First two new mobile dental clinics arrive

03/03/2010 | Mobile Dental Clinics Arrive

The first two of a scheduled five new mobile dental clinics MidCentral District Health board is buying have arrived in Palmerston North and are undergoing testing before they are scheduled to start work this month.

MidCentral Health Child Adolescent Oral Health Project manager Kate Aplin said: “A single mobile dental clinic was delivered on 19 January 2010, and a double mobile dental clinic delivered on 15 February 2010 which are now on site at the Palmerston North Hospital campus. These clinics are undergoing acceptance testing prior to being handed over to MidCentral Health to begin working."

A blessing will be held when they are handed over to MidCentral Health, and before work starts in them.There is one dental chair in the single mobile units and two dental chairs in the double mobile units. The dental chairs are highly technical chairs which the client sits in while receiving oral health care. They are the key component to this service.

“The first school to receive the single mobile dental clinic will be Somerset School in Palmerston North, anticipated to be on 8 March 2010. The school is more than keen to work with MidCentral Health on making this a promotional opportunity for them and for the Child and Adolescent Oral Health Service.

“The first double clinic is expected to begin service at Foxton Primary School toward the end of March 2010. A further double mobile dental clinic is due to arrive at Palmerston North Hospital campus for acceptance testing in March 2010. Meanwhile the DHB is continuing its investigations into providing universal access in the future.

“The response from schools in the region to receiving the mobile dental clinics has been extremely positive with a willingness to discuss how the Child Adolescent Oral Health Service and the school can improve the oral health status within the MidCentral DHB region,” Mrs Aplin said.

The clinics have been equipped so that each dental therapist will be able to see approximately 55 children a week. There is a small increase in clinical staff (dental therapists and assistants) in the reconfigured service. The major change is that dental therapists will no longer have to work by themselves due to having a colleague in the two chair clinics, as well as a dental assistant to work with in single and double chair clinics.

The Ministry of Health, in conjunction with the NZ Dental Therapists Association, provides guidelines for the number of patients a therapist is able to work with each year and from this the number of chairs required is worked out.

Consideration of the oral health status in different areas is also used in this equation to ensure that where there are areas of high oral health need, there are enough therapists and chairs to accommodate this.

Any dental work that requires sedation will be undertaken in the MidCentral District Health Board’s dental unit at Palmerston North Hospital.

Updates, project documentation and progress is available from the MidCentral District Health Board website: http://www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz/oral-health

Contact: Communications Unit (06) 350-8945