability concerns. However, the lack of affordable dental care was a barrier, particularly for the disadvantaged groups, preventing them from accessing oral health services. This highlights the need to provide equitable oral health care, ideally by implementing the principles of universal oral health coverage.

Keywords: affordability, Australian adults, dental care, disadvantaged groups, Household, Income and Labour Dynamics survey, HILDA, oral health care, universal health coverage, working-age Australians.

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