PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Dent. Med.
Sec. Systems Integration
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdmed.2025.1640643
Filling the Gaps Sustainably: An Island Case Study of Rural Dental Workforce Challenges
Provisionally accepted
- University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Tasmania faces ongoing challenges in providing equitable oral health care across its geographically dispersed and ageing population. Tasmania has the lowest dental practitioner-to-population ratio in Australia, alongside long wait times and limited access to care in rural and regional areas. This perspective explores the demographic and workforce distribution trends that influence oral health service delivery in Tasmania using Census data, regulatory records, and key public sector audits. We highlight critical gaps in service provision and policy, reflect on the implications of the workforce maldistribution, argue for expanding the oral health therapy workforce and explore the transdisciplinary approaches currently implemented that prioritise sustainable, community-integrated oral health care. Such models align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), but also encompass SDGs 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10,13 and 17, which respond to environmental and social contexts. This perspective highlights the intersections of planetary health, oral health, and community well-being, arguing that sustainable, health-centred solutions must address both human and environmental health outcomes.
Keywords: Sustainable development goals, Oral Health, Workforce distribution, access to care, islands
Received: 04 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bettiol, Naresh and Khan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Silvana S Bettiol, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.