The work of OPA staff and volunteers has allowed OPA to see that people with disability face barriers when needing to access dental services in Victoria. The OPA Community Visitors Program had identified over 50 dental care issues in the period 2021-23. These issues include occasions where residents have difficulty obtaining timely and adequate dental care, such as one instance, where there was more than a two year wait for a person to attend a special needs dental clinic.

Access to a range of quality dental care services is vital for people with disability to maintain their health and wellbeing to enable them to pursue their goals and aspirations.

For improved oral health outcomes in Australia for people with disability OPA is calling for:

• community dental care clinics need to be accessible for people with disability
• dental health plans that enable access to regular dental care services each year for people with disability are important
• there should be collaboration of mainstream dental care services and disability support providers
• there should be improved education of dentists and oral hygienists on the needs of people with disability
• access to a range of quality dental care services is vital for people with disability to maintain
• their health and wellbeing to enable them to pursue their goals and aspirations.

Download a copy of our submission.