A dental workforce strategy to make Australian public dental services more efficient

Tan Minh Nguyen,Hanny Calache,Utsana Tonmukayakul

doi:10.1186/s12960-019-0370-8

Abstract

BackgroundDental services can be provided by the oral health therapy (OHT) workforce and dentists. This study aims to quantify the potential cost-savings of increased utilisation of the OHT workforce in providing dental services for children under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS). The CDBS is an Australian federal government initiative to increase dental care access for children aged 2–17 years.MethodsDental services billed under the CDBS for the 2013–2014 financial year were used. Two OHT-to-dentist workforce mix ratios were tested: Model A National Workforce (1:4) and Model B Victorian Workforce (2:3). The 30% average salary difference between the two professions in the public sector was used to adjust the CDBS fee schedule for each type of service. The current 29% utilisation rate of the CDBS and the government target of 80% were modelled.ResultsThe estimated cost-savings under the current CDBS utilisation rate was AUD 26.5M and AUD 61.7M, for Models A and B, respectively. For the government target CDBS utilisation rate, AUD 73.2M for Model A and AUD 170.2M for Model B could be saved.ConclusionAn increased utilisation of the OHT workforce to provide dental services under the CDBS would save costs on public dental service funding. The potential cost-savings can be reinvested in other dental initiatives such as outreach school-based dental check programmes or resource allocation to eliminate adult dental waiting lists in the public sector.

Highlights

Oral diseases remain one of the most prevalent non-communicable chronic diseases that affect 90% of the world’s population
Current Australian dental workforce models, which predominately rely on dentists to provide dental care, are inefficient to provide public dental services
Countries that are considering to embed dental services via universal healthcare systems should maximise the role of oral health therapists to provide more efficient public dental services

Summary

Introduction

Oral diseases remain one of the most prevalent non-communicable chronic diseases that affect 90% of the world’s population Common oral diseases such as dental caries and periodontal disease share common risk factors with systemic diseases [1]. In Australia, oral conditions are the second most common cause of acute potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH). PPH is defined as ‘admissions that are potentially avoidable through timely and accessible, primary healthcare’. Dental services can be provided by the oral health therapy (OHT) workforce and dentists. This study aims to quantify the potential cost-savings of increased utilisation of the OHT workforce in providing dental services for children under the Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS). The current 29% utilisation rate of the CDBS and the government target of 80% were modelled

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion