Published June 20 2024
Over 7,600 young people aged 12-24 years are estimated to be living homeless in Victoria1.
Seeing a dentist is often a big challenge for this group and puts them at higher risk for poor short and long-term dental health.
In response, we’re bringing free dental care directly to homeless youth in partnership with Melbourne City Mission’s Frontyard Youth Services.
Our innovative outreach program delivers essential check-ups and oral care at Frontyard’s drop-in centre in Melbourne’s CBD. So far, 47 youth have received free dental care in our first two visits with more to come!
“By providing place-based dental services right where people are, we’re improving integrated care with Frontyard and supporting better health outcomes.” says Jonathan Teoh, Dental Manager, Merri Health.
“The program will also provide valuable data which will help us better understand the oral health status and broader social health impacts of people experiencing vulnerability.”
We’re proud to be partnering with Frontyard which provides safe emergency accommodation, health, education and more for homeless youth, many of whom experience mental health issues and struggle to ask for help.
Find out more about our dental care programs here.
[1] ABS. Estimating Homelessness: Census, 2021 | Australian Bureau of Statistics [Internet]. 2021 [cited May 27]. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/estimating-homelessness-census/latest-release