Perplexed by a recent finding that showed nearly half a million Australians in urgent need of dental care are on waiting lists for longer than two years, Greens' MP Lee Rhiannon has urged Kristina Keneally, the Premier of Australia’s most populous state New South Wales, to press the Federal Government for a national dental health service.

Calling on the Premier to respond to the dental crisis that could worsen even further, Rhiannon, in a statement on Sunday, said, "Dental health is essential to good physical health and emotional well-being, but there are more than
500,000 people on dental waiting lists in Australia”.

Dental healthcare is long overdue for an overhaul, as the current system fails many Australians, particularly those who are already disadvantaged, asserts Rhiannon.

Notably, Fairfax media had, in a report ‘Australia's National Oral Health Plan 2004-2013’, showed that adults in the country ranked second from bottom in the field of oral healthcare in the OECD group of wealthy nations. The investigation went on to find out that about half the population could not afford the high cost of private dental treatment.

Set aside low-income earners, even the middle-income families are finding it hard to afford dental treatment, the report mentioned. So much so that, some families have been taking out loans or travelling overseas to places where the treatment was almost two-thirds cheaper.