Dental care

The Victorian Government is committed to better informing and improving the experience of people listed for dental care in community dental clinics.

The Community Dental Program provides emergency, general and denture care to concession card holders and their dependants. Care is provided at 60 community dental clinics and the Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne.

This website will provide you with information that can help you understand more about times to treatment for different types of dental care. It includes information on:

• the categories for types of dental care
• how dental care lists work
• what is meant by an ‘urgent’ need
• what to do if your condition deteriorates.

What are the categories for dental care?

There are four categories of dental care.

• priority denture care
• denture care
• unplanned general care
• general care.

Priority denture care is provided to people with urgent denture needs, for example people with no teeth. Urgent dentures will generally be made within three months

Denture care covers all people requiring dentures who are not assessed as needing priority denture care.

If you need unplanned general care, you will generally be assessed within 24 hours of making contact with a community dental clinic (within business hours). Urgent needs cover bleeding, swelling or trauma.

General care includes treatments such as fillings and extractions.

How do dental care lists work?

Each community dental clinic has two lists. These lists are for denture care and general care. If you require urgent care you will not be placed on either of these lists.

The time to treatment is the time from when a person is put on the list to the time when they are offered treatment. People are treated in the order in which they are placed on either the denture care list or the general care list at each clinic.

What should I do if my condition deteriorates while I am on a denture care or general care list?

If you feel that your condition gets worse and you now have an urgent need, you should contact your community dental clinic and ask to have your need reassessed.