Coronavirus pandemic causes Tasmanian dental waiting lists to blow out

St Luke's Health chief executive officer Paul Lupo mentioned the figure, which is regularly updated on the Health Department dashboard, in a speech he gave at the Tasmanian Council of Social Services Premier's luncheon on Tuesday.

"In 2018, St. Luke's Health commissioned a Tasmania Health Report to look at the health behaviours of Tasmanians aged 25-34. The results showed us that 62 per cent had avoided or delayed visiting a dentist in the past year because of the cost," he said.

"Alarmingly, data suggests that access and affordability will continue to get worse unless we rethink and reframe how we combat this issue."

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That is a point of view shared across the dental health sector. Royal Flying Doctor Service Tasmania chief executive officer John Kirwan said there needed to be a greater focus on prevention and education.

He said often people were not seeking treatment until it was too late - causing them to lose teeth.

The RFDS offer dental care in remote locations throughout Tasmania including East Coast, North-East, North-West and Bass Strait Islands.

"What we are seeing, is that in some of the areas we go to, there has been significant delays in people having their oral health looked at," Mr Kirwan said.

"In some areas that meant we have had to take out all 32 teeth [and] replace them with dentures."

Mr Kirwan said it was time for a uniform prevention and education program for Tasmania to help combat the growing problems with oral health across the state.

That call is something the Australia Dental Association's Tasmanian branch supports.

President Girish Sasidharan said if Tasmania remains a COVID-free state then it would be possible to bring the waiting list down. But that would require bringing more dentists to the state or offloading some patients in the private sector.

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said she planned to meet with St Luke's Health and other key stakeholders to ensure everyone was working together to meet demand.

She said Oral Health Services Tasmania had put in place a recovery plan and that at June last year patients were waiting on average four months less for general dental than in 2013.\

"The Government recognises the importance of oral health education and promotion within the Tasmanian community. Oral Health Services Tasmania delivers and supports health promotions and initiatives that aim to raise awareness of the importance of oral health in overall community health and wellbeing, under the Oral Health Promotion Strategic Plan," Ms Courtney said.

"This includes the very successful Fissure Sealant and Fluoride Varnish program, providing early education and preventative treatment for thousands of school children across Tasmania each year."