Optimising oral health should begin before the first tooth erupts and continue throughout life. Vulnerable individuals and those who live in remote locations should be supported by government funding to ensure they receive equitable access to dental care including treatment under general anaesthetic (GA). Everyone involved in the care of people should be trained in the provision of daily preventive oral hygiene measures, and be able to refer when required.
1.1. Everyone should have equitable access to timely and appropriate oral health care.
1.2. Government funding should improve access to oral health care and prioritise care for vulnerable
individuals.
1.3. Government schemes designed to improve oral health should be promoted by the government to
enhance uptake.
1.4. Public funding should support access to dental services, including treatment under general
anaesthetic.
1.5. Education and training in oral hygiene maintenance, dietary instruction and basic dental
awareness should be readily available to health care workers, aged care workers, parents and
carers.
1.6. All professionals involved in the care of people should be aware of the importance of oral health
for general health and wellbeing, actively involved in oral health promotion and able to refer for
oral care when required.
1.7. Governments should implement targeted Dental Benefits Schedules as outlined in the ADA’s
Australian Dental Health Plan.
Optimising Oral Health Throughout the Lifespan
1.8. All children should have a dental examination by the time their first tooth appears or by their first
birthday and be regularly seen by a dentist from that age onwards.
1.9. Oral health promotion should target specific risks such as systemic diseases linked to the oral
cavity, oral hygiene, diet, substance use, and lifestyle behaviours.
1.10. Remote communities should establish dental facilities, supported by government funding.
1.11. Efforts to recruit and retain dentists to regional and remote areas capable of sustaining a dental
workforce should be a priority. For those areas where it is difficult to recruit dentists, efforts should
include:
1.11.1. Enabling the involvement of dental students with existing Commonwealth education and
training initiatives, such as scholarships and housing support
1.11.2. Providing local community support and incentives
1.11.3. Improving working conditions and incentives for public practitioners.
1.12. The social and cultural determinants of Indigenous oral health need to be recognised and
addressed.
1.13. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people need to be actively involved in the design, delivery and
control of future services.
1.14. The participation of Indigenous practitioners within the oral health workforce should be encouraged.
1.15. Training in cultural safety to raise awareness of oral health and social issues among Indigenous
people should be provided to undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing professional
development programs.
1.16. Government should support and encourage dental schools and the dental workforce to work with
Indigenous community controlled health services and within Indigenous communities.
1.17. Facilities should be designed to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
1.18. Specialised equipment appropriate for domiciliary care should be available to facilitate dental
treatment at locations outside dental clinics.
1.19. Patients who are planning pregnancy or pregnant should be encouraged to consider the dentist
as part of the team of health professionals they consult during pregnancy and supported in
establishing and maintaining good oral health.
1.20. Dental treatment under general anaesthesia should be accessible, particularly for the removal of
wisdom teeth, extensive dental treatment in very young children, for phobic patients, and for
patients with special needs.
1.21. Prior to entering an aged care facility residents should have a comprehensive oral examination.
1.22. Aged care facilities should provide onsite dental care or access to domiciliary dental providers.
1.23. Aged care qualifications should include core education and training in the provision of daily
preventive oral hygiene measures with emphasis on those with complex needs, including
dementia, cognitive or communication impairments, and dysphagia.
1.24. All new permanent residents of aged care facilities and intermediate or high home aged care
packages should have a referral pathway to a dentist or dental service recorded by their aged
care provider.
1.25. Aged care facilities should plan for increased dental care demand and provide the necessary
infrastructure.
2.1. Medically compromised patients and people living with disabilities may need special oral health
care. Dentists are the only dental practitioners who are trained to practise the full scope of dentistry
and the ability to continue training as a specialist Special Needs Dentist, which includes the field of
gerodontology.
2.2. Primary tooth development starts in utero and healthy primary teeth are essential for the
development of permanent teeth.
2.3. Early dental assessments and interventions lead to better oral health outcomes.
2.4. The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) provides financial assistance for dental services to
children, but uptake is low due to insufficient promotion.
2.5. Many children face significant oral health issues, particularly those from disadvantaged
backgrounds.
2.6. Adolescents are at risk of oral health issues and can be adversely affected by the loss of public oral
health service eligibility when they reach adulthood.
2.7. Wisdom teeth often start causing problems from late teenage to young adult years and often need
to be removed under GA. However, access to appropriate facilities for dental treatment involving
GA has declined in recent years, partly due to profitability connected to rebate schedules and
funding models.
2.8. In 2020–21, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) was found to increase, as remoteness increased, ranging from 3.0 per 1,000 population
in major cities to 4.8 per 1,000 population in very remote areas.(Reference: Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare. (2022). Oral health and dental care in Australia: Hospitalisations. Retrieved 22
May 2023 from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/dental-oral-health/oral-health-and-dental-care-in
australia/contents/hospitalisations).
2.9. Previous strategies to increase the oral health workforce have not improved the maldistribution of
dentists in Australia and have failed to address the problem of retention and recruitment of dentists
in regional and remote areas of Australia.
2.10. Access to affordable, culturally and emotionally appropriate and acceptable dental care is difficult
for most indigenous Australians.
2.11. A significant proportion of the population lives in care facilities, which often results in restricted
access to oral health care.
2.12. Advances in technology and care have improved the quality of life for individuals unable to care for
themselves independently, but financial burdens and limited access to specialised care remain
challenges.
2.13. Some individuals, such as those in remote areas or living in care facilities, require dental treatment
outside traditional clinics. Portable dental equipment and the establishment of basic dental facilities
in remote areas are necessary to meet the needs of these patients.
2.14. Australia’s aging population will lead to an increased number of frail and care-dependent older
people with complex oral health needs.
2.15. Medical status, polypharmacy issues, oral diseases and co-morbidities are usually more
complicated and cumulative in older people contributing to frailty and care dependence.
Definitions
2.16. DISADVANTAGED is a term used to describe individuals or groups of people who have a physical
or mental disability, residents of remote and very remote regions, Aboriginal and Torres Straight
Islanders, those that are experiencing socio-economic hardship.
2.17. DENTIST is an appropriately qualified dental practitioner registered by the Board to practise all
areas of dentistry.
2.18. ORAL HEALTH is multi-faceted and includes, but is not limited to, the ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow and convey a range of emotions through facial expressions with
confidence and free from pain, or discomfort, and disease of the craniofacial complex.
2.19. OLDER PEOPLE are those over 50 for Indigenous Australians and 65 years old for Non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics).
2.20. SPECIAL NEEDS DENTISTRY is the branch of dentistry that is concerned with the oral health care of people with an intellectual disability, medical, physical or psychiatric conditions that require
special methods or techniques to prevent or treat oral health problems or where such conditions
necessitate special dental treatment plans.
2.21. DENTAL PRACTITIONER is a person registered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation
Agency via the Board to provide dental care.
2.22. DISABILITY is an ongoing presence of one or more limitations, restrictions or impairments.
2.23. BOARD is the Dental Board of Australia.
June 2030
