Healing Smiles

In last week’s episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, Dr Arosha Weerakoon and I debated some of the many concerns that dental practitioners, and in particular private practice owners, have about plans to expand Medicare to include more dental services. This week, in Part 2 of the Medicare Dental Debate, we try to find some common ground in a path forward. We talk about some of the recommendations of the Senate Select Committee in Dental Services, alternate plans such as a proposal for tax deductibility for dental treatment and the Australian Dental Association’s Australian Dental Health Plan. Regardless of your position on Medicare and dentistry, it is clear that advocacy from various parties will continue. We have seen in Victoria an election announcement to provide free care and the updated federal ALP policy position to create a road map towards universal access to dental services. The soon to be released National Oral Health Plan will also likely push for measures to improve access to dental care. Therefore, it is critically important for practitioners to understand various options that are on the table, be informed and let their representative bodies know what they are thinking and concerned about. In this second episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, I again hand the hosting duties to Dr Arosha Weerakoon, andjump in the hot seat to debate issues around access to dental care and possible options for a path forward. Arosha is a private practice owner and an academic at the University of Queensland, whose Master’s research looked at the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme.

Many dentists see Medicare as threat to clinical standards and practice viability. Others recognise a need to improve access for underserved populations. Is there a solution in there somewhere?Many dentists see Medicare as threat to clinical standards and practice viability. Others recognise a need to improve access for underserved populations. Is there a solution in there somewhere? I have a strong belief in the principle of universal health care. Access to good quality health care should not be dependent on your postcode or income. For that reason, Australia’s Medicare system - despite its flaws - is recognised as one of the better health systems in the world. It goes without saying that the mouth is a part of the body, and dental diseases have wide ranging impacts on overall health and wellbeing. So a health care system that treats periodontal disease differently from cardiovascular disease or diabetes or inherently contradictory. But these views aren’t shared across the dental profession, which is why advocacy to improve access to dental care is very much a contested landscape. In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, I hand the hosting duties to Dr Arosha Weerakoon, and I jump in the hot seat to debate issues around access to dental care, and the concerns that many practitioners have about moves towards universal dental care. Arosha is a private practice owner and an academic at the University of Queensland, whose Master’s research looked at the Chronic Disease Dental Scheme.

A few weeks ago I wrote about concerns with outsourcing thinking to artificial intelligences and the impact on skill development and critical thinking. Alongside the ongoing issues of hallucinations, a couple of recent stories have highlighted further risks, including an AI agent going rogue by turning a gym booking exercise into a cyberattack, and the way that a fake disease created by scientists was incorporated into large language models and then promoted as being real. The article generated a mixed response amongst readers, and one challenged me on aspects of the piece, arguing that AI tools used correctly had the potential to remove repetitive tasks, make more space for high value experiences or meaningful projects. Given the rapidly evolving and changing space, we decided to get together for a chat. In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, I speak to Dr Arosha Weerakoon about the use of artificial intelligence in dental education, research and practice. Arosha is Senior Lecturer and Course Coordinator at the University of Queensland School of Dentistry. She has maintained a private dental practice for the last 21 years and is the principal and owner of Tewantin Family Dental.

New dental workforce modelling projects another oversupply. But we have heard that before. The Department of Health has just released new dental workforce modelling that projects out to 2038, highlighting what they say is a stark maldistribution with an apparent surplus of dentists overall (particularly in the private sector) alongside persistent and growing shortages in the public sector. In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast, I unpack this new report to try and understand what it really means. Read the report here: Dental Practitioner Supply and Demand Compendium Report 2026

Seemingly neutral prerequisite subjects and admissions settings systematically disadvantage rural and low socioeconomic status students - a question of fairness that has workforce implications. Have you ever thought about how you were selected into dental school, and whether that process was the best way to select future dentists? Or perhaps more importantly, how that selection process shapes the profession and ultimately plays a role in either improving health outcomes or exacerbating inequities in access to care. Some interesting new evidence looks at how selection criteria for medical school might perpetuate disadvantage, particularly for students from rural areas and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast I look at some of the evidence that underpins student selection, and talk about ways in which this might contribute to the maldistribution of the dental workforce, particularly from a geographic perspective. Could this then be one of the levers that might help improve access to care in underserved communities? Somecontentious food for thought.