The health and social needs of public dental patients

Abstract

Aim or Purpose: To investigate public dental patients’ perceptions regarding access to healthcare and support services in a dental setting and understand their wider social and health needs. Materials and Methods: An anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst public dental patients over the age of 18 years, who attended Sydney Local Health District Oral Health Service between September and December 2022. The survey was designed through a consultative process which included questions about the demographic characteristics of the participants and a mixture of binary (yes-no) and Likert scale-based questions. The final question asked participants to indicate the support services they require. The study was approved by RPAH Ethics Committee. Results collected were summarised using descriptive statistics and a p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: In total, 111 of responses were received and 99% of patients felt their dental health was an important part of their overall health with 41% having difficulty looking after their teeth. Nearly half (47%) of patients were aware that SLHD-OHS could refer them to healthcare and support services, with 66% feeling the administration staff understood their social needs while only 59% said the same for their dentist. Majority (95%) of them had a general medical practitioner, while only 30% were connected to support services in their local community, and many indicated a need for additional support services like financial support (43%), housing support (22%), mental health care (17%) and carer support (14%). Conclusions: A large proportion of public dental patients accessing SLHD-OHS identified vulnerabilities in relation to the social determinants of health and expressed an unmet need for additional support services.