Supercharged Smiles: A Discourse Analysis of Australian Media Coverage of Funding Dental Care Through Superannuation

The overarching discourse relating to early superannuation access to fund dental care was negative, with media articles covering instances of consumers losing their money, having to pay more tax as a result of accessing their superannuation early than they were expecting, and the reality that accessing superannuation early has significant financial impacts later in life. Dentists and third-party access facilitators were portrayed as being exploitative and lacking in transparency in relation to the costs involved in early superannuation access. Dentists were also suggested to be aiding in the inappropriate access of superannuation funds for treatment that was largely elective and cosmetic in nature, rather than being more essential in nature in alignment with the intentions of the early compassionate release scheme.