When Wendy Straker found out she needed braces, she never expected to have to fly more than 1,000 kilometres for a check-up.
Key points:
- Residents in Pilbara towns have been unable to access the same level of dental care they once could
- Dental professionals across the regions say access is “grossly inadequate”
- Health leaders are urging young dentists and students to be exposed to regional communities more
But when her usual orthodontist was unable to secure a contract at the new Newman Hospital, Ms Straker had few other options.
“It is quite a pain. It is a big distance. It’s a lot of effort and time and money,” she said.
“You can’t always just spend money flying down to Perth and then hiring a car to get to an appointment.”
Ms Straker said when she was unable to travel to Perth, she went without regular check-ups for six months.
“I was left with the same elastics which are usually changed every six weeks – they became discoloured and broke in several places,” she said.
“I was in urgent need of adjustment.”
Ms Straker is frustrated by the lack of access to care in a lucrative iron ore mining town such as Newman.
“We all live in a rugged place, we pay a lot of tax, and I feel that this town, being such a central mining town, really needs to have a lot more focus put on it,” she said.
“Why can’t we have what people have in Perth?”
No travel coverage for dental
For other medical appointments, regional residents can access the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS), which subsidises travel costs.
However, PATS does not cover dental care or procedures.
Port Hedland dentist Roger Higgins described the level of dental access in the Pilbara as “completely and grossly inadequate” and said attracting staff to work in public clinics came down to “a salary issue”.
“You need to pay people a pretty decent package all round to keep them up here,” Dr Higgins said.
“That is not happening, and I find that an embarrassment.”
Dr Higgins works privately, but has a history in school-based dentistry, and said he was seeing school clinics close due to a lack of staff.
Isolation a problem for specialists
UWA lecturer and Kimberley dental team chair Jilen Patel said the isolating nature of regional work was also a barrier.
“A dentist in one of those remote communities by themselves … it’s very isolating,” Dr Patel said.
“They’ve got very little support from other professionals, they’ve got nowhere to refer complex cases.”
Rural Health West chief executive Tim Shackleton said oral health needed to be treated as a high priority due to the flow-on effects to a person’s general health.
“If dental health isn’t adequate, or if people are unhealthy, that leads to and is related to many other medical conditions,” Mr Shackleton said.
He said gaps in dental services could be addressed by exposing young professionals and students to a regional environment.
“We’re having quite a bit of success with the exposure of early career or even undergraduate dental health professionals,” he said.
“You get them out of the city and take them to rural and remote areas … the more we do that the more they enjoy it, and the more likely they are to come back.”
While improving dental care access in the regions is likely to take time, Ms Straker hopes access to orthodontic services in Newman could be an easier fix.
“Whatever the hold-up is with contract or legalities, to be honest I’m not after excuses,” she said.
“My understanding is that he [her usual orthodontist] has done everything he possibly can to get back up here to look after his patients.
“I want results and access to my service back.”
A WA Health spokesperson said providing healthcare in the regions was “always a high priority” and the department was advertising overseas and in eastern states to attract staff.
The spokesperson said that while staffing was low, the department was working to provide dental care through travelling dental therapists visiting under-serviced communities.