15 July 2020 
The Senior
Reporter: Eileen Wood 

Medicare-funded oral health check-ups for over-75s, access to daily oral hygiene measures and denture cleaning and more dental health education for aged care workers and carers must be introduced to stop the widespread and unacceptable neglect of older Australians’ oral care.

These are some of the recommendations the Australian Dental Association New South Wales will make to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety tomorrow (Thursday, July 16). The Association would also like to see an oral health assessment for every person entering a residential aged care facility (RACF) and a public awareness campaign on the benefits of good oral health.

“Access to dental check-ups should be a basic right in 2020 for everyone, but older Australians are missing out,” ADA NSW President Dr Kathleen Matthews said. “The economic impact of poor oral health for older Australians costs an estimated $750m a year, yet access to oral health care lags behind hairdressing and podiatry for our country’s elderly.

“Poor oral health and hygiene can hugely impact older Australians’ health and quality of life. It significantly increases the risk of pneumonia, oral infections, poor nutrition and other life-threatening conditions. Without oral health there is no health. It’s time to stop the rot and ensure that oral health is a priority for older Australians.

“RACF staff do a terrific job but often lack the time or training to carry out basic daily oral hygiene measures such as tooth brushing and denture cleaning,” Dr Matthews said. “This means elderly residents can go weeks and even months without anyone even looking in their mouth.

“It can be even worse for residents with dementia and other cognitive abilities, who cannot communicate pain and oral health problems. Oral health care needs within RACFs, including oral health assessments on admission, basic daily oral hygiene measures and access to professional oral health care are not being met.”

Further Information:

Live webcast Thursday 16 July:

This will be a live webcast for members of the public to watch starting at 10am AEST. You can watch it here: https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/hearings-and-workshops/melbourne-hearing-4

To view the ADA NSW’s recommendations and for more details, click here
To read ADA NSW’s media release with more information, click here