Having knocked on more doors than any other federal candidate for Gilmore, Labor's Fiona Phillips has made it her job to understand the matters plaguing local constituents the most.
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Dental health care is one of them according to Ms Phillips.
And Gilmore's 32,000 aged pensioners are struggling, forgoing dentist trips because they simply cannot afford to go.
"I door-knock people, and sometimes it's a choice of paying bills, putting food on table or going to the dentist," Ms Phillips said.
"The public dental clinic in Nowra is a wonderful facility but it doesn't have the staff to cope with demand.
"People are waiting and waiting for public adult dental care. There are people waiting years for dentures, some people just give up."
As a result, their health is suffering according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The last National Survey of Adult Oral Health report 2004-2006 showed almost one in four Australians (23 per cent) had moderate or severe gum disease, which increased to more than one in two (53 per cent) among people aged 65 and over.
A report commissioned in 2013 by the AIHW found one in five (19 per cent) people aged 65 and over had no natural teeth.
If Labor is elected on May 18, it will introduced a scheme to help aged pensioners and Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders.
Nearly three million pensioners have been promised $1000 of free dental work every two years.
The $1000 cap would apply to a range of services such as examinations, x-rays, cleaning, root canals and fillings.
"The pensioner dental scheme is similar to the child dental benefit scheme we introduced," Ms Phillips said.
"It's not going to cover the massive bills but it's a good start."
The Combined Pensioners and Superannuates Association welcomed expenditure on dental care, despite having other recommendations for the $2.4 billion to be spent.
"Labor's announcement is a welcome move, but there are some obvious comments to make," CPSA Policy Manager Paul Versteege said.
"While Labor's oral and dental health commitment is designed to increase the capacity of existing public oral and dental health programs, there is no guarantee it will.
"Oral and dental health programs are significantly underfunded and a more obvious use of the $2.4 billion pledged would be to better resource these programs in their entirety.
"Assuming that the net effect of Labor's oral and dental health commitment will be to increase the capacity of public oral and dental health programs, it is to be hoped that the long-term unemployed particularly will be able to benefit.
"There are approximately 185,000 Newstart recipients over-55 among the 750,000 recipients overall. The over-55s are the largest age cohort in receipt of Newstart and as a cohort they are predominantly long-term unemployed. They need oral and dental care just as badly as those over the age of 65."
