Hospitalisations
Data in this chapter are sourced from the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), and provide information on hospitalisations associated with dental conditions. The NHMD is a collection of records from admitted patient data collection systems in Australian hospitals.
Dental services are classified according to the Australian Classification of Health Interventions (ACHI). ACHI is the Australian national standard for procedure and intervention coding in Australian hospitals.
Procedures data, that is, the count of procedures classified under ACHI Chapter 06 Dental services is presented in the Dental procedures section below. This data captures all procedures classified as a dental service, including that captured by the two measures described immediately below.
A further two measures of dental services provided in hospitals are also reported in this chapter:
- potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) related to dental conditions.
- hospitalisations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic.
There is some overlap between these two indicators. Many PPHs will require a general anaesthetic. However, not all dental care provided under general anaesthetic is for potentially preventable care.