Central Smiles heads to regional South Australia

Book an Appointment in Regional Australia

Central Smiles

Backed by the Australian Dental Foundation and the Straumann Group Foundation, the Central Smiles Project will deliver over 2,400 appointment opportunities in its first year alone.  In partnership with local Aboriginal communities, schools and health services. We will first visit communities across the greater Ceduna region and the Riverland, where distance, and limited dental services can make accessing regular oral health care challenging. Ceduna itself is approximately 780 kilometers away from the nearest major city, Adelaide! We will provide:

    • Dental examinations
    • Preventive care
    • Restorative treatment
    • Extractions
    • Referral

Michelle is the sixth vehicle to join the Australian Dental Foundation’s growing mobile dental fleet, and will be hitting the road for the program. Michelle features a fully equipped dental surgery and dedicated sterilisation room. Her solar-powered capabilities mean greater flexibility and independence when travelling through regional and remote Australia, helping us reach communities that previously had limited access to dental services. With Michelle on the road, the Australian Dental Foundation can go further, stay longer and provide care to more Australians who need it most. If you spot Michelle on her travels, be sure to give her a wave.

“By almost every measure, people living in the regions of SA are suffering from poorer oral health than their city counterparts,” Foundation chairman Dr Greg Miller said, referring to statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

For more information contact Shauna Black
shauna@dentalfoundation.org.au

Facts and figures
● Children aged 5 to 10 who live in remote or very remote areas are twice as likely as their
city counterparts to have a baby tooth missing because of decay.1
● First Nations children are twice as likely to have a tooth missing due to decay than non-
indigenous children. 1
● In most regional areas, fewer than 50% of the children who are eligible for the
Child Dental Benefits Schedule are accessing that program. 2
● Children in regional South Australia have been identified (by SA Dental) as a
priority population, with increased risk driven by: environmental and social
determinants (e.g. diet, water quality, obesity); reduced access to preventive and
early intervention services; limited workforce availability. 3

  1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  2. SA Dental
  3. SA Oral Health Alliance

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ADFI respectfully acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.