Smiles all round for kids in the Central Great Southern
Families in the Central Great Southern region are benefitting from a new children’s dental surgical service provided through WA Country Health Service and the Early Years Partnership (EYP) that relieves the need for families to travel to receive the care they need.
Working closely with the EYP, WA Country Health Service partnered with Perth Children’s Hospital to establish a paediatric dental surgical service at Katanning Health Service for urgent extractions.
Tegan Collard’s daughter, Maci, was one of 42 young children who have had local surgery since the service commenced in September 2023.
“The dental team were great with my daughter who had several check-ups and surgery," Tegan said.
“They kept her calm throughout the visits as she was nervous with this being new to her.
“It was a relief as a parent to know she was being well looked after throughout.”
Clinical Theatre Nurse Pip Treloar said the program was helping to reduce the stress for families travelling to Perth for dental procedures.
“Children and their families are more relaxed, which means better engagement with the health system for these young people.”
Great Southern Executive Director Evelyn Quinn said the program was one of several innovations extending dental health services into regional communities.
“It has also been pleasing to see the success of the innovative tele-dentistry model of care as part of the dental surgical service, allowing families to attend their pre-surgery outpatient appointment in their own home.”
Since March 2023, the innovative dental project has provided free screening and preventative treatment for children aged between 0 and 4 years, with 74 per cent of eligible children receiving dental services locally.
Comprised of a Specialist Paediatric Dentist and fourth year University of WA dentistry students, the team also provides dental education for families including tooth-brushing and good nutrition tips in early childhood education centres, playgroups, kindergartens and community events across the region.
The EYP is a 10-year collaboration between the Department of Communities, Department of Education and Department of Health, Minderoo Foundation and the Telethon Kids Institute, while the Dental Health Project is made possible via funding from WACHS, Minderoo Foundation and Rural Health West.
For more information on this and other EYP initiatives, visit Early Years Partnership.