Dr Jessica Zachar

Lecturer & BDSc Hons Year 3 Coordinator

School of Dentistry

j.zachar@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

Jessica is a General Dental Practitioner who graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor of Dental Science. She is a Lecturer and Dental Officer at the UQ Oral Health Centre. Jessica has previously worked as an Honorary Dental Officer at Nepean Hospital and as a Dental Officer at Westmead Hospital. Jessica has completed further studies including a Bachelor of Science (Honours), Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, a Graduate Diploma in Clinical Dentistry (Surgical Dentistry) and a Master of Clinical Dentistry (Oral Surgery). She is presently a PhD Candidate, focusing on the therapeutic efficacy of dental analgesia using a polychromatic light-emitting diode for dental procedures.

She has received numerous research publications, grants and awards including 1st Prize at the IADR Unilever Hatton Competition and IADR ANZ Colgate Research Poster Competition. She teaches and supervises the discipline of oral surgery and general medicine to the undergraduate dental students. In 2020, Jessica received a Commendation for Substantive Contributions to Student Learning and in 2022, she led the Clinical Simulation team to win an Excellence in Clinical and Professional Skills Education Award by HaBS. In 2022, she recieved a Commendation in Teaching Excellence award for Programs that Enhance Learning by UQ and was part of the winning team from Dentistry for UQ teaching excellence award in 2023.

She has also been awarded a Membership of the Faculty of Dental Trainers of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy due to her commitment to dental education. Her teaching philosophy revolves around providing stimulating learning environments so that her students can develop into well rounded health professionals who can become leaders within the profession and local community, delivering optimum health care.

Publications

Book (1)

Journal Articles (15)

Conference Papers (3)

Book

Shetty, Sowmya, Chen, Wei, Huang, Raewyn, Zhang, Wei Qi and Zachar, Jessica (2024). Communication Essentials in Dentistry. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/34632ee

Journal Articles

Huynh, Richard, Du, Deborah, Im, Jun Ho, Zachar, Jessica and Zafar, Sobia (2022). Identifying trends of percutaneous injuries at an Australian dental school. International Dental Journal, 72 (3), 308-314. doi: 10.1016/j.identj.2021.05.001

Tian, Juliana, Lim, Jonathan Jun Jie, Moh, Francis Kim Cai, Siddiqi, Allauddin, Zachar, Jessica and Zafar, Sobia (2022). Parental and training coaches' knowledge and attitude towards dental trauma management of children. Australian Dental Journal, 67 (S1), S31-S40. doi: 10.1111/adj.12913

Zachar, Jessica Joanna and Reher, Peter (2022). Frequency and characteristics of medical emergencies in an Australian dental school: A retrospective study. Journal of Dental Education, 86 (5), 574-580. doi: 10.1002/jdd.12859

Zachar, Jessica Joanna and Reher, Peter (2022). Percutaneous exposure injuries among dental staff and students at a university dental clinic in Australia: A 6‐year retrospective study. European Journal of Dental Education, 26 (2), 1-8. doi: 10.1111/eje.12701

Jeon, Soyeon, Chong, Mark Jeffrey, Jin, Gwanghyun, Walsh, Laurence J., Zachar, Jessica and Zafar, Sobia (2021). A retrospective analysis of non-sharps-related injuries in a dental school. International Dental Journal, 72 (4), 1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.identj.2021.08.055

Zafar, Sobia, Siddiqi, Allauddin, Yasir, Muhammad and Zachar, Jessica (2021). Pedagogical development in local anaesthetic training in paediatric dentistry using virtual reality simulator. European Archives of Paediatric Dentistry, 22 (4), 667-674. doi: 10.1007/s40368-021-00604-7

Pradhan, Archana, Zachar, Jessica Joanna and Zafar, Sobia (2021). Oral health conditions and treatment needs of children with intellectual disabilities attending Special Olympics Australia. Journal of Dentistry for Children, 88 (1), 23-28.

Huang, Boyen and Zachar, Jessica Joanna (2020). Social and behavioural determinants of areca nut consumption in adolescents. Oral Diseases, 26 (8) odi.13467, 1820-1826. doi: 10.1111/odi.13467

Yang, Li-chen, Yang, Alan, Chen, Lin Na, Firth, Norman, Prabhu, Soorebettu Ramananda and Zachar, Jessica (2020). Knowledge of oral cancer amongst dental patients attending public clinics in South East Queensland, Australia. Journal of Cancer Education, 37 (4), 924-931. doi: 10.1007/s13187-020-01901-3

Zachar, Jessica Joanna and Kanagaratnam, Rajkumar (2020). The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic in managing dental pain: a case report on a foreign body reaction after third molar surgery. Oral Surgery, 15 (1) ors.12562, 59-63. doi: 10.1111/ors.12562

Zafar, Sobia, Renner, Paul and Zachar, Jessica (2020). Dental trauma simulation training using a novel 3D printed tooth model. Dental Traumatology, 36 (6) edt.12585, 641-647. doi: 10.1111/edt.12585

Zafar, Sobia and Zachar, Jessica (2020). Evaluation of augmented reality application for learning dental anatomy as a novel educational tool. European Journal of Dental Education, 24 (2) eje.12492, 259-265. doi: 10.1111/eje.12492

Zachar, Jessica Joanna, Huang, Boyen and Yates, Erica (2020). Awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst adult dental patients attending regional university clinics in New South Wales, Australia: a questionnaire‐based study. International Dental Journal, 70 (2) idj.12533, 93-99. doi: 10.1111/idj.12533

Zachar, J. J., Sadr, A., Hassan, N. M. and Akhter, R. (2015). Root canal treatment success factors in regional Australia from 2009 to 2014: a retrospective study. Australian Dental Journal, 60 (4), S25-S25. doi: 10.1111/adj.12386

Zachar, Jessica J. (2015). Should retention of a tooth be an important goal of dentistry? How do you decide whether to retain and restore a tooth requiring endodontic treatment or to extract and if possible replace the tooth?. Australian Endodontic Journal, 41 (1), 2-6. doi: 10.1111/aej.12102

Conference Papers

Cassidy, Liam, Ki, Ji Wan-William, Lee, Sungho, Zachar, Jessica, Zafar, Sobia and Peters, Christine (2023). Preclinical VPT simulation using 3D-printed tooth models. UQ SoD Research Day, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 28 July 2023.

Zachar, Jessica, Huang, Boyen and Yates, Erica (2019). Awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst adult dental patients. In: Junior Category-IADR Unilever Hatton Competition. 2019 IADR/AADR/CADR General Session, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (). 19-22 June 2019.

Zachar, Jessica, Huang, Boyen and Yates, Erica (2018). Awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst adult dental patients. In: Junior Category - Colgate Poster Competition. IADR ANZ Division 58th Annual Scientific Meeting, Perth, WA Australia, (). 22-25th September 2018.