Population Oral Health at UQ (POHUQ)

Oral health is an integral part of general health, affecting individuals, the health system and society.

Oral diseases are some of the most prevalent chronic conditions and are preventable if evidence-based policies and practices are informed with quality and up-to-date data. Population Oral Health research is a major branch of dental research, producing the essential information used by the scientific community, policymakers and dental service providers, the profession, the industry, and the public to improve the oral health of communities at national, regional and global levels. To achieve this, evidence-based research, including national surveys and surveillance efforts, are required by policymakers and service providers.

About us

The Population Oral Health group was established at School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland in 2021. The group comprises of highly successful academics and researchers with multi-disciplinary expertise to conduct mixed methods population health research. Some of the main research themes of the group include:

Population oral epidemiology
Causal inference research
Research in health inequality
Policy development and research translations
Health promotion
Dental health services research

POHUQ research is typically funded by competitive grant bodies, both nationally and internationally.

Our vision

Population Oral Health at UQ (POHUQ) is a leader in oral epidemiological and population oral health research, targeting the improvement of population oral health and reducing inequalities in oral health.

Mission

To expand UQ’s capacity to conduct large-scale Oral Epidemiologic and Population Oral Health research
To establish UQ’s national and international reputation and leadership in Oral Epidemiologic and Population Oral Health research
To establish a research-intensive environment in Oral Epidemiologic and Population Oral Health research and research training
To advocate for public oral health policies and practices that lead to the integration of oral health as an integral part of the communities we serve.

Projects

Grants

Contemporary evidence for water fluoridation program - a before-and-after population-based study

(2021–2024) NHMRC IDEAS Grants

Determinants of inequality in child oral health at school age - A prospective cohort study

(2021–2022) NHMRC Project Grant

Effect of exposure to fluoridated water in early childhood on child psychological and intellectual development

(2021) NHMRC Project Grant

Director

Professor Loc Do
Director of Research and Professor of Dental Public Health
Email: l.do@uq.edu.au

Academic staff

Associate Professor Ratilal Lalloo
Director, Teaching and Learning and Associate Professor
Email: r.lalloo@uq.edu.au

Dr Diep Ha
Research Fellow
Email: d.ha@uq.edu.au

Professor Pauline Ford
Email: p.ford1@uq.edu.au

Dr Peivand Bastani
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Email: p.bastani@uq.edu.au

Group members

Dr Thu Le
Senior Research Technician
Email: thu.le@uq.edu.au

Thu is a biomedical scientist with a background in food allergy, human nutrition, and epidemiology. She has held multiple positions as a governmental food safety officer, university lecturer and researcher. Thu has a strong interest in conducting population-based cohort studies where she accumulates hands-on experience in research methods and project management skills. She is especially fascinated in population health projects with a focus on translational research to improve the community’s health and wellbeing. She has publications across biomedical and epidemiological fields and received two research grants and several travel grants and scholarships. Currently, she is a Research Manager for two NHMRC-funded research projects: the SMILE and the Tooth for Health Study, and proactively contributing to the implementation of the Queensland Child Oral Health Study.

Dr Michael Foley
Email: michael.foley@uqconnect.edu.au

Michael is a PhD student with Prof Loc Do. His project investigates the effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on how parents rate their child's oral health, how we understand the concepts of health and oral health, and the importance of subjective oral health.

Mr Christopher Sexton
Email: c.sexton@uq.edu.au

Christopher is a biostatistician and PhD student with Prof Loc Do. His projects are investigating water fluoridation, research designs and childhood caries experience. His work is being used in designing the Queensland Child’s Oral Health Survey. He enjoys creating data visualisations of statistical models and spatial analysis.

Dr Nilesh Torwane
Email: n.torwane@uq.edu.au

Nilesh Torwane completed his Bachelor of Dental Surgery and Master of Dental Surgery in Public Health Dentistry from India. He has research experience for more than five years in the field of oral health and worked previously as a senior lecturer in various dental institutes in India. He joined the population oral health group at the School of Dentistry, UQ in 2021 as an HDR candidate under the supervision of Prof Loc. His research here focuses on understanding public sentiments on water fluoridation.

Dr Thi Minh An Dao
Email: t.dao@uq.edu.au

Thi Dao is a PhD student with Professor Loc Do. Her PhD research involves studying of socioeconomic (SES) inequality in dental caries through validating new models.

Visiting academics

Dr Manori Dhanapriyanka
Email: h.dhanapriyanka@uq.edu.au

Manori completed her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Dental Surgery from Sri Lanka. She worked as a general dentist, and completed MSc in Dental Public Health( in 2012 ) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Dental Public Health in (2018) in Sri Lanka. Her thesis was focussed on the “Effectiveness of an oral health promotion intervention to change selected risk behaviors related to oral potentially malignant disorders among a group of high risk youth , Sri Lanka”. Her research interest includes fluoride and oral health, tobacco and its effect on oral health, health promotion, behaviour change communication and tobacco cessation counselling.

