Hospitalisations

Two measures of dental services provided in hospitals are reported in this section:

  • 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.

Key terms

  • Potentially preventable hospitalisations: dental conditions: hospitalisations for dental conditions that may not be preventable, but theoretically would not result in hospitalisation if adequate and timely care (usually non-hospital) was received.
  • Separations: The total number of episodes of care for admitted patients, which can be the total hospital stays (from admission to discharge, transfer or death) or portions of hospital stays beginning or ending in a change of type care (for example, from acute to rehabilitation) that cease during a reference period. METEOR identifier: 270407.
  • Separation rate: The total number of episodes of care for admitted patients divided by the total number of persons in the population under study. Often presented as a rate per 1,000 or 10,000 members of a population. Rates may be crude or standardised.

Potentially preventable hospitalisations

Reducing the rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) due to dental conditions is one of the Key Performance Indicators of the National Oral Health Plan 2015–2024 (COAG Health Council 2015). Hospital separation rates for PPHs provide important information about the extent to which timely and adequate non-hospital dental care has been provided. The rate of PPHs for dental conditions is influenced by a number of factors including:

  • adequacy of preventive and primary care services
  • prevalence of severe dental disease in the community
  • availability and accessibility of appropriate community and hospital-based services (COAG Health Council 2015).

In Australia, the age-standardised rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) remained relatively stable between 2010–11 and 2020–21, ranging from 2.6 to 3.2 per 1,000 population

  • In 2020–21, the age-standardised rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) was highest in South Australia (4.4 per 1,000 population) and lowest in Victoria and New South (2.6 and 2.9 per 1,000 population respectively).
  • In 2020–21, about 83,000 hospitalisations for dental conditions could potentially have been prevented with earlier treatment.

Explore the number or rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions across Australia between 2010–11 and 2020–21 using the Hospitalisations interactive 1 below.

Hospitalisations – Interactive 1

This figure shows the number and population rate per 1,000 of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions. National, state and territory data is presented for 2010–11 to 2020–21. In Australia, there were 82,916 potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions in 2020–21.

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.

In 2020–21, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) was higher for Indigenous Australians (5.4 per 1,000 population) than for Other Australians (3.0 per 1,000 population)

  • In 2020–21, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) was highest in those aged 5–9 years (10.9 per 1,000 population).
  • In 2020–21, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions (per 1,000 population) generally increased as remoteness increased, ranging from 3.0 per 1,000 population in Major cities to 4.8 per 1,000 population in Very remote areas.

Explore the number or rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions by selected characteristics using the Hospitalisations interactive 2 below.

Hospitalisations – Interactive 2

This figure shows the number and rate per 1,000 population of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions, by selected characteristics. National data is presented by year, for 2016–17 through to 2020–21. In Australia, there were 3.2 per 1,000 population potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions in 2020–21.

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of the Australian health system, including the provision of dental care services (refer to Impact of COVID-19 on dental services for more detail).

Between 2016–17 and 2018–19, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions remained stable at 2.9 separations per 1,000 population, then declined in 2019–20 to 2.6 separations per 1,000 population subsequently increasing in 2020-2021 to 3.2 per 1,000 population

Between 2016–17 and 2020–21, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions was consistently higher for:

  • females than males
  • Indigenous Australians than Other Australians
  • those living in Very remote areas than those living in Major cities.

Explore the trend of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions using the Hospitalisations interactive 3 below.

Hospitalisations – Interactive 3

This figure shows the number and age-standardised rate of hospital separations for potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions, by selected characteristics. The rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations remained steady between 2016-17 and 2018-19 at 2.9 per 1,000 population, increasing slightly to 3.2 per 1,000 population in 2020-21.

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.

Dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic

Some Australians receive dental care under general anaesthesia, usually due to the severity of the disease or other medical, physical or behavioural complications. Dental care under general anaesthetic carries an additional risk and is resource intensive.

In Australia, the age-standardised rate of hospital separations for dental conditions requiring general anaesthetic (per 1,000 population) remained relatively stable between 2010–11 and 2018–19, declining slightly over time from 5.9 to 5.5 then dipping to 4.9 in 2019–20 and increasing in 2020-2021 to 6.1 per 1,000 population

  • In 2020–21, the age-standardised rate of hospital separations for dental conditions requiring general anaesthetic (per 1,000 population) was highest in Western Australia (8.1 per 1,000 population) and lowest in the Northern Territory (3.7 per 1,000 population).
  • In 2020–21, there were around 150,000 separations requiring general anaesthetic for procedures related to dental conditions.

Explore the number or rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic across Australia between 2010–11 and 2020–21 using the Hospitalisations interactive 4 below.

Hospitalisations – Interactive 4

This figure shows the number and rate of hospital separations requiring general anaesthesia for procedures related to dental conditions. National, state and territory data is presented for 2010–11 to 2020–21. In Australia, there were 149,723 hospital separations requiring general anaesthesia for procedures related to dental conditions in 2020–21.

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.

In 2020–21, the rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic (per 1,000 population) was highest in those aged 15–24 years (16.2 per 1,000 population)

  • In 2020–21, the rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic (per 1,000 population) was lower in males (5.3 per 1,000 population) than females (6.4 per 1,000 population).
  • In 2020–21, the rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic (per 1,000 population) was lower in Very remote areas (5.1 per 1,000 population) than any other area.

Explore the number or rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic by selected characteristics using the Hospitalisations interactive 5 below.

Hospitalisations – Interactive 5

This figure shows the number and rate of hospital separations requiring general anaesthesia for procedures related to dental conditions, by selected characteristics. National data is presented for each year, for 2016–17 through to 2020–21. In Australia, there were 5.8 per 1,000 population hospital separations requiring general anaesthesia for procedures related to dental conditions in 2020–21.

Visualisation not available for printing

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of the Australian health system, including the provision of dental care services (refer to Impact of COVID-19 on dental services for more detail).

Between 2016–17 and 2019–20, the rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic declined over time, ranging from 5.7 separations per 1,000 population in 2016–17 to 4.9 separations per 1,000 population in 2019–20 then increased to 6.1 separations per 1,000 population in 2020-21

Between 2016–17 and 2020–21, the rate of hospital separations for dental procedures requiring general anaesthetic was consistently higher for:

  • females than males
  • Other Australians than Indigenous Australians
  • those living in Major cities than those living in Very remote areas.

Explore the trend of potentially preventable hospitalisations due to dental conditions using the Hospitalisations interactive 6 below.

This figure shows the number and rate of hospital separations requiring general anaesthesia for procedures related to dental conditions, by sex, remoteness and indigenous status. National data is presented for each year, for 2016–17 through to 2020–21.

Visualisation not available for printing

See Data tables: Hospitalisations for data tables.