Dental Report Reveals Alarming Situation in Rural New South Wales
A new dental report has revealed an alarming picture in rural areas of New South Wales as rates of decay are high due to poor diet and problems with access to dental services.Dentists have reported seeing children as young as 2 years old with severe dental decay.
The report revealed the results of a pilot project in four rural communities in the state and the findings were not easy reading; most of the residents of Bourke, Lightening Ridge, Goodooga and Collaranebra have not seen a dentist over the course of the last two years and many of those who did see a dentist were suffering from untreated decay and had missing teeth or teeth that needed removing as a result of decay.
The report, which focuses on the Royal Flying Doctor Service clinics, showed that extracting problem teeth was the most common way for patients to deal with tooth pain and untreated decay was much higher in children than adults.
Dentist Hendrik Lai said that in many cases the teeth are “too far gone” for dentists to do anything to save them; he added that poor oral health is linked to high consumption of sugary foods and fizzy drinks, poor oral hygiene, a lack of oral health education and no access to fluoridated water, as well as a lack of oral health services in rural areas.
Wayne Dixon, from Collaranebri, said that it is difficult to get dental treatment; he was forced to stop working at a cotton processing plant as the vibrations from the machinery were causing his oral health to deteriorate as he already had an infection. He travelled to Moree to have two teeth taken out at a cost of $500, but said that he could not afford to take more time off work or to pay for further treatment. His story is typical of many of those living in remote communities.
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