An upcoming report is expected to reveal about 37 per cent of NSW residents have untreated tooth decay, with many people having put off trips to the dentist throughout the COVID pandemic.
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Roughly 30 per cent of people over 15 years old in the state are anticipated to have gum disease too.
Pre-COVID figures showed more than one in three adults had already been putting off going to the dentist on an annual basis, due to cost.
Australian Dental Association (ADA) NSW president Michael Jonas, who is based in Tamworth, said just a couple of years without seeing a dentist can be costly.
"Two out of four years not going to the dentist just for your regular check ups is a huge opportunity for those conditions in the mouth to accelerate," he said.
"So things like dental decay and gum disease occur when you drop your guard a bit and your diet tends to drop off, which has certainly people during COVID, people have consumed a lot more sugar than they used to.
"Cost certainly is a contributing factor, dentistry is an expensive health care, and we must remember there is no Medicare benefit for going to the dentist and yet the mouth is part of the body."
Dr Jonas said part of his role as ADA president is trying to convince the government to add dental care to the Medicare scheme, but he is urging people not to wait for that to happen before getting checked.
He said paying for dental care is worth it overall anyway, as it has a much broader effect on health than people may think.
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"We are encouraging people to get on top of tooth decay and gum disease because they can lead to more serious conditions later in life," he said.
"Without getting that sorted out it can affect your wellbeing later in your life, having bad teeth often leads to people having obesity issues, heart problems, diabetes, kidney conditions and on and on it goes."
Tamworth previously had quite good dental hygiene according to Dr Jonas, who attributed that to the city being one of the first in the country to get fluoridated water supply.
He said it would be a shame to see that standard slip as a result of people missing their regular check ups during COVID.