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Public Oral Health Services
Public Oral Health Services
Services provided in NSW |
Eligibility Criteria |
Service Delivery |
Oral Health Status
Services provided in NSW
The range of oral health services provided through the NSW public health system broadly includes dental services to children and adults according to criteria that target emergency situations, those in most need, screening services targeted at specific schools and education and promotional services.
Operationally in NSW these
services are delivered by each of the Area Health Services.
These services are delivered in dental clinics based in schools, community health centres and hospitals within each Area. The services provided include general dentistry such as examinations, fillings, and dentures.
There are two teaching hospitals - the Westmead Centre for Oral Health and the Sydney Dental Hospital that also provide specialist services in their clinics and through outreach programs in rural public dental clinics.
The specialist services include paediatric dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, endodontics, periodontics.
There are approximately 173 public sector clinics in NSW of which 85 are in the four rural Area Health Services and 88 clinics in the four metropolitan Area Health Services. In addition, services are provided at 26 clinics in Justice Health facilities and one clinic at the Children's Hospital Westmead.
In rural Area Health Services, clinics may be located in schools, community health facilities or mobile dental clinics. In some communities a private surgery may be rented to provide public sector oral health services. Adult services are provided through clinics often co-located with community health centres.
In the metropolitan areas, clinics are mainly located in community health centres, school based clinics or on hospital grounds.
About 10 Aboriginal Medical Services provide dental services that are funded by NSW Health.
Eligibility Criteria
As in all Australian jurisdictions, NSW public oral health services are provided only to a proportion of the community who meet the eligibility criteria, as outlined in the NSW Health Policy for Eligiblity of Persons for Public Oral Health Care:
Altogether, about 57% of the NSW population is eligible for public oral health services. The NSW criteria of eligibility for public sector dental services are more generous than most other States and Territories.
Service Delivery
Each year about 1.3 million non- admitted occasions of service are provided in public dental services in NSW.
These services include triage via call centres using the Priority Oral Health Program (POHP), school assessments, treatment appointments in public dental clinics and services provided via the NSW Oral Health Fee for Service Scheme (OHFFSS).
The majority of patients requiring care are appointed directly from the call centre and in some cases issues a voucher under the OHFFSS. Some patients are placed on assessment and treatment waitlists held in the Information System for Oral Health (ISOH) database at the relevant Area Health Service.
The waiting list for ambulatory care in NSW was approximately 147,628 at the end of December 2008.
Oral Health Status
