Dental Tribune Asia Pacific Edition | 09/2018 WORLD NEWS 07 Victorian dentists strike By DTI M E L B b U R N E , A u s t r a l i a : O n Wednesday, 22 August, dentists across Victoria stopped working for half an hour as a form of protest against unacceptable waiting times for public dental care. The strike action follows intense advocacy activity by the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch (ADAVB), which has shone a light on the fact that dentists employed in the state’s community health centres are the lowest paid public sector dentists in the country. Dr Michelle Petterson, a senior dentist at Your Community Health, who took part in the strike, said: “The work we do is so important to the overall health of disabled, elderly and disadvantaged Victorians, yet we all feel overlooked and underap- preciated by the Victorian Govern- ment.” According to the ADAVB, at a community health care clinic in Darebin, the wait for eligible adults seeking general dental care is 22.8 months. Some Victorian dentists say this is due to insufficient funding, which results in the inability to retain experienced clini- cians. However, an interactive map released by the ADAVB shows a far In a bid to shine more light on unacceptable waiting times and low pay for dentists in Victorian community clinics, a number of employees recently went on strike. (Photograph: Billion Photos/Shutterstock) g reater problem , repor ted ly exposing waiting times of up to four years for some vulnerable Victo- rians. Additionally, less than 20 per cent of eligible Victorians are accessing care annually and there are more than 150,000 remaining on waiting lists. ADAVB President Dr Kevin Morris noted that the data from the interactive map means that just over a third of all courses of care are for emergency treatment rather than routine care, which puts more strain on the public system. “The ADAVB is calling on both the State and Federal Governments to support an increase in funding, with a target to double the number of patients being treated on a yearly basis to 800,000 by 2023/24. This would represent approximately 29 per cent of the eligible popula- tion,” said Morris. Straumann strengthens position in low-cost implant market By DTI BASEL, Switzerland: With implant dentistry continually developing and evolving, so too are some of the low-cost options. In a recent move to secure a larger stake in that market, Straumann recently signed agree- ments to buy further shares in T-Plus, a Taiwanese dental implant manu- facturer. Once the Taiwanese Invest- ment Commission has approved the purchase, Straumann will gain a 60 per cent share in the company. T-Plus develops and manufac- tures attractively priced dental implant systems, which are sold exclusively through distributors in Taiwan and China. Its portfolio includes three tapered implant designs and covers a broad range of indications and customer pref- erences. The concepts, features and quality are similar to those of popular implant brands, some- thing that Straumann believes makes T-Plus an attractive, inex- pensive option for dentists using systems like Osstem and Astra. Straumann first entered the non-premium market two years ago with a 30 per cents take in the France- based dental implant systems manu- facturer Anthogyr. They have now reported that in Asia more than six million non-premium implants are sold annually, of which more than a third are low-cost. “T-Plus provides us with the additional product ranges, regis- trations and brand to penetrate the entire non-premium segment in Taiwan and mainland China. In addition, it provides us with a modern, certified manufacturing facility in Asia. The company has a good track record and is well posi- tioned for international growth, suppor ted by the Straumann Group’s global presence, network and expertise,” said Patrick Loh, Head of Sales in Asia Pacific. In a recent move to secure a greater share in the low-cost dental implant market, Straumann recently signed an agreement to buy further shares in iaiwanese dental implant manufacturer i-Plus. (Photograph: StudioLaMagica/Shutterstock) IMPRINT PUBLISHER/PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Torsten R. 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