Distribution of Australian dental practices in relation to residential aged care facilities: A geographic analysis.

Objectives: Limited access to oral health services contributes to poor oral health in institutionalised older adults. The objective of this study was to map and analyse the distribution of residential age-care facilities (RACFs) in relation to dental practices across Australia.

Methods: Age-care data were sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Distribution of Australian dental practices in relation to the ageing population.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyse and map the distribution of the ageing population, by sociodemographic profiling, in private and public dental practices in Australia.

Background: The rapid increase in the aged population in Australia requires a comprehensive approach to ensure accessibility to geriatric dental services. However, the availability of dental services for the older people requires further investigation of the demographic distribution of need.

The Right of the Child to Oral Health: The Role of Human Rights in Oral Health Policy Development in Australia.

Marginalised and vulnerable children bear the burden of untreated dental disease in Australia. The lack of progress in improving the oral health of these groups signifies a need to review the effectiveness of existing child oral health policy. The current approach to oral health policy design in Australia is inconsistent and discriminatory across States and Territories.

Distribution of private dental practices and dentists 2011 and 2018: Analysis by regional area.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether there has been a change in access to private dental services in regional and remote areas of Australia by comparing the distribution of private dental practices and dentists in 2011 to the distribution in 2018 according to state and territory and the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus.

Design And Setting: A database of dental practices and dentists in Australia was compiled from open-access sources for 2011 and 2018; dental practices were mapped by state, Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus and Statistical Area 2 census district and linked to population data.

Main Outcome Measures: Change in number of private dental practices, mean number of dentists per private practice, population per dental practice and mean number of dentists per population by geographic location from 2011 to 2018.

Universal access to oral health care for Australian children: comparison of travel times to public dental services at consecutive census dates as an indicator of progressive realisation.

Progressive realisation of equitable access to health services is a fundamental measure of a state's resolve to achieve universal health coverage. The World Health Organization has reprioritised the importance of oral health services as an integral element of the roadmap towards health equity. This study sought to determine whether there is an indication of progressive realisation of equitable spatial access to public dental services for Australians <18 years of age through a comparison of travel times to the nearest public dental clinic at successive census dates.

Dental Health Workforce Regulation - How Amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act May Shape the Future of the Dental Profession.

Recent amendments to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act adopt a number of recommendations published in the final report of the Independent review of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. The adopted recommendations are of interest because of their potential effect on the regulation of the dental profession and how they demonstrate the potential attenuation of the influence of the health professions in general in the arena of healthcare regulation. The wide-reaching effects of these changes and the impact they may have on the future direction of the dental profession in Australia are still uncertain, but are sure to be significant.

Infection Control Standards in Private Dental Practice - The Role of Accreditation.

There are established standards for the management of infection control in private dental practices, but there is currently no proactive legislation to oversee correct adherence to those standards. The Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation Scheme (Scheme) promotes a quality and safety management program that includes attention to the prevention of healthcare acquired infections, but adoption of the Scheme is not compulsory for all. A recent case brought before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal demonstrated the seriousness of breaches of infection control standards and the considerable costs of managing the consequences.

Does the accreditation of private dental practices work? Time to rethink how accreditation can improve patient safety.

Accreditation to demonstrate engagement with the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (Standards) is compulsory for most hospital and healthcare settings, but to date remains voluntary for private dental practices (PDPs). The regulatory framework governing the dental profession lacks a proactive element to drive improvements in quality and safety of care, and an accreditation scheme can strengthen existing regulation. The current model of accreditation operating in accordance with the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation Scheme (Scheme) is based on the Standards, which were written for a hospital model of healthcare service.