Improving Oral Health Care for Aboriginal Children

South Western Sydney Local Health District

Improving Oral Health Care for Aboriginal Children
Aboriginal children have high prevalence of dental decay with many requiring hospitalisation for treatment. Compounding the situation is the limited oral health awareness among Aboriginal families and access to dental services. To address these issues, partnerships were formed between South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), Western Sydney University/University of NSW and Aboriginal organisations (KARI/Tharawal AMS) to raise oral health awareness among Aboriginal children through field/case workers, culturally-sensitive oral health promotional material and dental referral pathways to SWSLHD.
 
To date, there has been a 41% increase in the number of parents receiving information about childhood oral health and 20% improvement in their oral health knowledge. Further, 211 Aboriginal children accessed SWSLHD to receive oral assessment (66%), restorative work for dental decay (15%) and preventative treatment to minimise future dental decay (58%).
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Current as at: Wednesday 3 October 2018
Contact page owner: NSW Ministry of Health