Just as an aside i think dental care in Australia is ripoff expensive. As anecdotal evidence; with the ban on international travel local dentists are apparently very busy as people can no longer fly abroad for more cost effective care.
I read somewhere that dental issues are universal enough that you don't get nearly the same cost averaging that you can get for other medical problems.
When I looked into it, dental insurance basically amounted to "a payment plan for dental expenses you would pay anyway"
Also it prevents bigger issues in the future that a socialized healthcare system would have to pay for. Cheap socialized dental care basics I think is a net positive for a society in general. The poor will be more productive and create more tax revenue than the amount of money put into it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2019-03-18/calls-for-medi...