South Australian Programs

On this page:

• SA Dental Service
• Smoking Cessation Project SA Dental Service Program
• Aboriginal Oral Health Program
• Crunch&Sip®
• Better Oral Health in Residential Care
• SA Dental Service Population Oral Health Program - Lift the Lip

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SA Dental Service

The State Dental Service provides general and emergency dental treatments to eligible South Australian residents through child and adult care services.

Smoking Cessation Project - SA Dental Service Program

The SA Dental Service Smoking Cessation Project commenced in 2006. The aim of the project is to contribute to the improvement of client's oral and general health by providing information to increase awareness of support services available to clients who are interested in managing their tobacco dependence.

Tobacco smoking remains the single most preventable cause of illness and death in Australia (SA Tobacco Control Strategy 2011-2016). Smoking has a profound effect on oral and general health.

SA Dental Service introduced a clinic based Smoking Cessation Program in 2006.

The program aims to contribute to the improvement of clients’ oral and general health by raising awareness of support services available for quitting with a focus on reducing smoking rates of Aboriginal clients.

Brief intervention techniques are used to support smokers who are interested in managing their tobacco dependence. The Program provides a referral pathway to the Quitline.

Conversations with clients about their smoking are embedded into daily clinical practice. A suite of targeted written resource material has been developed by SA Dental Service Health Promotion Unit to support these conversations. Resource material with an Aboriginal focus has been supported by Drug and Alcohol Services SA.

Interventions are tracked on a custom screen recording tool via an electronic case note system.

Findings: SA Dental Service Staff are delivering quality, effective and sustainable smoking support to clients. Working in partnership with Cancer Council SA has provided opportunities to share knowledge, skills and resources as well as foster closer relationships with other service providers. Dental staff are well placed to offer brief, targeted smoking cessation advice. The electronic data system is enabling tracking of medical history and the percentage of smokers receiving advice. Since recording began in July 2006, 30,000 brief interventions have been recorded.

Involved organisations: SA Dental Service; Cancer Council SA; Drug and Alcohol Services SA.

Contact person for further information:
Jane Heron-Kirkmoe
Health Promotion
SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, SA 5000
Australia
Phone (08 8222 9119)
Email:  jane.heron-kirkmoe@health.sa.gov.au

Aboriginal Oral Health Program - SA Dental Service

Aims or brief descriptions: Aboriginal Oral Health Program aim is to increase attendance of Aboriginal people at mainstream dental services in South Australia through a series of policy and organisational practice changes. The Aboriginal Oral Health Program has a number of key strategies to increase access of Aboriginal people to mainstream dental services across SA, including:

·         Ensuring Aboriginal Adults are referred to SA Dental Service for free general and emergency priority dental care with no waiting lists

·         Increasing the number of Aboriginal Teenagers accessing dental care

·         Ensuring Aboriginal children are accessing dental care through a variety of referral pathways from other health professionals

·         Working with health professionals who see pregnant women regularly to increase their oral health knowledge

·         Developing a range of oral health resources for Aboriginal people

Recent policy changes have also added to the program the inclusion of non-Aboriginal women pregnant with an Aboriginal child for 1 course of care; automatic 12 month recall for clients that have accessed the Aboriginal Liaison Program and the removal of the fee waiver enables dentures and some specialist services at no cost for eligible clients.

The Aboriginal Oral Health Team is interested in building on the partnerships already developed through the Aboriginal Liaison Program to help all Aboriginal people access dental care in South Australia.

Findings: The program began in late 2005 in response to an identified need to improve oral health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in SA.  Since 2005 there has been an increase of Aboriginal attendance through the program from 60 to 4,800 people in 2014/15 and an increase of 26% since 2010. There has been an overall increase in total Aboriginal adult and children attendance for dental care in 2014/15.

Staff in the State-wide dental service and then Adelaide Dental Hospital have increased their understanding of cultural issues and Aboriginal communities and have a greater understanding of the importance of barriers and enablers for Aboriginal people accessing the service thanks to Cultural Competency Training that the AOHP run in conjunction with Aboriginal Programs of Power Community LTD. Health workers are supported to refer clients.

