More Aboriginal children in Central Australia will receive much-needed dental outreach services in Laramba, Tennant Creek and Ti Tree over the next two weeks.
Three teams of dental professionals completed their orientation in Alice Springs, supported by the local Central Australian Oral Health Service, before travelling to communities to treat children under the age of 16 years. They are part of the Helping Hands Project funded by the Commonwealth Government Intervention's follow-up for children who have had health checks or are eligible for them.
Helping Hands Project Manager, Julie Hornibrook, welcomed the increase in dental service outreach services, saying the mobile dental clinics used in Laramba and Ti-Tree have been kindly provided by South Australian and Queensland Oral Health Services.
'Similarly, the outreach teams have been recruited from interstate - South Australia, Queensland, NSW and Tasmania - and they bring their considerable expertise and commitment to remote dentistry in the NT,' Ms Hornibrook said.
'The dental van at Laramba was renovated and brought up from Adelaide for use by the Intervention's Helping Hands follow-up project. This project has worked with the local health centre to upgrade the power supply to support the van and a dental team arrived this week to provide this important service'.
Ms Hornibrook added that a self-drive mobile clinic has been set-up at Ti-Tree and the team at Tennant Creek is based at the hospital clinic.
'The outreach dental services also work closely with Anyinginyi Congress at Tennant Creek to transport children to clinics from outlying communities. With so many roads cut this week by the rains, the Helping Hands project is chartering a flight to bring children into town to see the dental team.'
The dental outreach into the Barkly will complement Central Australian Oral Health Services in providing dental checks and referrals. Children who need dental treatment under general anaesthetic will be treated by the visiting paediatric specialist dental team from Westmead Children's Hospital Sydney when they visit Tennant Creek at the end of March.
'All the children who have dental surgery will have had a dental assessment in their community prior to treatment. This surgical treatment means their dental care will be completed in one session and they will be free of pain and further discomfort,' Ms Hornibrook said,
'Whilst surgery can be effective in treating acute dental problems, children and their parents need to know that oral hygiene and a good diet are vital for the health development of children's teeth as soon as teeth appear at about 6-9 months of age. 'Teeth and gums need to be looked after from an early age, otherwise damage will be quite advanced by the time children start school,'
The Helping Hands Project is part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response to address the high demand for dental treatment for Aboriginal children in the Territory.
For further information go to nt.gov.au/health or call 08 8985 8067.
Media Contacts:Kathryn Crofts, Helping Hands (08) 8985 8130;Darrel Trueman, DHF Media Manager, 0401 116 203.
Release date: 18 February 2009
