With few towns across the Western Plains having more than one dentist and more complex procedures requiring hours on the road, it’s little wonder that dental care in the bush is lagging. 

Last week’s Dental Health Week prompted Australians to book a dentist appointment, but with some of the largest waiting lists for children seeking dental assessments, the challenges run far deeper for those in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD), and far beyond a week. 

Rural doctors are urging the Federal Government to help eliminate some of the barriers to dental health, including high costs and low availability of dentists in regional areas. 



The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) President Dr Megan Belot said that beyond these barriers, a range of lifestyle and socioeconomic factors already place locals at a disadvantage when it comes to dental care. 

“Rural and remote Australians tend to have poorer diets than their urban counterparts (including consuming more sugary foods and drinks), higher rates of smoking and drinking, and poorer oral health,” Dr Belot said. 

“So while it can be all too easy to avoid regular dental check ups - particularly in rural and remote areas where the wait for dental appointments can be long or you have to drive hours to access dental care - they are critical!” she said. 

While the vast majority of dental work is done privately in NSW, those who are eligible can access the public dental service. 

In the WNSWLHD there are 1,694 children waiting for dental assessment, more than double the state average. 

For those who aren’t eligible for public dental services, while the waitlist may be shorter, the costs remain high. 

“The cost of seeing a dentist for many rural Australians is so significant that they will put off accessing dental care until they or their children have severe tooth decay or other painful dental conditions” she said. 

“Coupled with the fact that many rural and remote Australians don’t have a dentist available in their own community, and often have to drive hundreds of kilometres each way to access one – and it’s easy to see why preventative dental care is often a low priority and they only go to the dentist when there is serious pain,” Dr Belot said. 

The RDAA is asking the Federal Government for better supports for low income earners and other disadvantaged Australians to afford dental care, while implementing measures to entice more dentists to work in the bush.