It is recognised that the Indigenous population of Australia has poorer health outcomes compared with the non-indigenous population and oral health is an established component of this problem. It has been found that dental caries is higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults than in non indigenous adults. (2, 3). Indigenous children (<12 years) have a higher rate of dental decay in both deciduous and permanent teeth, compared to both non-aboriginal Australian-born and overseas-born children (1). Indigenous adults have a higher level of untreated dental caries, missing teeth and lower numbers of filled teeth. (6)These findings indicate poorer access to timely dental care, resulting in either no care or care that is delayed until the disease process is at an advanced stage and tooth extraction is required. (7). There is close correlation between large unrestorable dental decay and development of facial swelling due to dento-alveolar origin. Preliminary findings showed approximately 1800 patients presented to The Canberra Hospital with acute facial swellings in the 10 years between 1999-2008, of which approximately 100 patients were of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander decent (5.5%). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the 2011 census, the total population in the Australian Capital Territory was estimated at 168,927. The indigenous population was 5,185 which is 3.1% of the total population (4). Given these figures, there appears to be a higher percentage of Indigenous patients presenting to the Canberra Hospital than their overall representation in the Canberra Region. The hypothesis of this research is that the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders population is over-represented with facial swellings due to a dental cause. Drawing attention to this issue may contribute to allocation of more resources at a primary, secondary and tertiary level in order to rectify this disparity between the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous populations in the Canberra Region.