The Australian Dental Association says addressing oral health care in remote Aboriginal communities is key to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancy.
The association's Northern Territory president, Denise Salvestra, says oral health has improved in Indigenous communities since the federal intervention, with thousands of children treated under a project called Helping Hands.
But she says the project only runs until June this year and it only focuses on children.
"If somebody has poor oral health then it impacts on their general health," she said.
"In particular in the Indigenous community there are a lot of people with compromised health - rheumatic heart disease, diabetes - obviously there is a very high instance of those illnesses in Aboriginal communities and having poor oral health certainly impacts on those conditions."
She says the oral health project needs to be extended and must include adults.
"It's made a small indent and it needs to continue and we hope that the Federal Government appreciates that there is this ongoing need and this is addressing a small part of it," she said.
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