Routine or urgent dental care
People contact public dental care providers seeking either routine or urgent care. From there, they will be placed on the
appropriate waiting list.
People seeking routine care
Providers place people on a waiting list according to the
Public Dental Non-Urgent Waiting List Policy. The two waiting lists for non-urgent
public dental care are:
- the General Waiting List. All people seeking
care go on this list unless they have no natural teeth or they meet the
criteria for priority dentures
- the Denture Waiting List.
People are treated in the order in which they are placed on
the list.
People seeking urgent care
Agencies use the Emergency Demand Management System (EDMS)
to assess, triage and manage people seeking urgent care. Following triage,
people needing urgent care will be offered an appointment. Anyone assessed as
not needing urgent care can choose to go on one of the two non-urgent waiting
lists. Anyone needing urgent care can also choose to go on the General Waiting
List after their emergency treatment.
What happens when people change dental clinics
People who have been on the waiting list at one Victorian
public dental clinic can transfer to another clinic’s waiting list without
penalty. The new clinic will backdate the person’s place on its waiting list to
the date of placement on the original waiting list.
People who have priority access
People who have priority access to dental care are offered
the next available appointment for general care. They are not placed on the General
Waiting List. If the person has denture care needs, then they will be offered
the next available appointment for denture care or placed on the Priority Denture
Waiting List.
Priority denture care
A person needs priority denture care if they meet any of the
following criteria:
- They have no denture or natural teeth in one or
both arches.
- They have missing front teeth, which causes
aesthetic, functional or social problems that a denture could reduce.
- An existing denture cannot be repaired or fits
so poorly that it causes tissue damage if worn.
- The person’s medical history suggests they need
a denture.
- A treatment plan requires urgent extractions.
Treatment for people needing priority denture care includes
any treatment that their natural teeth require before their dentures can be
constructed.
Providers of public dental care offer care to all people needing priority denture car before people with routine denture needs. A person can be reassessed as having priority denture needs if their needs change to meet the criteria for priority denture care. The provider places this person on the Priority Denture Waiting List using the date of the reassessment, not the date of the original assessment.