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20 Right At Home NAVIGATING MY AGED CARE
Right at Home Parramatta
WE at Right at Home Sydney Parramatta are dedicated to caring for the elderly and those living with a disability in our community. But how do those elderly and most vulnerable members of our community access funding for this important care?
Right at Home Australia is an Approved Provider under the Aged Care Act, meaning we can provide quality care under a government package.
Approved Providers are private or public businesses that have satisfied the Department of Health’s requirements to provide high quality home care services to eligible recipients.
My Aged Care is the Australian Government initiative to allow elderly Australians to access government-funded care.
A Commonwealth Home Support Package (CHSP) is suitable for those needing entry level, ongoing or short-term in-home care while a Home Care Package supports older Australians who higher levels of support to remain living independently in their own homes.
There are four levels of Home Care Packages (HCP) to help meet varying levels of individual care needs.
The type of care services is unchanged between each level, with the allocated hours increasing or decreasing as required. This is where we come in.
Right at Home provides Dementia care, disability care, domestic support, companionship care, personal and post-operative care, and skilled nursing. Our tailored services help you and your loved ones to maintain independence, and a healthy, fulfilling lifestyle.
Right at Home is here to help you navigate My Aged Care, so that you and your loved ones can receive the care you need, when and where you need it. When applying for a Home Care Package, we help you make the application on the My Aged Care Portal and help you arrange a government ACAT assessment, which will consider the level of care you need and the income you have. From there you will wait to hear back from the government for up to six months and when you receive your referral number, you will be able to choose any homecare provider including Right at Home. If you choose Right at Home as your provider, we enter into a Home Care Agreement outlining your rights and explaining the custom care plan we work to develop with you. We at Right at Home Sydney Parramatta are here to help you understand and navigate My Aged Care. Give us a call today to see how we can help you.
Find out how to get funding and how Right at Home can help you navigate My Aged Care. Call now on 02 8613 3022 or email us at care.sp@ rightathome.com.au or visit our website www. rightathome.com.au
ISSUE 32 | December 2022
Feature YOU CAN HAVE A NEW SMILE IN A DAY Digital technology helps all
DR Garth Jones has been placing dental implants in Parramatta for over 15 years. With new digital scanning technologies at his clinic, Affordable Implants and Dentures, you can get your new smile within a day.
This article will outline how dental implant treatment using digital scanning technology can help people who experience tooth loss or have previously suffered from tooth loss.
It also shows who can benefit from this type of treatment, and how it can help to improve your ability to eat, and give you back that confident smile.
It’s important to highlight that each person needs to be assessed by a dental professional to determine whether this is the most appropriate treatment in their individual circumstances.
Smile in a day with dental implants
With the arrival of dental implants, a variety of options have opened for people suffering with tooth loss and decay. A dental implant is the closest thing dental professionals can offer as replacement for healthy teeth.
For people who are suffering from significant dental disease, there are a variety of implant solutions available. You may have heard of the phases ‘All-On-4’ or ‘All-on-X’ tooth solutions, but what do they really mean?
In short, an ‘All-on-4’ or ‘All-on-X’ treatment means that a patient who either has missing or failing teeth has four or more implants in either the upper or lower jaw. These implants can then be used to support a row of teeth which are permanently fixed into position.
Whilst this process can occur in one day, there is often weeks of planning involved to ensure implants are placed in the best bony positions, and the row of teeth achieves the smile that the person is looking for.
So, what is the process for a new smile?
Step 1 - Appointment 1 – Information gathering approximately 30 to 40 minutes
The dental professional will look at the patient’s medical history, digital tooth and gum scans, facial photographs, 2D x-rays, and most importantly a 3D x-ray called a Cone Beam CT scan.
The dental practitioner will talk to the patient to understand what they want to achieve, and their unique suitability for dental implants- including the best course of treatment for individual circumstances and costs associated.
