Oral cancer patients in Australia are being left with bills as high as $50,000 for essential dental prosthetics. A lack of public funding forces many into financial hardship, remortgaging homes or draining retirement savings just to afford teeth.
Survivors of oral cancer are speaking out against a critical healthcare gap that leaves them without support for vital post-surgical dental prosthetics. Despite undergoing complex and life-saving treatments, patients are often left to bear the burden of restoring basic mouth functions on their own.
A System Gap with Life-Altering Consequences
In Australia, head and neck cancer patients often face an unexpected hurdle after surviving the disease: paying for their new teeth. While surgeries, jaw reconstructions and radiation therapies are covered under public or private health systems, dental prosthetics, necessary to restore chewing, speaking and appearance, are largely excluded from coverage.
This discrepancy has left many patients facing steep bills, often upwards of $20,000 to $50,000, according to an investigation by ABC News. Retired teacher John Mealings, 73, is one of them. After being diagnosed with stage 4 oral cancer, he underwent extensive surgery that included jaw reconstruction using his leg bone. He is now preparing to draw from his superannuation to cover the cost of new teeth.
“I don’t think it’s fair that patients need to make that choice,” said Professor Jonathan Clark, Director of Head and Neck Research at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. He likens the situation to a car missing tyres: “You can’t drive a car with no tyres and you can’t restore form and function after mouth surgery without teeth.”
According to Professor Clark, the issue stems from an outdated divide between dentistry and general medicine, a distinction that persists in policy but no longer reflects patient realities. Breast prosthetics post-mastectomy are covered. Dental prosthetics after oral cancer are not.
Stop-Gap Solutions and Calls for Reform
While long-term reform remains uncertain, short-term technological fixes are providing some hope. One innovation gaining traction is Jaw-In-A-Day, a 3D-printed prosthetic created at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. The resin-based device allows patients to wake from surgery with functional teeth already fitted, cutting both recovery time and interim costs.
Dr Tim Manzie, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon involved in the program, says it can save patients thousands. “It allows someone to basically go off to sleep in the morning, have part of their top or bottom jaw removed and then wake-up with a completely new jaw and new teeth in place.” he said.
Yet the prosthetics are not long-term solutions. They wear down over time and must be replaced, still at full cost to the patient. The Head and Neck Cancer Australia organisation estimates that around 5,000 patients are diagnosed annually, and the majority will not have access to these devices or the funds required for permanent replacements.
Advocate and cancer survivor Jen Mackay has taken her campaign to Parliament. Diagnosed with tongue cancer, she now faces a $20,000 dental bill herself. “One of our options is to remortgage the house,” she said. “You know, it’s not ideal … I’m not even sure the bank will let us do that.”
While both federal and NSW state governments have acknowledged the issue, they are currently awaiting the results of an independent review before committing to policy changes. A government spokesperson stated they are “considering strategies to address coverage gaps.” Until then, patients like Mackay continue to shoulder the weight of recovery, financially, physically and emotionally.
