Dental care is too expensive, and it’s our super that’s suffering

4 hours ago 3

Opinion

September 14, 2025 — 5.01am

I’m yet to meet anybody who is a huge fan of the dentist, but looking at what the Australian Tax Office uncovered last week makes for one gigantic national toothache for us all – even those who are exemplary with their brushing and flossing.

According to new figures from the ATO, the number of people making applications to access their superannuation early on the grounds of compassionate release has grown by more than 75 per cent since before COVID – from about 39,000 applications in the 2019-2020 financial year, to almost 69,000 in 2023-2024.

Access to affordable dental care – and who pays for it – have long been a point of contention in Australia.

Of those applications for all medical care, 73 per cent were approved (about 50,000), with a total of $1.04 billion – or $20,800 per person – being removed from Australian superannuation funds in one year alone.

This rise in applications isn’t because it’s suddenly become easier to access your superannuation. In fact, the ATO has pretty strict approval criteria in place to ensure people aren’t spending their retirement funds prematurely.

Generally, applications should be seen as a last resort, the ATO says, and approval is only granted on grounds of compassionate release in very limited circumstances.

These circumstances can include things such as medical treatments for chronic or acute pain, life-threatening illnesses or injuries, or where not receiving treatment could have a significant impact on a person’s mental wellbeing.

Receiving that treatment should not come at the cost of a safe retirement.

Importantly, a person also has to show that the required medical treatment is not readily available through the public health system. It’s this point that explains what is, to my mind, the standout takeaway in the ATO’s data: more than half (32,000) of the applications made in the 2023-2024 financial year were to pay for dental treatments.

Access to affordable dental care – and who pays for it – has long been a point of contention in Australia. While public dental care is available to some people, it’s extremely limited: adults with a Centrelink pensioner concession card or healthcare card, or children eligible for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule, for example.

But by and large, the dental treatments for Australians are provided by private providers, despite two-thirds of dentists saying they support essential dental services being added to Medicare.

The main reason for this, you guessed it, comes down to cost. While the Grattan Institute estimates it would cost about $5.6 billion a year, the Greens (who have long been in favour of adding dental to Medicare) estimate that figure is closer to $7.5 billion.

When it was a hotly debated issue ahead of the May election, Health Minister Mark Butler said Labor would “love to bring dental onto Medicare at some stage”. Key emphasis on those last three words.

According to Commonwealth parliamentary data, in the 2022-2023 financial year, Australians spent more than $7.6 billion on dental services, while health insurers paid out $2.5 billion, and federal, state and territory governments parted with a combined $2.4 billion. All up, that’s $12.5 billion each year.

Considering 32 per cent of the average Australian’s teeth will either have cavities, fillings or be missing by the time we reach 35-54 – and that this number doubles to 60 per cent by the time we reach 55-74 – this level of spending is hardly surprising.

And even more concerning, this lack of affordable or subsidised access means that about 2 million Australians are now skipping or delaying dental care due to the cost. In every state and territory, the waiting time for subsidised dental treatment is months or even years.

According to data published by the ABC earlier this year, in Victoria, the average waiting time for non-urgent dental services in the public system is 12.4 months. In Tasmania and the Northern Territory, it’s 2.5 years.

It’s here that the superannuation elephant, where those $20,800 withdrawals from 32,000 people for dental treatment total $665 million per year in out-of-pocket dental expenses alone, enters the room.

While I wish it wasn’t happening, it’s entirely understandable that people in severe pain are resorting to desperate measures such as accessing their superannuation prematurely.

Anyone who’s ever been unlucky enough to have a toothache, root canal, gum infection or any other kind of dental discomfort would understand why treatment is essential, and wouldn’t wish waiting more than a year to see a dentist on their worst enemy. But receiving that treatment should not come at the cost of a safe retirement.

One solution that has been floated is a kind of midpoint between desperate people having to use their retirement funds for care and the government having to find upwards of $5 billion annually.

As per the Australian Dental Association’s recommendation, the federal government rolling out a means-tested dental scheme for seniors with a capped annual amount would cost between $1.1 and $1.4 billion annually.

Don’t get me wrong, these are still huge figures. But so is $665 million per year, and the longer-term costs. Say, for example, you take out that $20,800 when you’re aged 30. By the time you’re ready to stop working, it will equate to a loss of about $96,000.

For one person, that’s pretty bad and could be the difference between requiring support from the aged pension or not. But when you multiply that by 32,000 and those 37 years that gets you to the minimum retirement age of 67, suddenly that $665 million loss skyrockets to almost $3.1 billion each year.

It’s no secret that the risks of drawing down on your retirement savings, or not having enough at the time of your retirement are huge. With time being the greatest gift to superannuation, any amount taken out – especially early – is likely to have a major negative impact.

It’s not that people shouldn’t ever be able to access their super in times of medical emergencies – there absolutely should be some flexibility when the reasons are extremely valid and important such as a person’s health and wellbeing. But it’s that they shouldn’t have to.

And now, we have 3.1 billion reasons (and growing) to remember why there is no such thing as short-term pain when superannuation is involved.

Victoria Devine is an award-winning retired financial adviser, bestselling author and host of Australia’s No.1 finance podcast, She’s on the Money. She is also founder and director of Zella Money.

Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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