Fairfax press reported the following on the 14/11/11.

"The Medicare dental program is proving less expensive the longer it lasts, new research shows, bolstering the hope of reformers that the government might rethink its opposition to the scheme.

The cost per patient of the dental scheme has fallen as patients complete the expensive phase of their treatment, research by a Sydney University dental academic has found.

Associate Professor Hans Zoellner, who chairs the Association for the Promotion of Oral Health, says his findings deflate the government's central argument against developing the present restricted arrangements into a full-scale Medicare-style scheme - that it would cost too much. The government has tried unsuccessfully in the face of Senate opposition to shut the Medicare dental scheme, which provides cover for up to $4250 in dental costs. To qualify, however, patients must have an associated chronic medical condition and be referred by their GP.

Previous estimates of a full-scale Medicare dental scheme have exceeded $8 billion a year. But Professor Zoellner says based on unfolding experience of the limited existing Medicare dental scheme the cost of a more comprehensive system could be around $4 billion.

He says that nearly a million patients have benefited from the Medicare dental scheme since it was established in 2007. The cost per patient averaged as high as $2200 when it began but had fallen to less than $1500.

He says the explanation seemed to be that many patients have had one-off major dental work and now largely require less expensive maintenance therapy.

Richard Di Natale, health spokesman for the Greens, said Professor Zoellner had provided a powerful argument for universal dental care.

A spokesman for the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, declined to comment on whether the government would be prepared to continue the existing scheme."