Addressing disparities in oral disease in Aboriginal people in Victoria:Where to focus preventive programs

Martin-Kerry, Jacqueline M., Whelan, Martin, Rogers, John, Raichur, Anil, Cole, Deborah and De Silva, Andrea M. (2019) Addressing disparities in oral disease in Aboriginal people in Victoria:Where to focus preventive programs. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 25 (4). pp. 317-324. ISSN 1448-7527

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine where Aboriginal people living in Victoria attend public oral health services whether they access Aboriginal-specific or mainstream services and the gap between dental caries (tooth decay) experience in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. Analysis was undertaken on routinely collected clinical data for Aboriginal patients attending Victorian public oral health services and the distribution of Aboriginal population across Victoria. Approximately 27% of Aboriginal people attended public oral health services in Victoria across a 2-year period, with approximately one in five of those accessing care at Aboriginal-specific clinics. In regional Victoria, 6-year-old Aboriginal children had significantly higher levels of dental caries than 6-year-old non-Aboriginal children. There was no significant difference in other age groups. This study is the first to report where Aboriginal people access public oral health care in Victoria and the disparity in disease between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal users of the Victorian public oral healthcare system. Aboriginal people largely accessed mainstream public oral healthcare clinics highlighting the importance for culturally appropriate services and prevention programs to be provided across the entire public oral healthcare system. The findings will guide development of policy and models of care aimed at improving the oral health of Aboriginal people living in Victoria.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Publisher Copyright: © 2019 La Trobe University.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	dental caries,indigenous,oral health,public oral health care,torres strait islander,medicine(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	26 Jan 2026 13:30
Last Modified:	26 Jan 2026 13:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101716
DOI:	10.1071/PY18100

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