About 16 years ago, Jane Bridges woke with significant swelling on the side of her face.
She was rushed to the Royal Hobart Hospital and by that 9:30 that night, all her teeth had been removed.
"I did end up having a set of dentures made by the public system in New Town, and I did request for them to please do the smallest set possible – I have a small mouth — but the set of teeth I got — it sounds hilarious — they made me look like I had a horse's mouth.
"They were too big, they made me gag and it turned me off going to have them corrected."
Ms Bridges, of Chigwell in southern Tasmania, sought quotes to have a set made privately, but they ranged between $3,000 and $4,000, which would mean she could not pay rent and run her car.
"So for 16 years I had no teeth," she said.
After an ABC News story on her plight, a stranger in Queensland contacted Ms Bridges saying she wanted to pay for her to have a set of teeth made.
"It brought me to tears straight away," she said.
After searching for a job for years, she recently secured a job in customer service – and credited the confidence boost with helping her win the role.
'My way of saying thank you'
Knowing the difference new teeth can have, Ms Bridges said she wished she had the money to help other people like the woman in Queensland did for her.
She is now calling for Medicare to be extended to cover dental procedures, saying poor oral health is holding people back from work and enjoying their lives.
"I have a friend who has wisdom teeth trouble. He works part time and would like more work but he's still on Centrelink … he's on the waiting list [for dental care] and when he has that small amount of work to do, he can't do it because he's in that much pain," she said.
"I've got other friends who don't smile that much because they're losing teeth … it affects so much of people's health.
"It can affect their mental health and make them not want to go outside anymore.
"This is what I want the government to know.
'Medicare needs teeth'
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says it is "way beyond time" for the federal government and the opposition to commit to including dental procedures under Medicare.
"There is no logical reason for it being excluded currently, there is no logical reason that publicly funded dental care through Medicare is only available to kids," he said.
Mr Wilkie conceded it would cost "a lot" of money to provide dental care for all Australians.
"But we are a rich country. In a normal, non-COVID year, the federal government spends about half a trillion dollars," he said.
"The money is there. What's lacking is political will to make it happen."
Oral Health Tasmania, the government's dental health service, runs six major centres across the state.
Appointments are free for people under 18 years, and adults with a healthcare or pensioner concession card can attend for a fee of $45, or more for some high-cost treatments.
However, the average wait time can blow out to several years.
Government data shows 16,493 Tasmanians were on the dental services waiting list in January this year.
Mr Wilkie said the waiting list for government-supported oral services was "completely unacceptable" and including oral care under Medicare would allow almost all dentists in the state to see these patients.
CEO of the Tasmanian Council of Social Service, Adrienne Picone, said adding dental care to Medicare would help to reduce hospital admissions.
"Tasmanian adults have some of the worst oral health in the country. Affordability is a key reason, with around one in five Tasmanians putting off seeing a dentist due to cost," she said.
"This has impacts across the health system. For example, poor dental health is the most common reason for preventable hospitalisation of 25- to 34-year-olds in Tasmania."
How many – and who – is affected?
In 2019-20 there were about 67,000 hospitalisations across Australia for dental conditions that could potentially have been prevented with earlier treatment, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Children aged between five and nine years old were the largest age group represented in these admissions.
In Tasmania during that period, there were 1,512 potentially preventable dental hospitalisations.
Cost is a commonly cited barrier to dental treatment. In a national study in 2017–18, one in four Australians over the age of 15 said cost prevented them from accessing the recommended care.
Women were more likely than men to report finances as a barrier, as were Indigenous Australians and people who lived outside capital cities.
Choice between paying rent or dentist
Tasmanian resident Mariane Martin waited years to have two teeth fixed that were damaged as a child.
But the cost and wait times in Australia led to her seeking treatment overseas.
"Trying to get them fixed here in Australia was just too expensive," she said.
"It was actually cheaper to travel to Thailand to get them fixed than it was to get them done here.
"So I got a holiday and I got my teeth fixed.
"I needed it done for my confidence … the one thing you wear every day is your smile. And when you don't, you tend to shut off, so I chose to change that."
Others are still waiting for help.
Richard Weeding said the $600 he was quoted for the removal of two painful teeth meant he had to choose between "living" or having the procedure done.
"The price is just expensive … I'm homeless at the moment and it's bloody hard," he said.
For Angela Hanson, it is a choice between paying rent and going to the dentist.
"My partner and I both work so we don't have a healthcare card, we don't get cheap dental treatment, so we choose between a toothache and paying rent," she said.
"My partner has got problems with his wisdom teeth [but] can't go to the dentist at the moment because we've got to save and save and save for that. And we've got kids so they have got to come first — it's just ridiculous, and trying to get into a dentist is even harder."
'Longer-term funding options'
A spokesperson for Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said in a statement the government "understands the importance of good oral health and its role in supporting general health and wellbeing".
It said that while the states and territories had primary responsibility for public dental services, the Commonwealth was working with them to develop longer-term funding options.
Among the funding was $107.8 million in last year's budget to extend support for adult public services.
