The ADA in the media: changing the lives of millions of Australians

Perhaps they didn’t know their kids were eligible for free dental care, or that as a parent you need to start brushing your child’s teeth when the first one erupts, or that ignoring bleeding gums can drive poor health in other parts of the body.

Our media releases and interviews on TV, radio, in print and online all have enormous power to enlighten and persuade the public, politicians and decision-makers in ways that can inform and improve peoples’ lives – and in huge number. Our reach for the last 12 months alone was 140.3 million people. Had we paid for free media coverage we attracted on TV screens, radios, online and in newspapers, it would have cost the ADA $16.7 million.

Patients accessing their superannuation to fund dental work, whether the new government would add a subsidised seniors dental scheme into Medicare and the parlous state of seniors’ oral health all dominated
the media activities for the Association’s immediate past-President Dr Scott Davis and current President Dr Chris Sanzaro, as well as Vice-President Dr Angie Nilsson, Board member Dr Andrew Gikas and various other spokespeople including A/Prof. Mihiri Silva, Dr Michael Foley, paediatric dentist Dr Tim Keys and Dr Amanda Phoon Nguyen.

JULY 2024 saw the discreet lodgement of the government’s response to the Dental Access Senate inquiry, slipped out late on a Thursday afternoon in school holidays. It ignored pleas by the ADA, COTA and all who made representations to the inquiry, to set up a seniors’ dental scheme. Following this disappointing outcome, the ADA got on the front foot with Dr Scott Davis and Interim CEO Eithne Irving doing a series of radio interviews expressing dismay at the report. Our media release said: “Our plan is a defined and clear roadmap out of this disaster, and not taking it up is a wasted opportunity and short-termist by the Albanese administration.

“If the Government chooses to ignore the recommendations of the Parliamentary Senate Inquiry, what’s the point of the Inquiry? Has it all been a whitewash and a show pony?”

AUGUST is always saturated with Dental Health Week coverage and 2024 was no exception. With gum health as the campaign theme, it reached 130 million people and resulted in 1,939 items of media coverage. The campaign resonated loudly with Australians, many who had no idea bleeding gums are a red flag.

In SEPTEMBER the Greens released a report proposing that dental care for every Australian be put into Medicare; it attracted widespread media coverage and kept the ADA’s spokespeople busy. But at a cost of $46 billion every four years, and with the dental workforce shortages associated with providing even the most basic care for 26 million Australians, Dr Scott Davis and Dr Angie Nilsson explained that it’s far more realistic to start smaller with a dental scheme for seniors costing $1.1 billion a year.

Unfortunately, the Health Minister Mark Butler said at the time there’d be no change in the current system any time soon.

In a similar vein, Dr Andrew Gikas did a great job explaining for ABC Radio Melbourne listeners, why putting all of dentistry into Medicare wouldn’t work as it requires years of improving the dental workforce plus billions of dollars more devoted to setting up the right system.

OCTOBER kicked off with Dr Scott Davis and Dr Angie Nilsson making sense of disturbing AIHW results which reported that considerable numbers of patients are still avoiding dental visits, and children are still presenting to hospital EDs in alarming numbers. Meanwhile Dr Amanda Phoon Nguyen explained to the Brisbane Courier Mail why, despite there not being much scientific evidence around about ‘snus’ (nicotine pouches with tobacco which sit in the mouth), they’re likely to contribute to oral cancer.

Periodontist Dr Alex Du Bois informed ABC Hobart listeners about the pros and cons of the latest oral health trends including the Ayurvedic practice of oil pulling (swishing coconut oil around the mouth for gum health) and using turmeric for its anti-inflammatory properties. A/Prof. Mihiri Silva gave an interview to House of Wellness TV about what the national Consensus Statements, pulled together by an alliance of healthcare organisations including the ADA and Rethink Sugary Drink, mean for the average consumer.

Also, this month the issue of early access to superannuation to fund dental work resurfaced, with reports one clinician allegedly signed off on an early release to fund dental treatment without having seen the patient. The Sydney Morning Herald tackled the topic and asked the ADA if the system was being abused. Dr Davis told the newspaper the scheme wasn’t adequately alerting people to the financial implications of early release, nor were the rules of loss of function or suffering extreme pain, always rigorously adhered to when applications were being considered; nor was the ATO properly following up to ensure the released funds were allocated where they were meant to go.

NOVEMBER: Once newly installed US Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jnr had announced he’d be removing fluoride from US water supplies, it prompted a flurry of media here with people asking: ‘could that ever happen here?’ and ‘is fluoride really safe?”. Our fluoride spokesperson Dr Michael Foley (see above) hopefully put naysaying to bed by citing scientific evidence proving its benefits and dispelling its purported harms on Channel 7 News nationwide.

DECEMBER saw Dr Chris Sanzaro installed as the new President, launching him with a media release tackling the top 10 ways oral health can be compromised while on holidays (and providing helpful solutions) – from a dry mouth during plane flights, to teeth grinding from disrupted sleep, to forgetting to pack the mouthguard for holiday sporting activities. It was sent out with an accompanying video and received a strong response in the Daily Telegraph and plenty of follow-up media.

We were intentionally challenging when we kicked off the 2025 Federal election campaign for members and the media in FEBRUARY 2025 with a media release entitled: ‘Time to stop delays and excuses and fix senior’s oral health’, urging the need for the next administration to set up a seniors’ dental scheme and for GPs to include oral health as part of the over-75s health assessment.