People who are refugees or asylum seekers may experience high levels of gum disease and decay because of experiences prior to arrival in Australia like interrupted access to healthcare, a lack of access to nutritious food or clean water and severe injury to teeth.

Although refugees and asylum seekers have priority access to public dental services in Victoria, there are still significant barriers after arrival (an unfamiliar health system, language barriers, aspects of treatment that may seem strange and distrust in government services) that prevent them from getting the treatment they need. To help break down some of these barriers, public health and community groups from across the north and west metropolitan regions of Victoria will take part in the Community Dental Staff Forum to discuss and plan the best treatment options for this population group.

“Oral health is vital for overall health and well-being, so getting refugee and asylum seeker patients the dental care they need is essential,” Dental Health Services Victoria CEO, Dr Deborah Cole said. “We hope that the Community Dental Staff Forum will help to identify ways that organisations can work together to improve the oral health of refugees and asylum seekers in the north and west metropolitan regions of Melbourne.”

The event will bring together members of dental teams and staff of refugee and asylum seeker support agencies and educate them about approaches to caring for this diverse community group, ways to identify clinical and social risks, common health problems and how to support these patients through their treatment and recovery. It will also present an opportunity for health workers to discuss models of care that cater to refugee and asylum seeker patients and encourage them to seek treatment.

“This event is a great chance for community and health workers to collaborate and improve the oral health of this vulnerable group,” Dr Cole said.

“All asylum seekers and refugees should have access to the same level of health care as any other members in our community and should be sure that any special needs - cultural, linguistic, and health-related - are addressed.

“There are many specialist community agencies that currently provide services for asylum seekers and refugees - we want to add public dental clinics to that list”.

Pathways to better oral health for refugees and asylum seekers