{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T14:09:19Z","timestamp":1771337359294,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771286400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This study compared the reasons for dental presentations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults at the Nepean Centre for Oral Health, NSW, Australia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on adult patients presenting between 1 July and 31 December 2019. Clinical notes were audited and categorized as either \u2018emergency\u2019 (pain, dental infection, dental trauma, loose teeth or dental implants, bleeding) or \u2018conservative\u2019 (dental check-ups, examinations, prosthodontic, restorative, periodontal, or non-emergency endodontic therapy). Results: A total of 4663 patients met the inclusion criteria; 61.6% were female, and 6.4% were identified as Indigenous Australians. Overall, 41.3% of presentations were for emergency dental care. Indigenous Australians were significantly more likely to present for dental emergencies compared with non-Indigenous (58.2% vs. 40.2%; \u03c72(1, N = 4663) = 53.4, p &lt; 0.00001; OR = 2.07, 95% CI: 1.64\u20132.63), and were also more likely to undergo emergency tooth extractions (p &lt; 0.05). Conclusions: Indigenous Australians demonstrated a higher proportion of emergency and oral surgery-related presentations and underwent tooth extractions as the primary treatment compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. These findings suggest a higher burden of oral disease and delayed access to general dental services among Indigenous Australians, highlighting the need for targeted and culturally appropriate public health interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph23020251","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T13:15:35Z","timestamp":1771334135000},"page":"251","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Higher Rates of Emergency Oral Health Care Presentations Among Indigenous Australians: A Comparative Public Health Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Neeraj","family":"Vyas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Oral Surgery, Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"},{"name":"Nepean Centre for Oral Health, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Kingswood, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simranjit","family":"Cheema","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nepean Centre for Oral Health, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Kingswood, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rachel","family":"Scobie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aboriginal Health Unit, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Corner of Glebe & Springfield Place, Penrith, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Barbie","family":"Fusitu\u2019a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Aboriginal Health Unit, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Corner of Glebe & Springfield Place, Penrith, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7364-8316","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gary","family":"Low","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Operations, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Albert","family":"Yaacoub","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Oral Surgery, Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"},{"name":"Nepean Centre for Oral Health, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Kingswood, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia"},{"name":"School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Penrith, Sydney, NSW 2751, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9910-2159","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Irshad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Periodontics Department, Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed Specialized Dental Center,  Ministry of Health, An Nasiriyah, Arar 73241, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4999-0044","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stephen","family":"Cox","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Oral Surgery, Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"},{"name":"Nepean Centre for Oral Health, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Kingswood, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mafaz","family":"Ullah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Discipline of Oral Surgery, Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2750, Australia"},{"name":"Nepean Centre for Oral Health, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Kingswood, Sydney, NSW 2747, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2025). 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Austr."}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/23\/2\/251\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T13:17:50Z","timestamp":1771334270000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/23\/2\/251"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph23020251"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph23020251","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]}}}