Review :The availability of oral health training

for non-dental health personnel  

Steven Naoum, Richard Cho, Nikeeta Naren, Nini Li, David WalkerThe Faculty of Dentistry, The Poche Centre for Indigenous Health

Poche Centre Aboriginal Health Research Symposium, 28 November 2013

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The Poche Centre for Indigenous HealthFaculty of Dentistry

A significant shortage of dental practitioners in rural and remote Australian communities.

A burden of responsibility is placed on NON-dental personnel with limited training in oral health to treat urgent oral health care needs.

A solution: To provide appropriate training for non-dental personnel to enable

appropriate triage and management of urgent dental issues within their scope of practice, prior to referral to a dental practitioner.

The Problem:

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The Poche Centre for Indigenous HealthFaculty of Dentistry

To review the oral health training provided to Medical Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners and Aboriginal Health Workers

To ascertain what can be enhanced in the training of non dental personnel serving remote Indigenous communities, especially in the absence of a dental practitioner.

The Aim:

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The Poche Centre for Indigenous HealthFaculty of Dentistry

Methods A Medline search was conducted with the following terms:• Medical Practitioners: Clinical competence, dental care, doctor,

education, emergency treatment, family practice, general practitioners, medical practitioners, oral, physicians, training

• Nurse Practitioners: dental, education, midwives, nurse, nurse practitioner, oral, training

• Aboriginal health workers: Aboriginal health workers, community health services, community health workers, dental, education, indigenous health worker, Indigenous, rural health services, health services, oral, training

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The Poche Centre for Indigenous HealthFaculty of Dentistry

Medical Practitioners:• 817 results

• 41 relevant articles

Nurse Practitioners : • 1648 results

• 132 relevant articles

Aboriginal health workers: • 512 results

• 15 relevant articles

All results were categorized as follows:• Training in Oral Health screening

• Training in Oral Health promotion

• Training in Clinical interventions

• Training in managing acute dental problems

Preliminary Results

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The Poche Centre for Indigenous HealthFaculty of Dentistry

1. A limited spectrum of oral health training to non-dental personnel is currently provided.

2. Very limited training to non-dental personnel for the management of urgent oral health needs

3. Development of a training program for non-dental personnel serving remote communities in triaging and management of urgent oral health needs. This program will be piloted at Bourke AHS in 2014.

Conclusions and Implications of Preliminary Results