Dr Shamini Hirosha Kosgallana
Email: k.kosgallana@uq.edu.au

Shamini Kosgallana joined the School of Dentistry as a Visiting Academic in January 2022, under the supervision of A/Professor Ratilal Lalloo. She graduated as a Dental Surgeon from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in 2003 and completed her Masters in Community Dentistry (Dental Public Health) in 2012 and MD in Community Dentistry in 2019 at the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her research interests are in the field of population health/oral health, oral cancer, OPMD, health/oral health promotion, population-based interventions and clinical trials, evidence-based healthcare, quality of life, relationship between oral and general health, development and validation of tools.

Partners and collaborations

The POHUQ have established working relationships with a range of national and international academic and dental public health organisations:

The University of Adelaide
The University of Otago, NZ
The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
University College of Cork, Ireland
University of Melbourne
University of Bristol, UK
University of Iowa, USA
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Curtin University
Flinders University
University of California San Francisco, USA
Griffith University
La Trobe University
Office of the Chief Dental Officer, Queensland Health
Dental Health Services Victoria
Borrow Memorial Foundation, UK
Hanoi Medical School, Vietnam
International Association for Dental Research (IADR)
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
Metro North Hospital and Health Services (through the Oral Health Alliance)
The UQ Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH)
The WHO Collaborating Centre for Dental Epidemiology and Public Health (WHO CCDEPH)

2022

Dhanapriyanka M, Kanthi RDFC, Jayasekara P, Ha DH. Tobacco chewing and associated factors among a vulnerable youth population in Sri Lanka. BMC oral health.

Loc G Do, Young Ha Song , Mi Du, A John Spencer, Diep H Ha. Socioecological determinants of child oral health-A scoping review. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. 2022 Nov 28. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12819. Online ahead of print.

Do, L.G., Spencer, A.J., Sawyer, A., Jones, A., Leary, S., Roberts, R. and Ha, D.H. (2022). Early Childhood Exposures to Fluorides and Child Behavioral Development and Executive Function: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study. Journal of Dental Research, 002203452211194. doi: 10.1177/00220345221119431

Foley, Michael Anthony, Lalloo, Ratilal, Spencer, Andrew John and Do, Loc Giang (2022). What are "health" and "oral health"?. Journal of Global Oral Health 1, 1-9. doi: 10.25259/jgoh_23_2022

Bastani, Peivand, Manchery, Nithin, Samadbeik, Mahnaz, Ha, Diep Hong and Do, Loc Giang (2022). Digital health in children's oral and dental health: an overview and a bibliometric analysis. Children, 9 (7) 1039, 1-14. doi: 10.3390/children9071039

Nguyen, Huy Van, Ha, Diep Hong, Dao, An Thi Minh, Golley, Rebecca K., Scott, Jane A., Spencer, John, Bell, Lucinda, Devenish‐Coleman, Gemma and Do, Loc Giang (2022). Pairwise approach for analysis and reporting of child's free sugars intake from a birth cohort study. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12770

Ha, D.H., Arora, A., Harford, J., Luzzi, L., Chrisopoulos, S. and Do, L.G. (2022). Population impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on dental caries and overweight/obesity in Australian children. JDR Clinical and Translational Research, 23800844221091701. doi: 10.1177/23800844221091701

Fernando, C., Ha, D.H., Do, L.G. and Tadakamadla, S.K. (2022). Socioeconomic status and toothbrushing in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children. JDR Clinical and Translational Research, 23800844221086205. doi: 10.1177/23800844221086205

Ha, Diep H, Nguyen, Huy, Dao, An, Golley, Rebecca K, Thomson, W Murray, Manton, David J., Leary, Sam, Scott, Jane, Spencer, A. John and Do, Loc G (2022). Group-based trajectories of maternal intake of sugar-sweetened beverage and offspring oral health from a prospective birth cohort study. Journal of Dentistry, 122 104113, 104113. doi: 10.1016/j.jdent.2022.104113

Stormon, Nicole, Do, Loc and Sexton, Christopher (2022). Has the Child Dental Benefits Schedule improved access to dental care for Australian children?. Health and Social Care in the Community. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13803

2021

Manohar, Narendar, Hayen, Andrew, Do, Loc, Scott, Jane, Bhole, Sameer and Arora, Amit (2021). Early life and socio-economic determinants of dietary trajectories in infancy and early childhood - results from the HSHK birth cohort study. Nutrition Journal, 20 (1) 76, 76. doi: 10.1186/s12937-021-00731-3

