We provide dental services to eligible adults and all children at clinics across South Australia

Our organisation consists of two clinical streams

• Statewide Dental Services (SWDS) - comprises adult and kids dental services as its two core programs as well as private sector schemes, remote dental services and attraction and retention of clinic staff.
• The Adelaide Dental Hospital (ADH) - comprises six specialty dental services, general and emergency services, and provides infection control leadership. Under arrangements with the University of Adelaide, we provide up to 90 undergraduate student chairs in which students undertake clinical placements.

The Corporate Services and Service Quality and Performance Improvement streams support these two clinical streams.

SA Dental Service was proclaimed on 1 July 1982 by the Governor of South Australia and celebrated 40 years anniversary on 1 July 2022.

South Australians value and improve their oral health, understanding its importance for their overall health and wellbeing.

We lead population oral health improvement: we are the leader in policy, advocacy, education and health promotion to improve oral health for all South Australians, with a specific focus on increasing equity in oral health for priority population groups.

We deliver services to eligible individuals: we support individuals to improve their oral health by providing dental care to eligible adults and all children.

Our values are the foundation for how we work together and how we treat others. They underpin the principles we strive for, in ensuring that we value diversity and partner with the community to enable all South Australians to achieve better oral health and wellbeing.

Our new strategic plan is about where we want to be.

Our new vision is ambitious and reflects the importance of integrating oral health and general health.

This plan emphasises the role we will have in actively working to improve integration, and ultimately oral health in SA.

It also provides a long term vision to highlight the importance of a clear and unified direction for our organisation.

The format of our new strategic plan reflects the six foundation areas of SA’s Oral Health Plan, helping to demonstrate the contribution made by SA Dental to achieving the SA’s Oral Health Plan objectives.

Each year we develop a yearbook (annual report).

The yearbook provides a comprehensive report on our activities throughout the preceding year.

The South Australian Oral Health Plan 2019 - 2026 is the South Australian Government framework for oral health action in South Australia for the next seven years. It provides an overview of the current oral health status of South Australians, including priority populations, and identifies key action areas to address the oral health needs of the population.

A monitoring group comprising representatives from key stakeholders, including the community, was established to advise on the implementation of the Plan and track progress.