A MAN living with an intellectual disability has spent years waiting for a dental appointment, with no end in sight. Allan* and his 47-year-old son first visited Frankston Hospital nearly five years ago to treat dental issues. They were referred to Carlton Dental Hospital, where their years of frustration began.
Allan says his son, who has a cavity and teeth pushing against each other, was told he faces a three-year wait from treatment. “He was referred to Carlton Dental Hospital, where we waited two years for a response. Then we spent a day up there waiting for them, and they did a full exam with x-rays. The dentist said he needs work done fairly quickly, but he has special needs and needs to be anesthetised. At the special needs department they said it’s a three year wait for treatment,” he said. “Nine months later we got a letter from [Monash] Clayton Hospital for an appointment about his dental work. They spent half a day with him and said you’ll have to wait two years for treatment. 12 months later we got a letter from Dandenong Hospital that said it would be a two year wait as well.”
Allan’s son has still not received the treatment he needs. “He’s still waiting – he’s got a hole in the tooth, and some of his teeth are pushing,” Allan said. “He has an overbite and it impacts his eating.”
A $1.1 billion redevelopment of Frankston Hospital is well underway. Allan says that the exclusion of dental services from the redevelopment means that people like his son will continue to fall through the cracks. “When they did new extensions of Frankston Hospital, something like this wasn’t included,” he said. “We still have not got a response from the Health Department. My son has an intellectual disability – with his emotional and mental state, they need to have someone to handle that. The dental section can handle children but not adults. This system really needs to be looked at.”
The Times asked the Victorian Department of Health why the hospital redevelopment excluded dental services. It did not answer the question, but said in a statement that it is working to reduce the dental waitlist. “The most vulnerable Victorians and those requiring emergency care continue to have priority access to dental care, and we’re working closely with Dental Health Services Victoria to bring down the waitlist and grow the oral healthcare workforce, particularly in regional areas,” the statement read. “We know waiting for public dental care can be a challenging and frustrating experience for patients, which is why the Victorian Government has invested $213.4 million for dental services, helping more than 332,000 eligible Victorians.”
To reduce the waitlist, Dental Health Services Victoria is working alongside regional public dental services to recruit oral health professionals. It is also working with the private sector on a voucher scheme. Liberal MP Anne-Marie Hermans called out the state government over the situation in Parliament earlier this year. She said “this is an appalling situation where vulnerable people are forced to suffer for a basic need, and all the while Frankston Hospital’s inadequate development costs have nearly doubled.”
*Surname withheld for privacy reasons
First published in the Frankston Times – 8 October 2024