Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. wellbeing
    • ex. You can take care of your wellbeing by exercising and getting enough sleep.
  2. dentures
    • ex. My grandmother wears dentures. She didn’t take care of her teeth when she was younger.
  3. preventive
    • ex. My dentist gave me a preventive treatment. He cleaned my teeth to avoid infection.
  4. hail
    • ex. The firefighters saved a boy from the burning building. They were hailed as heroes.
  5. accessible
    • ex. Hospitals should be accessible to everyone, especially during emergencies.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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A Southern Queensland clinic is providing some free dental services in Australia. The goal of the program is to improve the dental health and wellbeing of people within its community. Student dentists from the University of Queensland give native Australian patients dentures, tooth surgeries, and other preventive treatments. And patients from the small town called Dalby are highly satisfied with the free services.

For the students studying to become a dentist, the program is an important experience. They learn how to deal with their patients’ dental issues. And native Australians are especially at higher risk of dental issues. Since the clinic opened 10 years ago, almost 180 student dentists from the clinic have become trained dentists.

A study showed that the University of Queensland’s free dental services have a positive impact. The program is hailed as a model that can be used to improve the health of people living in the less accessible areas of Australia. And other clinics are hoping to follow the example of the University of Queensland’s dental clinic.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Dental Health

  • In your opinion, how important is dental health? Discuss.
  • At what age should a person learn about dental health? Why? Discuss.
  • As a young boy/girl, were you scared of going to the dentist? Why or why not? Discuss.

Accessible Services

  • In your opinion, what service should always be accessible to people (ex. health services, education)? Why? Discuss.
  • In your community, what service do you think is not currently accessible? Discuss.
  • Student dentists from the University of Queensland make dental services free and accessible to native Australians. What service would you like to offer your community? Discuss.