Volunteering

Many Australian dentists, other allied dental personnel and other committed people give their time freely to provide oral health services, strategic management, education and training, equipment and materials to persons living in regions where the circumstances restrict the provision of adequate health care services. Dental societies, service clubs and missionary organisations have also provided support.

Over the years there have been several ongoing programmes in areas such as the Asia Pacific Region and Africa, sustained by Australian volunteers. Both the Australian and New Zealand Society of Paediatric Dentistry and the Australasian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry support volunteer dental programs, and many individual members support and participate in these programs.

Australia

Kimberley Dental Team Ltd.

Within Australia the Kimberley Dental Team Ltd. is a not for profit, Non Government Organisation, and is a team of visiting volunteers from the dental profession and allied health professionals, aiming to enhance current resources and levels of care in the Kimberley region.

The Team is working in concert with Dental Health Services, the Centre of Rural and Remote Oral Health, University of Western Australia and Aboriginal Medical Services, to provide additional and often urgent services to those most disadvantaged by barriers to care such as decreased access, limited staff resourcing and distance.

Overseas

Royal Australia-Vietnam Dental Health Project

Overseas, the Rotary Australia-Vietnam Dental Health Project is coordinated by Dr Jamie Robertson. The project began in 1991, and has grown to have three branches:

  1. Primary care and school-based disease prevention for rural children.
  2. Dental specialists were added in 1998 to work in departments of NHOS in the city.
  3. Multidisciplinary team for Cleft management. This is a mixture of OMS, Anaesthetists and nurses, Ortho, Paediatric dentist, Speech Pathologist.

For the past three years the specialist group has gone up to Hanoi to the sister campus of NHOS to give repeat lectures and a brief visit to the Departments there.

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