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Public Oral Health Services
Public Oral Health Services
Services provided in NSW |
Eligibility Criteria |
Service Delivery
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, dental education and oral health promotional services.
Operationally in NSW these
services are delivered by each of the Local Health Districts.
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. In addition, services are provided at 26 clinics in Justice Health facilities and one clinic at the Children’s Hospital Westmead.
In rural Local Health Districts, 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.
Eighteen 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 47% 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 between 2.6 and 2.8 million weighted occasions of service are provided in public dental services in NSW. These services include treatment appointments in public dental clinics and services provided via the NSW Oral Health Fee for Service Scheme (OHFFSS). Each appointment visit is weighted by the actual number and comparative value of the treatment items provided to arrive at the total weighted occasions of service.
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 Local Health District. The waiting list for ambulatory care in NSW for both child and adult clients requiring either an assessment or treatment appointment was 117,629 as June 2011.
