General News
11 August, 2022
Wait times for public dental care reduced health service says
Local wait times for access to public dental care have improved, and while data from earlier in the year showed some residents were spending up to three and a half years on wait lists, the local health service says those times have already been...
Local wait times for access to public dental care have improved, and while data from earlier in the year showed some residents were spending up to three and a half years on wait lists, the local health service says those times have already been halved thanks to targeted initiatives.
Local public dental services are operated by the Maryborough District Health Service (MDHS) and recent data from the Australian Dental Association Victorian Branch (ADAVB) showed wait times for general dental care at the health service over the past 12 months has been 44.1 months.
While the wait time is lengthy, it’s a four and a half month decrease compared to the same 2020/21 period which saw wait times balloon out to 48.7 months (four years).
However, MDHS CEO Nickola Allan said with the recently released figures coming from January, wait times have since been halved thanks to targeted initiatives.
“Our wait times have actually reduced by half since then — our waiting list is now at 22 months,” she said.
“It’s a significant reduction. We’ve done some really targeted initiatives to help get the waiting list down.
“We’ve been able to use the general waiting list voucher programs which is a government initiative (vouchers given to public dental patients to be used at private clinics).
“On top of that we’ve also been able to do some work with an education provider with dental students coming up and working here under supervision which has increased our capacity.
“It’s nice to see the initiatives in place are actually having an impact on the community.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly played a part in lengthy wait times. According to ADAVB in nearly six of the last 19 months, dental practices have been restricted to providing only urgent or emergency dental care, with routine dental care put on hold during lockdowns.
Ms Allan said as services get back to normal post lockdowns, future healthy dental habits is a priority.
“Our intention is to keep that wait list reduction happening. We’re seeing the resumption of normal activities and we’ll be monitoring increased demand for services over time,” she said.
“Coming out the other side of COVID does mean we’ve been able to really ramp up things like our Smiles for Miles program in partnership with the Education Department.
“We’re getting our dental oral therapist out into schools and kinders to focus on good dental habits from an early age so kids can start managing their oral health and as they get older, we aren’t faced with these kind of wait times.”