Some people in the Maryborough area are waiting almost four years to receive public dental care.
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Data collated by the Victorian branch of the Australian Dental Association shows the average wait at the Maryborough District Health Service for general dental care at April 2019 was 36.5 months, while the wait for denture care was 46.8 months - about a month shy of four years.
The average waiting times for public dental care statewide were 20.3 months for general care and 17.8 months for denture care.
Maryborough's waiting time for general care represents only a slight change from December 2018, when it sat at 36.6 months.
But the wait jumped significantly from June 2018, when it was 22 months.
This is despite a drop in the number of people on the waiting list.
The waiting time for denture care has also increased, along with the numbers on the waiting list.
Maryborough is in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the state, which means there are high numbers of people eligible for public dental care and more with priority access.
Children under 12, pensioners, people with concession cards and their dependants, refugees and asylum seekers, children in out-of-home care and children in custodial care are eligible for public dental services.
A Victorian Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said a $12 million funding boost to shorten wait times had resulted in 25,000 people removed from waiting lists in areas of the highest need.
"People with urgent needs and priority groups such as children, pregnant women, refugees and asylum seekers and Aboriginal Victorians do not wait. They are given the next available appointment," they said.
The spokesperson said the government's school dental program would also free up spots in the public system for adults.
Patients in the Bendigo area have a much shorter time to wait than at Maryborough, with the waiting time at Bendigo Health extending to 5.1 months for general care and 9.6 months for denture care.
For general care, that is a slight increase from December last year but a fall from June 2018.
The waiting time for denture care jumped by about a month and a half between December 2018 and April this year, although the number of people on the waiting list remained steady.
At Echuca, waiting times for general care have remained relatively the same over the past year and sat at 26.9 months in April.
But the waiting time for denture care fell from 35.5 months to 22.3 months.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
