The Royal Flying Doctor Service is helping to bring more smiles to Cohuna with their free Flying Doctor Dental Clinic.
Until May 18, the service has stationed one of its mobile dental trucks at Cohuna District Hospital and is providing examinations and treatment services to patients.
The service is free for anybody with a pension, concession or healthcare card, as well as anyone under the age of 18, and the dependents of any of those card holders.
They will also be visiting local schools with the Smile Squad, its school dental program.
The RFDS Victoria’s first mobile dental truck hit the road in 2016, bringing oral health treatment and education to remote Victorian towns.
While oral disease is a preventable scourge, the RFDS recognised that people in rural areas were more likely to be affected by the problems that come with poor oral health. This is often due to the lack of nearby services available in regional areas, and the increased wait times this can cause.
Program support officer, Tracey Muston, said wait times can cause regional victims to avoid dental services.
“The nearest public dental clinic is in Swan Hill or Boort,” she said. “And they can have quite lengthy wait times to get an appointment. We are trying to do our bit to get in first and try to lower those wait times.”
But by bringing the dentist to these areas, the RFDS hope to remove this barrier and help regional Victorian’s oral health.
Ms Muston said Cohuna has shown a great interest in the program, after they first visited the town in 2019.
“We’ve seen a fantastic uptake here in Cohuna,” she said. “The people here are very appreciative. For families living on farms or for the older population, having to drive more than an hour away for dental work can be a bit difficult.
“As far as treatment goes, we do anything from check-ups to extractions, cleaning and fillings. We are unable to do complex things like root-canals and crowns, but we do our best to cover the majority of things.”
The trucks are staffed by a team of dentists, dental assistants and oral health therapists who can cover a range of teeth and mouth issues.
Ms Muston said people should be aware of how much poor oral health can impact their wellbeing.
“Oral health affects so many parts of our lives,” she said. “Things like diet, lifestyle and obviously pain and discomfort. We really see it as a holistic approach, if you have a healthy mouth then you generally will have a pretty healthy body.”
To book an appointment, or for more information please call (03) 8412 0444.
