Seems like a no-brainer to me. Dental care is health care and that’s about the end of it.

Rumour has it that when the Whitlam government was setting up Medibank – Medicare’s first incarnation – it was so overwhelmed by how long and hard it was to negotiate with the medical industry it just couldn’t be bothered with dentists.

Fair enough.

However, since then, while public health has remained relatively affordable, dental costs have gone through the roof.

When was the last time you went to the dentist for less than $100 or even $200? Probably a couple of decades ago.

Seems like it’s been put in the too hard basket for both sides of politics, and that’s a pity, because while they will have top private cover, many of us continue to fork out thousands of dollars a year in care.