Reports or publications from project: The South Australian Dental Service conducts regular evaluation reports. A range of resources to support the program can be found on the SA Dental Service website.

Involved organisations: SA Dental Service; Department for Health (South Australia), Department of Health & Ageing (Health Promotion branch); Department of Education and Child Development;

Contact person for further information:  
Kellie Graves
Senior Aboriginal Oral Health Project Officer, SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000.
Phone (08) 8222 9003
Email: kellie.graves@sa.gov.au
Website link: www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/sadental

Rigby Barnes
Aboriginal Oral Health Project Officer, SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000.
Phone (08) 8222 9103
Email: rigby.barnes@sa.gov.au
Website link: www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/sadental

Renee Vandergoot
Senior Project Officer Aboriginal Oral Health Program, SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000.
Phone (08) 8222 9103
Email: renee.vandergoot@@sa.gov.au

Crunch&Sip®

Crunch&Sip® is an initiative of the Go for 2&5® campaign and is being implemented in South Australian R - 7 schools across the public, Catholic and Independent schools sectors. The program aims to support schools to introduce a fruit and vegetable break, and promote the drinking of water in classrooms.

Findings: The program began development in January 2008, and has been implemented in primary schools from March 2009. Over 100 schools are participating in the program from metropolitan and country regions.
Reports or publications from project: The South Australian Community Health Research Unit(SACHRU) at Flinders University produced an evaluation report in June 2011 and an internal evaluation report by SADS was produced in June 2012. The executive summaries of both the reports and information on the full report can be accessed below

SACHRU evaluation report - Executive Summary

SADS Evaluation report - Executive Summary

Involved Organisations: SA Dental Service; Department of Health & Aging (Health Promotion branch); Department of Education and Child Development; Catholic Education; Association of Independent Schools South Australia

Contact Person for Further Information:
Leanne Rana
Project Officer, SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000.
Phone (08) 8222 9115
Email: leanne.rana@health.sa.gov.au

Better Oral Health in Residential Care

The Better Oral Health in Residential Care project is developing an evidence based, best practice model to promote better oral health within the Australian residential aged care sector.

SA Dental Service Population Oral Health Program - Lift the Lip

Aims or brief description: In 2007, SA Dental Service implemented the Population Oral Health Program (Lift the Lip), in response to a decline in children's oral health. SA Dental Service has been working collaboratively with Child and Family Health Service Nurses, TAFE SA, GPs, Practice Nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers, Migrant Health Service staff and Early Childhood Services to improve the identification and referral of children experiencing Early Childhood Caries (tooth decay).

A simple Lift the Lip screening and referral tool has been developed to assist with the identification of children (birth - 5 years) needing a referral. Referred children can access the dental care they need either through the public (School Dental Service) or private dental sectors.

Findings: To June 2015, 13,700 children had been referred. Referred children have twice as much tooth decay as children attending the School Dental Service who have not been referred.
Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS) nurses have been the main external referrers, having referred 70% of externally referred children in 2014/15. A Lift the Lip screen has been incorporated into CaFHS general health checks.

The Program has been successful in increasing the number of preschoolers accessing the School Dental Service. The number of children aged under 4 years being referred has increased from 22% in 2008/09 to 50% in 2014/15. In 2014/15 16% of referred children were of Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander descent.This provides us with a great opportunity to increase the number of preventive/early interventions.

Contact for further information:
Kerry Clifford - kerry.clifford.sa.gov.au
Health Promotion
SA Dental Service
180 Flinders Street, SA 5000
Australia
Phone (08 8222 9014)

Reports or publications from program: A range of resources to support the program can be found on the SA Health website.

Involved organisations: SA Dental Service, Child and Family Health Service, Australian Dental Association - SA Branch, Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH), Department of Health, Department for Education and Child Development, TAFE SA.