Trinh, Van Anh, Tarbit, Emiri, Do, Loc, Ha, Diep and Tadakamadla, Santosh Kumar (2021). The influence of family socioeconomic status on toothbrushing practices in Australian children. Journal of Public Health Dentistry, 81 (4), 308-315. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12477

Foley, Michael Anthony, Sexton, Christopher, Spencer, Andrew John, Lalloo, Ratilal and Do, Loc Giang (2021). Water fluoridation, dental caries and parental ratings of child oral health. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 50 (6), 493-499. doi: 10.1111/cdoe.12697

Vasantavada, Priyanka V., Hearnshaw, Simon, Do, Loc, Vernazza, Christopher R. and Zohoori, Fatemeh (2021). Community water fluoridation. Community Dental Health, 38 (3), 158-160. doi: 10.1922/CDH_Sept21editorial03

Vasantavada, Priyanka V., Hearnshaw, Simon, Do, Loc, Vernazza, Christopher R. and Zohoori, Fatemeh (2021). Editorial - Community water fluoridation. Community Dental Health, 38 (3), 158-160. doi: 10.1922/CDH_Sept21editorial03

Ju, X., Do, L.G., Brennan, D.S., Luzzi, L. and Jamieson, L.M. (2021). Inequality and inequity in the use of oral health services in Australian adults. JDR Clinical & Translational Research, 7 (4), 1-9. doi: 10.1177/23800844211027489

Haag, D., Schuch, H., Ha, D., Do, L. and Jamieson, L. (2021). Oral health inequalities among Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. JDR Clinical and Translational Research, 6 (3), 317-323. doi: 10.1177/2380084420939040

Manohar, Narendar, Hayen, Andrew, Scott, Jane A., Do, Loc G., Bhole, Sameer and Arora, Amit (2021). Impact of dietary trajectories on obesity and dental caries in preschool children: findings from the Healthy Smiles Healthy Kids study. Nutrients, 13 (7) 2240, 2240. doi: 10.3390/nu13072240

Bhat, Meghashyam, Bhat, Sreevidya, Roberts-Thomson, Kaye Frances and Do, Loc Giang (2021). Self-rated oral health and associated factors among a population in rural India-an epidemiological study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (12) 6414, 6414. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18126414

Jamieson, L, Do, L, Kapellas, K, Chrisopoulos, S, Luzzi, L, Brennan, D and Ju, X (2021). Oral health changes among Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians: findings from two national oral health surveys. Australian Dental Journal, 66 (S1) adj.12849, S48-S55. doi: 10.1111/adj.12849

Ha, D. H., Spencer, A. J., Moynihan, P., Thomson, W. M. and Do, L. G. (2021). Excess risk of dental caries from higher free sugars intake combined with low exposure to water fluoridation. Journal of Dental Research, 100 (11), 1-8. doi: 10.1177/00220345211007747

Bastani, Peivand, Mohammadpour, Mohammadtaghi, Ghanbarzadegan, Arash, Kapellas, Kostas and Do, Loc Giang (2021). Global concerns of dental and oral health workers during COVID-19 outbreak: a scope study on the concerns and the coping strategies. Systematic Reviews, 10 (1) 45, 1-9. doi: 10.1186/s13643-020-01574-5

2022

June 9, 2022: Professor Loc Do awarded the 2022 IADR Distinguished Scientist H. Trendley Dean Memorial Award
June 21, 2022: Dr Michael Foley appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to community health and dental education
July 26, 2022: Inaugural POH UQ workshop
- A one-day workshop was held to discuss on the available and potential research funding sources and bring together all the DPH researchers in a common space to discuss current and future aspirations of the POH group (photo to be provided).
September 5, 2022: UQ Colgate-Palmolive Research Grant Winner
- PhD student Nilesh Torwane has been awarded a UQ Colgate-Palmolive Student Research Grant towards his research focussed on understanding the public sentiments arounds water fluoridation.
September 27, 2022: IADR ANZ Investigator Award
- Congratulations to Dr Diep Ha on winning the on the IADR ANZ Division Investigator Award in Preventive and Community Dentistry.
October 10, 2022: Media coverage of Professor Loc Do's work on water fluoridation
- Research shows water fluoridation is safe for children
- Fluoride in drinking water has no effect on child brain development
November 22, 2022: Study of Queensland child oral health begins
- This month saw us kick off the new state-wide Queensland Child Oral Health Study (QCOHS), investigating the oral health of Queensland children. Our first participating school is Shorncliffe State School. We received wonderful support from school staff, and an enthusiastic response from students and their parents. Our examination team commenced at the school on 18 November 2022 to check participating children’s teeth. Many thanks to the Shorncliffe State School community.
- In total, over 5,500 Queensland children will be invited to take part in QCOHS and free dental examinations as part of the study. QCOHS is conducted by Population Oral Health at UQ, in collaboration with the Clinical Excellence Queensland and the Department of Education.