Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick, UQ dental scientist Sam Samaranayake and Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley on Thursday. Photo: Kaylene Biggs Photography
Demand for public dental services at Australia’s leading oral health tertiary centre is so high that no more adult bookings can be taken this year.
The $134 million University of Queensland centre, next to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, has replaced a previous facility in the Brisbane CBD at 200 Turbot Street.
The state-of-the-art centre began operating this year and is home to dental and oral health students, who have access to 173 dental chairs in 11 clinics, as well as a 100-seat dental simulation room.
Students at the University of Queensland Oral Health Centre in Herston. Photo: Kristian Silva
When classes are running, the centre is buzzing with 400-odd students. Also buzzing, are the sounds of dental drills and equipment.
In the research labs, the sight of jars full of teeth may leave some feeling a little squirmish. There’s even an interesting vending machine, which doesn’t dispense soft drinks but instead drops out packets of model teeth for students to experiment on.
The tertiary school was based in the CBD for 73 years, and UQ’s faculty of health and behavioural sciences dean Professor Bruce Abernethy said the new centre’s opening was a “landmark” moment for research in the state.
“In order to be at the cutting edge of where research and teaching endeavours, it’s necessary to have a facility that is forward-looking,” he said.
“We’re confident that seniors can access this site as readily as the previous site. It’s a one-zone bus trip from Brisbane’s centre to here.”
The centre was mostly funded by the former Rudd federal government who allocated $104 million, while the Queensland Government provided $3 million of funding.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one third of Australians aged between 25 and 44 have untreated tooth decay, and about a third had not visited the dentist in the last 12 months.
Queensland Health Minister Cameron Dick said the future of the old Turbot Street site was yet to be determined, but ruled out selling the premises.
It is unclear how the health sector will be affected by changes to a National Partnership agreement between the Queensland and federal government.
“The government is offering the states and territories a new 12-month National Partnership agreement on adult public dental services… that funding is around $155 million in the coming financial year,” Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said on Thursday.
Ms Ley said she was “absolutely confident” she could successfully negotiate a deal with the Palaszczuk Government.
Mr Dick said Queensland faced a “very big challenge”, and said the Abbott Government was proposing to cut $11 billion from the state health system in the next decade.