The demand for dental services in Perth and across Australia are the same. As opposed to medical services, which are financed through the Government, most dental services are paid for by the person receiving the services.
Consequently, the main drivers for demand include the number of population, the structure of population, such as elderly compared to younger generations, prices of services compared to income, educational level, societal expectations, expectations of individual consumers and the evolution of dental services and offerings.
Demand patterns for previous years were also taken into consideration. From 1994-2005, demand rose an average of 3% per year. From 2005-2007, demand fell to less than 2% per year. In 2007, the Medicare Chronic Dental Disease Scheme (CDDS) program was introduced, causing dental demand to rise to 3.5%. In 2012, CDDS ended and was replaced by a program that would spend $4 billion over 6 years, from 2013-2018. This is 33% less than the $1 billion that was spent on CDDS.