Updated Dental Waiting Times

Dental waiting times at public dental clinics across Victoria as at June 2008 were published by the Department of Human Services on 3 October 2008.

The data published online by the Department is not provided in a user-friendly format, we have incorporated this data into this website so as to provide summary lists and graphic displays which more effectively communicate the overall waiting time position and trends over time.

People in the Ballarat district are waiting 52 months for public dental treatment while those around Sale have to wait four years. In metropolitan Melbourne, the longest waiting times are at St Albans and Sunbury – each 33 months.

The latest public dental waiting list figures – for the first half of the year – show that 18 centres have waiting times greater than the Government’s budgeted target of 22 months.

The President of the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch, Dr Stephen Cottrell, commended the Government on cutting waiting lists in many clinics but said that it was still unacceptable for people to wait such long times for dental treatment and further measures are required. “Public patients in Victoria are entitled to have access to dental care in a reasonable time – not years,” he said.