Charles Sturt University (CSU) has welcomed comments from the National Party supporting plans to train dentists for the bush, in the bush.

 

Nationals Senator Fiona Nash met with CSU Dean of the Faculty of Heath Studies Professor Mark Burton late last week. They discussed the dental crisis in inland NSW and ways CSU and the Australian Government can work together to ease the critical shortage of dental workers.

 

Earlier this year the State Government and NSW Opposition also called for action on dental health.

 

“The number of dentists in regional NSW does not meet the recommendation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” said Professor Burton.

 

“The situation in the Central West of NSW is approaching the levels in some developing countries - just 17.3 dentists per 100 000. The OECD average is 56 dentists per 100 000 people.”

 

Senator Nash agreed, saying “it’s no secret we have a chronic shortage of dentists here in Australia.

 

“This acute shortfall impacts very heavily on rural and regional areas so it’s vital we put measures in place to start reversing this trend.

 

“The plan to set up training facilities in regional centres as a way of retaining dentists in these areas is very much a practical and common sense approach – one that has proven successful in other fields such as medicine and pharmacy.

 

“I support Charles Sturt University in their push for what ostensibly is an investment in the future of rural and regional New South Wales,” said Senator Nash.

 

For the last two years, CSU has been increasingly concerned about the chronic shortage of qualified dentists and dental workers.

In rural and regional NSW, the shortage already has ‘bite’. Bourke has lost its only dentist, while Oberon has just secured the services of a dentist from Parkes two days a week. There is no dentist in Nyngan, and even regional cities the size of Dubbo and Orange are suffering a shortage.

 

“CSU has already had tremendous success placing graduates in pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, radiography, occupational therapy and nursing into rural and regional practice,” said Professor Burton. “CSU feels we could have the same level of success with dental workers.”

 

For example, CSU’s new Clinical Science degree is an initiative that has been created to streamline a limited number of rural and regional students into dental and medical degrees at Sydney University.