Flying dental checks for Mallee community

Three University of Melbourne Bachelor of Oral Health final year students were recently in the heart of the Mallee giving free dental advice to locals.

The students were part of a Royal Flying Doctor Service outreach service at the annual Mallee Machinery Field Days in the town of Speed. The Flying Doctors are bringing more services to Victoria, particularly the Mallee, and this year’s field days at Speed were part of the program. 

Farmers from outlying areas and the local community accessed free oral health check-ups in Speed, as part of RFDS Victoria’s Mobile Dental Care program and also learned about the mobile eye care program based at Ouyen. 

There were also blood pressure and diabetes checks allowing the opportunity for holistic approaches to health care in one setting. 

Associate Professor Julie Satur from the Melbourne Dental School said the local community took advantage of free oral health check-ups, risk assessment and preventive advice in conjunction with a range of other primary health care checks.

“As part of the oral check-up, our young oral health therapists along with dentists from the mobile dental care program also provided advice and a basic assessment which included teeth, gums and general oral health,” Associate Professor Satur says.

“Our students are keen to be involved in this sort of community engagement. They are doing this work as part of a final year subject with a focus on providing dental services for rural and remote and other high needs communities.”

People who live in rural and remote communities have higher levels of gum disease, more untreated decay and more tooth loss than those living in metropolitan areas. 

Fluoridation of water supplies is lower and access to oral health care is poorer because most dental and oral health practitioners work in metropolitan areas. This has been recognised by the Commonwealth Government which now funds well-supported graduate year programs to encourage dentist and oral health therapist graduates to work in rural areas.

In their final year, our dentistry and oral health therapy students also rotate through residential clinical placements in Shepparton and Moe, which prepares them well for rural practice.

These positive experiences allow students to consider the broader context of the Australian health care system and results in more graduates choosing to work in rural settings.

Bachelor of Oral Health students graduate as oral health therapists after taking a three-year degree program at the Melbourne Dental School. 

Oral Health Therapists are registered dental practitioners who provide dental check-ups, preventive treatments, fillings, extractions of primary teeth, cleaning and treatments for gum disease and importantly, work to promote oral health in the community. 

They work alongside dentists to increase the capacity of our dental care system, particularly for those who have poor access to services. 

“This is a fabulous partnership between our school and the RFDS which places our students in communities where there is high need for dental care and helps extend the great work the RFDS is doing in bringing health services to those in the bush,” Associate Professor Satur says.

www.dent.unimelb.edu.au