Mission Statement: Rural and Remote Mobile Dental Clinic
Introduction
Smiles Onsite has been developed with the aim of providing dental services right where they are needed. The mobile dental clinics, with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, provide free dental services, particularly, to schools in disadvantaged and low socio-economic parts of Australia. The most parts of the country in need of such services would be the rural parts of the country, where the members are incapable of seeking regular dental services because of the cost implications. The wide-ranging dental assessment and treatment services are taken to those in need right where they are (Smiles Onsite 2017). For instance, the dental services are being provided in the rural schools targeting the children from disadvantaged and low socio-economic backgrounds. The services are critical towards the objective of closing the barriers to dental health care by ensuring that even those who are incapable of accessing, are provided with the critical services. To achieve the objectives, the mobile van should strive to service school-going children in rural and remote parts of the country.
The Need to Service School Children
There is no other place where the services of the van would be more beneficial than in rural and remote parts of the country. Primarily, as a function of the cost implications of dental services, parents would prefer to use the constrained financial resources on other basic needs, including food, clothing, and education. Hence, dental health is an area that has remained largely ignored in rural and remote Australia. Where there are other health needs, dental health is never a priority. In fact, it has been revealed in research that those residing in the target regions do not get access to regular dental checkups, even though this is a necessity (Virgo‐Milton et al. 2016). In addition, research has shown that a vast majority of people in these areas do not receive basic dental care, nor have a regular dentist.
The children in the rural and remote parts of Australia are one of the groups categorized as those who would otherwise go without dental care were it not for the mobile clinics. There is no doubt that child just like adult require regular dental checkup, but the needs of the children tend to be ignored because of the lack of cost effective services. Most parents tend to offer the services at home, especially teeth extraction to save on the cost of seeking professional care. The problem is critical given the reality that children and the elderly are the most in need for dental health services (Arrow and Klobas 2016). Thus, where there is an opportunity for cost effective or free services to the children, then the opportunity is highly beneficial. The children could even benefit from education on dental care and hygiene to prevent dental diseases in future.
Chrisopoulos, Harford, and Ellershaw (2016) indicated that dental health problems are very high among the children in the country, with about half of the Australian children having a history of dental diseases. Nonetheless, it is plausible to note that the distribution of dental decay across all the Australian children is not even, with those living in the rural and remote parts of the country being worse hit than those living in urban settings. Research has indicated that the children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those living in rural non-fluoridated regions tend to be highly affected by the dental decay (Ha, Amarasena and Crocombe 2013). The reality is made worse by the fact that the children living in rural and low-economic communities lack the resources to access timely and quality dental care. Additionally, these areas remain largely underserved by dentists and dental services.
Dental Statistics about Rural and Remote and Low Number of Dentists
It is estimated that 50% of the Australian children suffer from dental decay. However, the number is not evenly distributed, which means that some areas have an even higher proportion than others. In the rural and remote parts of the country, it is expected that there are more children affected by the problem. This indicates that children in rural and remote parts of the country are in dire need of dental health services. While this is the reality, it is unfortunate that the children living in rural and remote areas are less likely to access dental health services compared to those in wealthier urban communities. The issue is contributed by among other things the fact that the services are fewer in the rural and remote settings.
The country is revealed to face the challenge of dental workforce shortage and maldistribution. Statistics in the country have revealed an increase in the number of dentists in Australia. However, the increase is yet to be experienced in the rural and remote parts of the country. It is estimated that there are 57.6 practicing dentists per 100,000 population in the urban settings compared to the 19.8 in remote regions and 28.5 rate in the outer regions. It is estimated that 33.7% of the dentists in remote/regional areas are busier compared to only 1% of those in urban settings (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare 2012). This is one of the reasons dentists prefer to work in the urban settings than in the rural and remote ones. If given the choice, the newly graduating dentists will prefer to work in the urban settings than in the rural and remote regions.
While there has been an increase in the number of dentists since 2005, it should be noted that the population in need of their services has also been on the increase. Hence, it is a reality that more children in rural and remote regions than in urban regions are left out of the critical dental health services. The statistics reveal that children in the rural and remote areas of the country are more than ever in need for the mobile services provided by Smiles Onsite. Targeting schools is even more beneficial because it is the single most environments populated by children. It means that by servicing the schools, the mobile clinic will serve the largest population of children from the disadvantaged and low-economic communities. The services will play a role in closing the gap between access to dental health care between the children from the rural and remote regions and those from the urban wealthier settings.
Conclusion
Research indicates that children are one of the population that is most affected by dental decay, affecting about half of the children population in Australia. Children in the rural and remote regions in Australia are the most affected by the problem. Therefore, they are in dire need of dental health services. At the same time, they are the ones that mostly lack the services because of access and cost. It is from this point of view that the children from disadvantaged and low-economic communities mostly need the Smiles Onsite services. The state-of-the-art services are critical for these children to address the gap between access for the children in the rural/remote areas and those in urban settings.
Reference List
Arrow, P. and Klobas, E., 2016. Child oral health‐related quality of life and early childhood caries: a non‐inferiority randomized control trial. Australian dental journal, 61(2), pp.227-235.
Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2012. Dentist labour force projections, 2005–2020, AIHW Dental Statistics and Research Unit Research Report No. 43
Chrisopoulos, S., Harford, J.E. and Ellershaw, A., 2016. Oral health and dental care in Australia: key facts and figures 2015. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Ha, D., Amarasena, N. and Crocombe, L., 2013. The dental health of Australia’s children by remoteness: Child Dental Health Survey Australia 2009.
Smiles Onsite. 2017. Retrieved from https://www.smilesonsite.com.au/
Virgo‐Milton, M., Boak, R., Hoare, A., Gold, L., Waters, E., Gussy, M., Calache, H., O’callaghan, E. and Silva, A.M., 2016. An exploration of the views of Australian mothers on promoting child oral health. Australian dental journal, 61(1), pp.84-92.
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