‘There’s a wall there—and that wall is higher from our side’: drawing on qualitative interviews to improve Indigenous Australians’ experiences of dental health services

Abstract

Indigenous Australians experience high levels of untreated dental disease compared to non-Indigenous Australians. We sought to gain insight into barriers that prevent Indigenous Australians from seeking timely and preventive dental care. A qualitative study design was implemented, using face-to-face interviews conducted December 2019 to February 2020. Participants were 20 Indigenous Australians (10 women and 10 men) representing six South Australian Indigenous groups; Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, Kaurna, Ngadjuri, Wiramu, and Adnyamathanha. Age range was middle-aged to elderly. The setting was participants' homes or workplaces. The main outcome measures were barriers and enablers to accessing timely and appropriate dental care. The findings were broadly grouped into eight domains: (1) fear of dentists; (2) confusion regarding availability of dental services; (3) difficulties making dental appointments; (4) waiting times; (5) attitudes and empathy of dental health service staff; (6) cultural friendliness of dental health service space; (7) availability of public transport and parking costs; and (8) ease of access to dental clinic. The findings indicate that many of the barriers to Indigenous people accessing timely and appropriate dental care may be easily remedied. Cultural competency training enables barriers to timely access and provision of dental care to Indigenous Australians to be addressed. The findings provide important context to better enable health providers and policy makers to put in place appropriate measures to improve Indigenous people's oral health, and the Indigenous oral health workforce in Australia.