Access to community water fluoridation in rural Victoria: It depends where you live….

Objective: To explore the water fluoridation status of rural Victorian towns over 1000 population and document the oral health profile in the local government areas (LGAs) currently with no water fluoridation. To assist/inform future LGA planning, we describe a case study of a community-based co-design approach to increase access to fluoridated water in rural communities.

Design: A descriptive design and a case study.

Curriculum mapping of health promotion competencies in dental and oral health training programmes in Australia.

Issue Addressed: Dental diseases are chronic conditions that place a significant burden on the population's health; however, they are mostly preventable using a range of health promotion strategies Health promotion is a core competency for all dental and oral health graduates, but little is known about what health promotion content is taught in undergraduate degrees. The aim of this study was to explore the dental and oral health content in Australian undergraduate dental and oral health degrees and map against the last two versions of the Australian Dental Council (ADC) health promotion competencies.

Methods: All ADC-accredited dental and oral health courses delivered at Australian universities in 2019 were eligible to be included.

Oral health academics' conceptualisation of health promotion and perceived barriers and opportunities in dental practice: a qualitative study.

Background: Oral diseases place a significant burden on individual and population health. These diseases are largely preventable; health promotion initiatives have been shown to decrease the disease rates. However, there is limited implementation of health promotion in dentistry, this could be due to a number of factors; the ethos and philosophy of dentistry is focused on a curative, individualised approach to oral diseases, confusion around health promotion as a concept.

The knowledge and practice of pediatricians in children's oral health: a scoping review.

Background: Dental caries is a significant public health problem and one of the most common chronic conditions affecting children. The potential for the non-dental workforce to improve children's oral health is well documented. For well over a decade, there have been calls for pediatricians to address children's oral health, but the incorporation of oral health screening, referral, and oral healthcare in pediatric practice remains underdeveloped.

Health promotion training in dental and oral health degrees: a scoping review.

Dental diseases are a major burden on health; however, they are largely preventable. Dental treatment alone will not eradicate dental disease with a shift to prevention required. Prevention of dental diseases is a role of dental professionals, with most countries having formalized health promotion competencies for dental and oral health graduates.