Dental Health Services Victoria

Who are we
Media contacts
Public dental services
Oral disease and its costs
Waiting times

 Who are we

Dental Health Services Victoria provides clinical dental services through The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and purchases dental services for public patients from community health agencies throughout Victoria. It also plays the leading role in Victoria in developing and delivering oral health promotion programs designed to prevent oral disease and improve oral health in the community.

Read more about Dental Health Services Victoria

Media contacts

Communications Unit
tel: 03 9341 1134
communications@dhsv.org.au

Available for interview by arrangement

	Mr Felix Pintado Chief Executive Felix was appointed Chief Executive of DHSV in February 2008. He has over 20 years’ leadership experience in the health service industry, and has held senior executive positions in specialist and general hospitals in Victoria and New Zealand.
	Professor Mike Morgan Principal Oral Health Advisor Mike is a practising public dentist and leading oral health academic. He holds the Colgate Chair of Population Oral Health at The University of Melbourne.

Interviews and background briefings can be arranged with our staff whose areas of expertise include:

• Children’s dentistry 
• Caries (dental decay)
• Periodontics (gum disease)
• Orthodontics
• Implants
• Aboriginal oral health
• Population statistics and trends in oral health

 We also have staff able to provide clinical statements on:

• mouth rinses
• tooth whitening
• mouth injury
• mouth piercings
• the impact of foods and drinks on oral health.

Public dental services 

Where are public dental services available?

• The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne in Carlton
• Public clinics located in community health centres and regional hospitals around Victoria
• Relocatable clinics and dental vans located in high-need areas around the State that visit aged care facilities and schools for children with special needs
• Ozanam House (for homeless men) in North Melbourne.

What services are available?

• Emergency dental care
• General dental care for adults, children and youth – including check-ups, cleaning and fillings
• Specialist care at The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and some community clinics - including orthodontics, periodontics, endodontics,  prosthodontics and oral surgery
• Dentures
• Student clinics - free treatment by students under the supervision of fully qualified and experienced dentists and oral health professionals at The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and some community dental clinics.

Who can get public dental care?

• All children aged 12 years and under
• Adults and adolescents aged 13 years and over if they or their parents hold a health care or pensioner concession card
• Teenagers aged 12-17 years who are eligible for the Medicare Teen Dental Plan 
• Some children and adolescents without a concession card may be eligible for treatment in certain circumstances.
   

Oral disease and its costs

• Dental treatment accounted for 6.2% ($6.1 billion) of Australia’s total (government and individual)
  health expenditure in 2007-08 (Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, September 2009).
   
• The Victorian Government spent $139 million in 2008/09 on public dental services.
  (Source: Your Hospitals Report 2008/09, Department of Health).
  
• The major causes of dental disease are dental caries (decay) and periodontal disease (gum disease).
   
• Over 95% of people born before 1970 have experienced dental decay.
  Approximately 76% of people born in the years 1970 to 1990 have experienced dental decay.
  Approximately one in five Australian adults has moderate (20.5% of people)
  or severe (2.4% of people) forms of gum disease.
  (Source: National Survey of Adult Oral Health 2004-06, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare)
  
  
• Dental conditions make up 8% of preventable hospitalisations in Australia,
  amounting to 43,667 admissions a year.
  (Source: Atlas of Avoidable Hospitalisations, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, published 2007, 2001/02 data).
  
  
• In Victoria in 2006/07, there were 9,038 avoidable hospitalisations for dental conditions.
  (Source: Atlas of Potentially Avoidable Hospitalisations in Victoria: ambulatory care sensitive conditions, Victorian Department of Health, 2009).

Waiting times

Number of people waiting for public dental care statewide (at end of June 2009)

Average length of wait for public dental care statewide (at end of June 2009)

Source: DHSV 2009 Annual Report

Information on waiting times at particular locations around Victoria is available from the Department of Health ‘Your Hospitals’ website.