Bringing oral health care to rural nursing homes

Older adults living in rural nursing homes can experience preventable oral pain and disease when distance, frailty and limited transport make clinic-based care difficult. Addressing these barriers requires care models that meet people where they live.

In 2025, Charles Sturt Dental Clinics delivered the Portable Dentistry in Nursing Homes Project through its Aged Care Oral Health Outreach, partnering with facilities in Carcoar, Blayney, Canowindra and Wagga Wagga. Supervised students and experienced dentists established pop up clinics in familiar spaces, including lounges and residents’ own chairs or bedsides.

The team listened, worked around meals and medications, and focused on what mattered most. Care included screening for oral disease, gentle cleaning, denture adjustments, and relief of infection and inflammation. Recognised with a Charles Sturt 2025 Social Responsibility Excellence Award, the project demonstrates how partnership-led, place-based care can reduce inequity and improve health, comfort and dignity for rural aged care residents.