Oral health services a priority for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - study

New evidence to support the critical need to develop oral health training and resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers is provided in a study by David Walker and others published in the current issue of the Australian Journal of Rural Health.

The article endorses the position advocated by the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation that health workers have a key role to play in improving oral health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The study findings recognise that there has been little sustainable development of such a role, despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are among the most vulnerable when it comes to oral health.

And the service challenges are greatest outside the capital cities. There are few dental services, fluoridated water supplies are less common, and lower socio-economic status and greater distances combine to make dental treatment less affordable. There are also differences in education and knowledge about health between the city and the country.

The study acknowledges the widespread adverse health impacts of oral disease: "There’s a huge number of children ... who have lost most of their deciduous teeth by the time they’re five and I suspect [that the loss] changes their dietary habits from quite a young age - because they then head towards a diet of carbohydrate and fat which is easy to chew."