| DENTAL services in the state's country areas are inadequate, with many rural residents waiting between three and five years to access publicly funded dentists and enduring months-long waits for private dentistry. A survey by the Rural Dentist Action Group found 18-month delays for dentures after teeth were removed and 400-kilo metre trips to the nearest school dental program. People in country areas were struggling to afford and access even the most basic services. The survey of 191 Country Women's Association branches in NSW found more than one-third of respondents did not have a school dental health service in their area, 44 per cent did not have a private dentist and more than 65 per cent did not have a government dental clinic. Transport was also a major barrier. "If you do not have much money, you do not travel two to three hours to have your teeth checked, you wait until there is a terrible problem and then you do it," the action group's spokeswoman, Lucy Needham, said. "Some of the towns only have the school dental service visiting once a year, where they might do an assessment and refer children on to a private dentist." Even in large rural centres such as Orange where there is a good supply of private dentists, there is still a long wait to get in and many people cannot afford the fees, Ms Needham said. "We have a public dental system in crisis and it is particularly bad in the state's rural areas," said Michelle Burrell, acting director of the NSW Council of Social Services. What was particularly shocking was the sporadic access to school dental services, she said. "Everybody just assumes that program is in good shape. Clearly it isn't and if we don't sort out our kids' teeth we are going to have terrible dental problems later in life. Ms Burrell called on the NSW and Federal governments to make an emergency investment in the public dental system - $170 million in state contributions to stabilise services plus $700 million in recurrent state and federal spending. "We cannot afford not to invest; what goes on in people's mouths has a huge impact on their life chances, their ability to socialise, their ability to get a job." A spokeswoman for the Minister for Health, John Hatzistergos, acknowledged there was a crisis in the dental health workforce, but said the Government had recruited 26 dentists to work across the state, many in rural areas. There was also the issue of a lack of federally funded dental training places - 45 dentists graduated in NSW a year while far more than that retired, she said. There was an imbalance of dentists in Sydney and the state, Hans Zoellner, the chairman of the Association for the Promotion of Oral Health, said. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states the average is 56 dentists per 100,000 people. In the eastern suburbs it is 89 per 100,000, in south-western Sydney 32 and in rural areas it is below 29. There were five public dentists per 100,000 eligible patients in south-western Sydney, while in the Northern Rivers area of the state, there were eight. | 
