An innovative model of dental care – featuring a mix of skills and leveraging government affordability schemes – is key to improving the state’s dental healthcare and reducing preventable hospital admissions, according to Tasmanian health insurer St Lukes.
Tasmania faces some of the nation’s biggest oral health challenges: with fewer dentists per capita than the mainland1 and fees for private dental often prohibitive, adult Tasmanians are missing the most teeth of any state2 and are waiting almost four years3 for non-urgent public dental care.
Not-for-profit health insurer St Lukes identified an urgent need to make preventative dental the norm and turn around these outcomes. As part of its vision to make Tasmania the healthiest island on the planet, St Lukes has branched into dental care, with practices now open in Launceston and Howrah.
Denise Shukri’s family, including seven-year-old son Ryan, attends the Howrah St Lukes Dental clinic. The family members see a dentist or oral health therapist as needed for their six-monthly checkups.
“We have always prioritised dental in our family budget, especially for Ryan to have a good start in life,” she said. “He eats, he talks, he smiles – it was important to us to invest in making sure he has no complications in the future.”
The St Lukes Dental practices are also treating urgent public patients under the state government’s emergency dental voucher system, as well as kids who are eligible under the federal Child Dental Benefits Scheme (CDBS).
“I think there’s a huge need in the health system to educate and inform people of how important it is to take care of your teeth, and how,” Ms Shukri said. “That’s being implemented in schools, which is amazing. But it’s also hard for parents to navigate, for example, if they’re eligible for the CDBS under Medicare. There’s a role for dental clinics in helping demystify that for families.”
In Tasmania, dental conditions alone account for 12.5 per cent of avoidable hospital admissions4. By offering a skill mix of dentists, oral health therapists and hygienists, Chief Health Officer Luke Cameron said St Lukes’ model addressed the state’s shortage of dentists and was a win-win for patients and the health system.
“It’s not essential to get your regular scale and clean from a dentist. Dental therapists and hygienist can perform a clean and scale, monitor any tooth concerns and refer you onto a dentist if needed,” Mr Cameron said.
“Treating more CBDS patients in private clinics and getting more dentists into the emergency dental voucher scheme will also have a significant impact to reduce the public dental patient load and improve oral health outcomes for all Tasmanians.”
As well as opening its own dental practices, the St Lukes Dental Network is now live, bringing together dental partners to establish a statewide gap-free provider network. St Lukes has also released a dental-only extras package, which makes getting a checkup more affordable for Tasmanians who may not have had extras cover before.
“It particularly helps young adults access preventative services, keeping them off public waitlists for major dental intervention as they get older,” Mr Cameron said. “The goal of our practices, St Lukes Dental Network and standalone dental product is to make preventative dental accessible to all, driving generational improvement for Tasmanians’ oral health.”
Ms Shukri agreed that’s hugely important for the household budget.
“We have private dental cover, but we were always quite a lot out of pocket previously. So going into an appointment knowing there will be no gap is awesome.”
1 Oral health and dental care in Australia, Dental workforce - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
2 Access to Oral Health Services - Full Report
3 Access to Oral Health Services - Full Report
4 Australian Dental Association, Tasmanian Branch
ENDS