By NATALIE GALLENTI-BREKALO
MELTON residents can now get the new smile they have been waiting for a lot sooner thanks to a significant increase in dental service provision by Djerriwarrh Health Services.
The public dental clinic located at Melton Health recently received much-needed funding provided under the National Partnership Agreement on Treating More Public Dental Patients.
Chief executive of Djerriwarrh Health Services Bruce Marshall welcomed the new times saying waiting periods have been slashed by almost a year and even more for Melton’s older residents requiring dentures.
“The waiting time for general public dental treatment has reduced from 18 months to seven months while the wait time for dentures has reduced from 18 months to one month,” Mr Marshall said.
He also said a dental emergency service is provided from Melton Health when the clinic is open or from the Royal Dental Hospital in Carlton if the clinic is closed.
Patients requiring emergency dental care are seen within 24 hours or 14 days, depending on the nature of the emergency.
And the waiting times are set to reduce even further due to the introduction of evening clinics and the use of participating private dental clinics to undertake some of the activity, using a voucher system.
Public dental services are available to all children up to the age of 12 years old, young people aged between 13 and 17 who are dependents of a current healthcare or pensioner concession card holder, and all adults who have a current healthcare or pension concession card.
Anyone interested in finding out more about public dental services can contact Djerriwarrh Health Services on 9747 7609 or visit www.djhs.org.au.
