Dental and oral health students from the University of Sydney are helping to close the gap in the rural dental sector by taking part in clinical placements across rural New South Wales. 

Each year, around 50 dental and oral health students volunteer for placements in rural dental clinics, providing free care to local residents while developing their skills in a more complex environment. 

So far this year 30 students have already completed placements at clinics in locations including Bathurst, Mudgee and Warilla. A further 20 students have now started placements in Broken Hill, Ballina, Nowra and Kempsey. 

Rural communities face significant barriers in trying to access timely and affordable dental care, with major cities having more than three times the number of dentists compared to remote and very remote areas. 

People living in rural areas often travel vast distances to reach a dentist, with over 100,000 estimated to live an hour or more away from their nearest dental practice. Over the course of each year, the students provide more than a thousand patients living in rural NSW with care.

Hannah Omori, a final-year student on placement said that her time in Mudgee had been eye-opening:  

“The placement has really highlighted how important timely access to care is. A lack of easily available dental care means that people aren’t able to get help when a problem starts and instead wait, which often leads to more extensive work needing to be done. 

“Working rurally has also taught me to be resourceful and to think outside the box when delivering care. For example, a recent patient with tooth decay needed dentures but was going to have to wait to get them. To help them manage in the interim, we created a bridge from one of their extracted teeth so that they could eat normally while they waited for their dentures to arrive.

“The experiences I’ve had, both professionally and personally, are ones I'll take with me throughout my career.”

Daiwik Shrotriya, who completed a placement in Bathurst earlier in the year, said: “I was exposed to lots of different types of dentistry work that I wouldn’t see as frequently back in Sydney, as well as patients from a range of backgrounds. 

“It has been fantastic to give back to the community through the rural placement. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m planning to come back to Bathurst to practice once I have completed my studies.” 

Harry Tiernan, a final-year student who grew up in Cootamundra, said: “As someone who grew up in rural New South Wales, I knew the challenges that people face trying to access the care they need. 
 
“A big driver for me is to give back to my community and it feels good to be able to treat someone and then bump into them later at the shops."

Associate Professor Shalinie King from the School of Dentistry said: “There are big workforce challenges in rural dental care which is why the rural dental placement program is so important. 

“Students have the opportunity to learn new skills and develop their practice while providing much-needed free care to people living in remote areas. 

“We are very proud of our students and the contribution they make to the community, and grateful to rural communities for being so welcoming.”

The rural dental placement program is supported through the Federal Government’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Grant, with additional funding from NSW Health for the clinical placements in Broken Hill.