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International Award for Melbourne-Based Children’s Dental Program

Details

01 December 2016

The eviDent Foundation has continued to support the work of the pilot Children’s Dental Program completed in 2013. Early results show that an outreach school-based dental check-up program could improve access to dental services for children with public dental services. Following an economic evaluation completed in 2015, the project outcomes have demonstrated that the outreach program was less costly and more clinically effective than standard care.

The research was presented at the recent International Association for Dental Research General Session and Exhibition held in Seoul, South Korea, and was awarded one of six Colgate Research in Prevention Travel Awards.

To date, the Children’s Dental Program expanded research project has progressed to the implementation phase after ethics approval obtained this year. It was successful in obtaining the Wrigley Company Foundation and the Australian Dental Association Foundation Community Service Grant of $US10,000.

Plenty Valley Community Health is the lead community dental agency, and has recruited one primary school and two pre-schools in the northern metropolitan Melbourne. Another project site will be implemented at Peninsula Health in early 2017.

Private dental practices will also be invited to participate in this project as part of a prospective cohort economic evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the Child Dental Benefits Schedule. Interested private dental practices working in the City of Whittlesea or the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Regions can contact me as the Research Collaborator for additional information on participation at

Mr Tan Nguyen
Honorary Fellow, Deakin University
Clinical Educator, The University of Melbourne
Oral Health Therapist, Coburg Hill Oral Care