While dentists may not be easily available in outback communities, what people can do in lieu of an actual dental check up is to follow easy preventative steps to help lessen the risk of tooth decay.
Port Melbourne, Victoria (PRWEB) October 27, 2014
A recently published article on 7 September 2014 by news.com.au entitled “Dental Shortage in Rural Australia Sees People Remove Own Teeth” has caught the general public’s attention about the serious shortage of dental practitioners in the rural areas.
“While dentists may not be easily available in outback communities, what people can do in lieu of an actual dental check up is to follow easy preventative steps to help lessen the risk of tooth decay,” says Dr. Fern White, principal Port Melbourne dentist from the Beacon Cove Dental Clinic.
The National Rural Health Alliance reported that as high as 37.6% of dental decay cases are left untreated in the rural areas, attributed mainly to the lack of dentists in the regions.
What’s more, this is occurring despite the fact that there are more dentists today than ever before. Between 2011 and 2012 alone, there were 1,000 new dental practitioners registered across the country. The problem therein lies with most dental practices being concentrated in cities and other urban areas.
While the government is aware of this phenomenon and certain incentives have been offered for dentists to open clinics in the outback, the results have been lackluster.
Lack of dental care is a serious matter. The news.com.au article reports that around 63,000 Australians end up in the hospital for dental conditions that could have easily been prevented by proper dental hygiene. “Prevention is about awareness really,” says Dr. White, “which is why I share my holistic dental knowledge whenever I can.”
As a possible remedy until more dentists are available in these areas, Dr. White suggests that people practice simple, regular dental care at home.
“It’s actually very easy as it only involves proper diet, flossing and brushing. These are things many of us were taught as kids, but as we progress through life, we lose focus about taking care of ourselves and simple things like dental care are forgotten,” explains Dr. White. “It’s more important than ever for those families in rural Australia to learn about the connection between overall and oral health, and take these simple preventative measures seriously.”
The name for the connection Dr. White mentions is called the Systemic Connection. It’s what dentists refer to when someone’s overall health and oral health affect one another. By eating the right food and daily flossing and brushing, the systemic connection stays in balance and dental decay can be prevented.
To help rural Australian learn how to proactively avoid tooth decay, Beacon Cove Dental has published helpful guides, such as: http://www.beaconcovedental.com.au/prevention-service/top-tips-diet-flossing-and-brushing-instructions/ and http://www.beaconcovedental.com.au/prevention-service/your-overall-health-systemic-connections/
About Beacon Cove Dental
Beacon Cove Dental believes oral health is a critical part of overall health and that accessing state of the art dental treatments should be simple and easy for everyone.
Furthermore, Beacon Cove Dental feels that their clients should have full control of their dental treatment and be active in its planning. The all-female team of practitioners and assistants believe in treating the whole person rather than just their mouth. In spending the time working together with patients, their dental goals are achieved.
Beacon Cove Dental is also active in creating a completely environmentally sustainable and 100% Green Powered practice.