If the person is deemed a suitable candidate for digital dental implant treatment, they will be provided with a treatment plan and quote, which is a good time for the patient to ask any further questions.
An appointment can then be booked for treatment, which can also be offered using intravenous sedation or general anaesthetic if the patient feels more comfortable having treatment with enhanced comfort.
Antibiotics, antiseptic mouth rinses, and good oral hygiene prior to dental implant surgery are necessary and will be prescribed once an appointment for the surgery is made. The surgery can last up to three hours if both upper and lower jaws are involved. Relevant information pamphlets and consents are also discussed.
Step 2 – Planning (Between Appointment 1 and 2
The planning stage is essential in preparing for the implant surgery appointment. Planning includes developing a digital plan for the implant surgery, working closely with the digital scans and x-rays to map the best implant size and positions to place the implants. 3D printing a surgical guide for the dental surgeon to use on the day of surgery is done to ensure the implants are placed in the correct positions. It is necessary to work closely with the dental laboratory to prepare the row of teeth that will be secured to the dental implants.
Colour, shape, and size of teeth are all discussed and selected appropriately according to a patient’s preferences. The clinic preparations and communications and planning with the are often completed in 7-10 days prior to the surgery.
Step 3 - Appointment 2 – Dental implants and Nice New Teeth
The big day has now arrived. The dental surgeon will start by talking to the patient about the procedure, after care, pain management and answer any further questions Depending on the type of anaesthetic administered, there may also be a doctor to talk to about the anaesthetic process and any concerns the patient may have.
Numbing of the jaw and mouth occur after the anaesthetic is administered, so there is no anxiety involved with this process. Being comfortable and pain free is of the highest priority. The dental surgeon then removes the failing teeth and dental implants are placed, with x-rays taken to confirm that the final positions of the implants are satisfactory.
The Nice New Teeth are now connected to the patient’s dental implants. A 3–4-month healing period and a soft food diet is required to help preserve the newly placed dental implants.
After the healing period has passed a second and permanent set of Nice New Teeth can be organised and placed using several digital solutions and technologies.
If you suffer from tooth loss or dental disease, contact the team at Affordable Implants and Dentures in Parramatta- Hitoshi Sataka (left) Leif Svensson and Dr Garth Jones- to see how they can help you regain ‘that confident smile.
Digital scanning technology makes the dental impression process much more comfortable and accurate than a mouthful of messy gel and moulds.
Step 4 - Appointment 3 – The post procedure review appointment - 2 weeks after surgery
At this appointment, the dental surgeon checks to see how healing is progressing and whether there are any concerns. This appointment is generally short and gives the patient an opportunity for any questions to be answered.
Step 5 - Appointment 4 - Digital scanning and photos (approximately 3-4 months after surgery
There is no longer a need for a mouth full of goo to take a dental impression. Digital technologies are making the recording process more comfortable and more accurate than ever before.
Now scanning technologies allow for quicker and less messy recording of vital information. At this appointment the dental surgeon will take digital scans and photos in preparation for the final new teeth.
Step 6 - Appointment 5 – Fit-in check of final teeth - approximately 4-5 months after surgery
At this appointment, the dental surgeon will place a digitally printed copy of the final teeth. They remove the temporary teeth and attach the final permanent teeth.
Now is the time to get those features right for the long term. Following feedback (often with the welcome help of a family member or friend) the temporary row of teeth are sent to the dental laboratory for any further changes and final production. Sometimes if the changes are quite significant the dental surgeon will produce one more set of temporaries for the patient to try and check they are happy.
Step 7- Appointment 6: The FINALE!
At this appointment, the dental practitioner will insert the final ‘New Nice Smile’. This might be made of porcelain or even a super hard acrylic material. The temporary teeth will be removed one last time and the final permanent teeth are placed into position.
The dental practitioner will make some adjustments to make sure the bite is working well with the new teeth. They will then explain how to keep the new teeth clean and talk through how frequently their new teeth should be maintained, which is often every 4-6 months.
