Background:

The Top Teeth project was developed in response to a recognised need to address poor oral health status within pre-school students in rural Victoria. Using the skills of the health promotion unit and the public dental clinic, the project developed an outreach screening model to increase access to the public dental clinic for vulnerable families within the community.
Within the Top Teeth project, a combination of community development and clinical practices were drawn upon to engage parents and children into the project. The project provided oral health education, oral health screening and a flexible referral process to support families not previously engaged with the dental service to access the service.
The project highlights the benefits and challenges of using community development approaches to engage vulnerable families into health promoting programs.

Results/Discussions:

The approach used within the Top Teeth project proved successful in supporting access to the public dental clinic to a section of the community not previously utilising the service. The project engaged 21 new clients into the dental service, with all clients remaining engaged post program. The combination of community development and clinical approaches to oral health proved to provide the families involved with this project with the motivation and support to address this important health priority.
Learning’s from the Top Teeth project identifies processes, challenges and strategies to engage and retain vulnerable families into health promotion projects and community services.

Conclusions/implications:

The Top Teeth project reinforces the benefits of using the skills within both health promotion and clinical sectors to improve the health of our vulnerable communities. The key learning’s from this project can be transferred to a variety of priority areas and settings.