Search

The vast distances across Australia and the uneven population distribution form a challenging environment in providing the population with health and dental care. The Australian dental workforce distribution was analysed by using statistics from the open Census source available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website. This study aimed to construct a detailed analysis of the large differences in the practice-to-population (PtP) ratios across Australia, as well as the effect of maldistribution for rural and remote areas, where economics plays an important role. The national Census data at the level of Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) (approximating suburbs) from 2011 was integrated with the location of all private dental practices in Australia (collected in late 2015) using modern geographic tools. All private dental practice (n = 7597) location coordinates were mapped nationwide, across 2157 statistical areas. The population in Australia without a dental practice in their area was 31.6%. The PtP ratio differed from one practice per 40 people to one practice per 27 773 people. The nationwide calculation of the PtP ratio shines light on issues about the dental workforce. The study results confirmed the uneven distribution of dental practices in rural and remote areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Australia has a significant mal-distribution of its limited dental workforce. Outside the major capital cities, the distribution of accessible dental care is at best patchy. Objective: This study applied geo-spatial analysis technology to locate gaps in dental service accessibility for rural and remote dwelling Australians, in order to test the hypothesis that there are a few key location points in Australia where further dental services could make a significant contribution to ameliorating the immediate shortage crisis. Method: A total of 2,086 dental practices were located in country areas, covering a combined catchment area of 1.84million square kilometers, based on 50 km catchment zones around each clinic. Geo-spatial analysis technology was used to identify gaps in the accessibility of dental services for rural and remote dwelling Australians. An extraction of data was obtained to analyse the integrated geographically-aligned database. Results: Resolution of the lack of dental practices for 74 townships (of greater than 500 residents) across Australia could potentially address access for 104,000 people. An examination of the socio-economic mix found that the majority of the dental practices (84%) are located in areas classified as less disadvantaged. Output from the study provided a cohesive national map that has identified locations that could have health improvement via the targeting of dental services to that location. Conclusion: The study identified potential location sites for dental clinics, to address the current inequity in accessing dental services in rural and remote Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]