Oral health is a serious but often overlooked factor in poor health outcomes in rural Australia. Despite this, rural Australians have been given limited opportunities to participate in oral health research.
New research from Dr Fiona Dangerfield and colleagues is helping to change that.
Her recent study draws on insights from Australia’s Rural Health Consumer Panel, the first and only consumer health panel focused on the lived experiences of people in rural Australia, to better understand barriers to oral health care.
“Our study found that cost, waiting times and travel distance are major barriers to care,” she says. “We also found that private health insurance plays an important role in whether people access preventive dental services.”
Dr Dangerfield says she hopes the findings will help shape more equitable oral health policies and services for rural Australians.
“The findings highlight the need for affordable, accessible and preventive models of care, as well as stronger investment in rural oral health services,” she says. “They also show that engaging rural people in research can generate valuable insights that may otherwise be overlooked.”
Dr Dangerfield says the next step is to continue working with rural communities to identify practical, place-based solutions that improve access to oral health care.
