Paediatric Oral Health
Meeting the oral health-related needs of children
Paediatric oral health at UWA is tailored to meet the major oral health-related needs of children, adolescence, and individuals with special healthcare needs. It facilitates multi-disciplinary research opportunities while encouraging innovation and critical thinking to provide accessible, affordable and appropriate solutions to existing clinical problems and conventional treatment approaches in paediatric dentistry.
Paediatric oral health research focuses on:
- cariology in children
- oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) changes
- restorative materials
- dentine adhesives
- identification of genetic risk factors for dental and craniofacial anomalies
- developmental defects of dental tissues, and
- evidence-based evaluation of the current treatment approaches in paediatric dentistry, with
- novel approaches for caries management and hypomineralised first permanent molars are also being trialled.
The major aim of the research program is to achieve excellence in paediatric oral health-related research and provide training.
Research Program Lead: Associate Professor Robert Anthonappa
Projects
Some of the current projects aim to:
- assess the oral health-related needs in children, especially in the marginalised population groups, assess their oral health-related quality of life changes and develop novel treatment approaches
- identify genetic risk factors responsible for craniofacial anomalies in children
- critically evaluate the existing restorative materials and treatment approaches in paediatric dentistry and develop new functionally-graded restorative materials
Current research projects:
- Effect of deproteinization on bonding to enamel with molar incisor hypomineralization
- Oral manifestations and barriers to provision of oral care to individuals with Rett Syndrome
- Silver diamine fluoride of varying concentrations in hypomineralised/hypoplastic first permanent molars In vitro
- Novel approach in managing dental caries in high risk populations in Western Australia
- Characteristics of BiodentineTM as a fissure sealant: In vitro
- Identification of the genetic aberrations of non-syndromic supernumerary teeth
- Optimum time for the extraction of first permanent molars
- Longevity of fissure sealant materials: In vitro
- Autism Dental Detectives – App based Project: Improving oral health of children with autism
Industry partners
