Percentage of clients requiring emergency dental care treated within recommended time

Emergency public dental health care is provided through Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV). It is available to all Victorians through The Royal Dental Hospital of Melbourne and to eligible Victorians at community dental clinics.

When a client requiring emergency dental care attends a public dental care service, they are prioritised for care depending on their condition.

The most urgent emergency cases (e.g. clients bleeding from the mouth after an accident) are recommended for assessment/treatment within 24 hours as Triage Category 1 clients. Data for triage categories below are from 1 (most urgent) to 3 (less urgent).

Tap the buttons below for specific data about the percentage of clients treated within the recommended time.

Scroll down for more information about the data (measures).

About the data

The above measures look at the percentage of clients requiring emergency dental care seen within the recommended time for:

  • Triage category 1 (recommended 24 hours)
  • Triage category 2 (recommended 7 days)
  • Triage category 3 (recommended 14 days).

For Triage category 1, the recommended time is the proportion of clients who required treatment within 24 hours and commenced their course of care within 24 hours.

The time to course of care commencement is calculated from triage date until course of care start date.

About triage category 1

Assigned to most urgent emergency patients (e.g. swelling in face, bleeding after tooth extraction, bleeding from mouth after accident). The 2023–24 and 2024-25 statewide targets for the percentage of patients seen within recommended time have not been finalised.

About triage category 2

Less urgent care required. The 2022-23 statewide target is for 80% of triage category 2 clients to be seen within 7 days. The 2023–24 and 2024-25 statewide targets for the percentage of patients seen within recommended time have not been finalised.

About triage category 3

Less urgent care required. The 2022-23 statewide target is for 75% of triage category 3 clients to be seen within 14 days. The 2023–24 and 2024-25 statewide targets for the percentage of patients seen within recommended time have not been finalised.

Notes