Modified Oral Health Assessment Tool (M-OHAT) for Residential Aged Care: A Co-Design Protocol.

: Older adults in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) experience disproportionate levels of poor oral health relative to other groups in the general population, affecting their physical and mental wellbeing. The Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT) is a validated and widely used dental assessment tool; however, recent systematic reviews have identified shortcomings with respect to its measurement properties. : The objective of this protocol is to provide a detailed overview of a multidisciplinary qualitative study that aims to (a) co-design and develop a modified OHAT for RACFs and (b) inform the development of an OHAT training package and implementation strategies.

Causal analyses in longitudinal observational studies in oral health: A scoping review.

Objective: Causal analysis including causal inference and causal mediation is pivotal to inform effective interventions. In modern epidemilogy, causal analysis involves four key steps: formulating causal questions, employing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), conducting data management and selecting statistical strategies. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review to assess how longitudinal observational studies (LOSs) in dental field have integrated these four steps to contribute leverage evidence that inform oral public health interventions.

Oral health students' perceptions of the learning environment in Australia and New Zealand: A DREEM study.

Introduction: Oral Health Therapists (OHTs) are a growing workforce globally, with skills in oral health prevention, treatment planning and management of disease. These professionals receive their training through a three-year undergraduate program which leads to the Bachelor of Oral Health degree in Australia and New Zealand. The aim of this study was to describe the learning environment for OHT students in Australia and New Zealand.

Exploring strengths and weaknesses in health services research culture and capacity.

Objective Fostering a research culture and enhancing research capacity within the workforce is essential for any health service aiming to provide evidence-based care. This study aims to explore the research culture and capacity in a community health service setting and provide a comparison to previous published research in other health service settings. Methods Participants were invited to complete a survey consisting of demographics and the Research Capacity and Culture (RCC) tool.

Socio-economic status and access to fluoridated water in Queensland: an ecological data linkage study.

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between access to fluoridated drinking water and area-level socio-economic status in Queensland.

Study Design: Ecological, geospatial data linkage study.

Setting: Queensland, by statistical area level 2 (SA2), 2021.

Australian dental practitioners experience of burnout.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with burnout in Australian dental practitioners.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1483 Australian dental practitioners was conducted from Oct to Dec 2021. Participants reported burnout using the Sydney Burnout Measure, and aspects of mental health including psychological distress, depression, and anxiety disorders.

Geographic patterns of dental service use in the Child Dental Benefits Schedule: 6 years of claims in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Issue Addressed: This article explores the geographic patterns of claims within the Australian Government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS).

Background: The CDBS is a means-tested schedule implemented in 2014 to improve access to dental services for children. Under the schedule, eligible children receive funding to subsidise dental services.

Mental health, psychological distress and burnout in Australian dental practitioners.

Background: Dental practitioners are known to experience a high level of stress, but little is known about the mental health of Australian dental practitioners. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of mental health conditions among Australian dental practitioners.

Methods: A cross sectional survey of 1483 Australian dental practitioners was carried out from October to December 2021.

Parental recall bias in observational studies: Child dental service use.

Background: Parents are frequently used to recall events of exposure and disease as a proxy for their children in observational health research.

Aim: To assess the validity of parental recall of children's utilisation of dental services.

Design: Parents in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) were asked to recall their children's overall dental service use in the previous year and whether the study child had received fillings or extractions due to decay in the previous 2 years.

Health professionals delivering oral health interventions in early childhood: A scoping review of Australian and New Zealand literature.

Issue Addressed: Dental caries is highly prevalent in very young Australian and New Zealand children. Health professionals other than registered dental professionals can help prevent early childhood caries, promoting oral health to assist families establish preventative oral health habits at a child's early age. This review identifies oral health promotion (OHP) delivered by nondental health professionals in Australia and New Zealand involving very young children.

Has the Child Dental Benefits Schedule improved access to dental care for Australian children?

The Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS) is an ongoing scheme administered through the Australian Government providing eligible children funding for clinical dental treatment. This study aimed to investigate the access of dental services across children's early childhood and examine whether the CDBS has improved access to dental care. The longitudinal study of Australian children is an ongoing cross-sequential cohort study with a representative sample of Australian children recruited in 2004.

The use of consent forms in a "call from class" model of dental care for Australian Indigenous children.

Issues Addressed: Dental caries is one of the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in children. Indigenous children reported a disproportionately higher prevalence of dental disease compared to their age-matched counterparts. To improve access to dental care a community-controlled service provides culturally appropriate dental services on the site of an Indigenous primary and secondary school.

SMS reminders to improve outpatient attendance for public dental services: A retrospective study.

Patients who miss scheduled appointments reduce clinical productivity and delay access to care for other patients. Reminders have improved attendance for healthcare appointments previously, but it is not known if short message service (SMS) implementation reduces incidence of patients unable to attend (UTA) or who fail to attend (FTA) appointments in the public dental service. This paper studied the effectiveness of SMS reminders in increasing appointment attendance at outpatient public dental services in Queensland.

Oral health: Epidemiology and concordance in Australian children and parents.

Introduction: Studying parent-child pair health provides the opportunity to identify risk factors and opportunities for oral health prevention and intervention focusing on the family context. The aim of this study was to describe the oral health of children aged 11-12 years and their parents in a national sample of parent-child dyads in Australia.

Methods: The Child Health CheckPoint is a study of 11 to 12-year-old children and one parent nested within the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, a nationally representative cohort study.

Empathetic, persistent and female: A snapshot of oral health therapy students in Australia and New Zealand.

Introduction: Dental therapists, hygienists and oral health therapists constitute up to a third of the dental workforce in Australia and New Zealand. Personality is often explored in health professions to provide insights into traits that are conducive to workforce retention and to assist in planning and training. This study aimed to investigate the current demographic and personality characteristics of oral health students in Australia and New Zealand.

Understanding the well-being of dentistry students.

Introduction: The transactional model of stress is a framework describing the process for coping with stressful events as a relationship between the individual person and environment. This study aimed to investigate the associations between personality, learning environment and experiences of mental health for a cohort of Australian dentistry students.

Materials And Methods: Students were invited in 2017 to complete an online questionnaire including the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), The Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) and Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCIR-140).

Facilitating Access to Dental Care for People Experiencing Homelessness.

Introduction: Fear, lack of information, and lower health literacy are prominent barriers preventing people experiencing homelessness from accessing dental services. Most of this population are eligible for free dental treatment in Australia, yet few access care. This study evaluated 3 models for facilitating access to dental services for people experiencing homelessness.

The extent and nature of dental anxiety in Australians experiencing homelessness.

High dental anxiety is a major barrier to accessing dental care and has been found to be experienced to a greater extent in the homeless population. No studies have investigated the extent and nature of dental anxiety in Australians experiencing homelessness and was the aim of this study. Participants were recruited from four not-for-profit organisations in inner Brisbane using convenience and snowball sampling.

Exploring dental students' knowledge of HIV and attitudes towards saliva screening for HIV.

Introduction: Early detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) allows antiretroviral therapy to commence, improving patient outcomes. Screening for HIV with saliva can be undertaken by dental practitioners. Research has found the procedure to be better accepted by patients than traditional blood testing.

Family-Level Predictors of Australian Children's Dental Caries and Injuries.

Fisher-Owens et al. described the diverse family-level factors influencing children's oral health, but few studies have investigated these relationships using longitudinal data. This study investigated the association between family and child oral health using the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), a cross-sequential dual cohort study.