Article excerpt:

EVERY Australian would have their dental bills subsidised by the government under a $3.6 billion Denticare scheme. The Rudd Government's Health Reform Commission says it should be paid for by increasing the Medicare levy by 0.75 per cent. That would cost an average wage-earner on $60,000 an extra $450 a year.

Denticare would cover check-ups, fillings and dentures.

The commission says it is inexcusable that our health system does not subsidise basic dental health services and that one-in-three adults avoid the dentist because of the cost. About 650,000 low-income earners are waiting for public dental care - a queue the commission says is not supportable in a country as wealthy as Australia.