My Dental Journey
Public Healthcare App for Patients and Private Clinics
Access to public dental care in Queensland is difficult, especially for vulnerable patients.
Queensland public dental services currently operate on a voucher system, offering either a ‘general’ or ‘emergency’ voucher.
Patients are required to navigate multiple interactions, rely on phone-based systems, and wait extended periods for voucher approval and appointment allocation.
What are the issues we face currently?
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One in four Queenslanders suffers from untreated dental decay. If left untreated, it can cause painful and serious complications.
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Current waiting list figures are estimated by the QLD Government to be 190,000 patients, and this number grows every day.
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One in five people avoided seeing the dentist due to costs - this figure jumps to 28% if on a low income.
While systemic changes are required, such as adding dental care to Medicare, there are opportunities for improvement.
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Lack of treatment can lead to high levels of oral disease, alongside other severe chronic illnesses.
How can we help?
This service integrates automated eligibility screening, patient-reported triage, and real-time clinic availbility to streamline access to vouchers and participating providers.
Create a fully integrated and simple health platform for clinics and patients
Integrate more private practices into voucher system
There will be easier avenues for private clinics to join the voucher network to improve access to public dental, as per recommendations by dental scholars.
Provide preventative and maintenance advice
The in-built educational hub encourages healthier oral care decisions to alleviate the strain on public dental systems and minimise severe symptoms patients may face.
Anticipated Service Benefits
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With the in-built eligibility and allocation processes, integrated with QLD Health systems, this platform could cut down wait times to organise an appointment from days or weeks to minutes.
The onboarding quiz could also flag and fast-track emergency voucher approvals, ensuring urgent cases are handled more quickly.
Less time waiting on lists, and faster results.
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Built-in translation or simplified pathways for non-English speakers, older people, and those with disabilities could reduce barriers that traditional systems don’t adequately address.
Geographic filtering of clinics is especially useful in rural or remote regions where access to care is limited.
Building oral health education into the platform encourages preventative care, which could reduce high-cost procedures and emergency demand in the long run.
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Standardised digital referrals provide upfront eligibility and treatment context, reducing back-and-forth with public services.
Clear voucher information and scope of care improve confidence in billing and treatment planning.
Clinics can support public patients and community health outcomes without increasing administrative burden.
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Digitising routine tasks, such as voucher processing and appointment management, could reduce call centre demand and manual handling for QLD Health staff.
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The system could track metrics like voucher uptake, no-shows, wait times, and treatment outcomes — which are currently opaque in many public systems.
Queensland Health could see in real-time where demand is highest and where capacity is underutilised.
Patient Experience
Onboarding
After inputting basic details or logging in via MyGov, a simple questionnaire can determine the severity, and urgency of a patient’s needs.
Based on the patient’s responses, they will be allocated either an ‘emergency’ or ‘general’ voucher.
Clinic Placement
Using the client’s location (provided via location permissions or an inputted address), the patient is provided with the closest clinic.
The patient can also sort by distance or earliest appointment time.
Interface
A simple and transparent structure which shows the outline of treatments a patient has/will receive.
The ever-growing education section provides simple, informative articles, written by dentists. Research has consistently shown that prevention is one of the best methods to combat dental decay.
Clinic Experience
Onboarding
A quiz for the clinic owner will reveal how many patients and which types of cases can be allocated to this particular clinic.
Clinic details will be verified prior to the clinic joining the network.
Each clinic will be expected to uphold dental protocols established by Queensland Health, and can be subject to review in extraordinary circumstances.
Interface
A simple interface to show the clinic owner:
A summary of their patient capacity;
Upcoming and previous appointments;
A billing section to track the payments of treatments.
Appendix
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). A discussion of public dental waiting times information in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/df234a9a-5c47-4483-9cf7-15ce162d3461/aihw-den-230.pdf.aspx
Australian Dental Association. (2023). No budget relief for public dental pressure pain. Australian Dental Association Queensland. https://www.adaq.org.au/Web/Latest_News/2023/No_budget_relief_on_public_dental_pressure_pain.aspx
Carlisle, K., Larkins, S., & Croker, F. (2017). Disparities in dental health of rural Australians: hospitalisation rates and utilisation of public dental services in three communities in North Queensland. Rural and Remote Health, 17(1), 3807. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH3807
Dorfer, C., Benz, C., Aida, J. & Campard. (2017). The relationship of oral health with general health and NCDs: a brief review. International Dental Journal, 67(1), 14-18. https://doi.org/10.1111/idj.12360
Duckett, S., Cowgill, M., & Swerissen, H. (2019). Filling the gap: A universal dental care scheme for Australia. Grattan Institute. https://grattan.edu.au/report/filling-the-gap/
Queensland Government. (2023). Dental and oral health. Queensland Government. https://www.choreport.health.qld.gov.au/our-health/dental-and-oral-health
Queensland Government. (2024). January to March 2024 Public dental waiting list. Queensland Government. https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/public-dental-waiting-lists-2023-2024/resource/87f28a88-a13f-49ca-bf0d-0451d8076de6
Select Committee into the Provision of and Access to Dental Services in Australia. (2023). A system in decay: A review into dental services in Australia. Parliament of Australia. https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportsen/RB000078/toc_pdf/AsystemindecayareviewintodentalservicesinAustralia.pdf