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
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