The Australian Medical Association Queensland has expressed concern over the Queenslanders’ long wait for elective surgery.

People with bad tooth pain, on an average, in Queensland have to wait for about 30 days to see a publicly-funded dentist.

Those with lost fillings or broken teeth have to wait for 50 days, while people wanting a dental checkup from a Queensland Health dentist have to face a two-year wait.

People with severe toothache, which keeps them awake at night, face a month-long wait for a Queensland Health dentist.

An increase of 12.1% compared to last year has been reported as around 6,700 people were found to be waiting too long for the surgery, this year.

AMAQ President Mason Stevenson said that there were only hundreds waiting in some other states. Dr. Stevenson said that more seriously ill people in Queensland were waiting too long for elective surgery. The number of category one and two patients waiting too long increased but the category three figures dropped. Dr. Stevenson said that cutting waiting times would mean to focus on the least urgent patients.

Opposition health spokesman Mark McArdle said that the long wait for public dental treatment in Queensland was unacceptable.