Ugly teeth is the cost of Australia's economy more than $ 1.3 billion in lost jobs, anti-poverty groups say.
Brotherhood of St Laurence, the report said the end of the decay of poor dental health costs, analyze data to estimate the burden of untreated dental disease condition and the resulting economic costs.
At least one million work days and at least 600,000 school days are lost each year because of poor dental health, according to a report by Professor Jeff Richardson, of Monash University, and Bronwyn Richardson, of Campbell's research and consulting. The cost in lost productivity is estimated at $ 660 million.
Direct and indirect economic cost is estimated at between $ 1.3 billion and $ 2 billion a year. Hospital admissions due to dental conditions that made up the largest category of preventable hospital acute admissions, health system costs $ 223 million per year.
Brotherhood of St Laurence Executive Director Tony Nicholson says poor dental health costs borne by those who are least able to afford it.