University of Queensland researchers have gained funding for a range of studies to prevent child dental decay.
The Dental Board of Queensland awarded seven grants, worth a total of over $50,000. UQ’s School of Dentistry attracted three grants and will play a leadership role in two others at Queensland Health clinics.
These projects include longitudinal studies for prevention of early childhood caries undertaken by PhD student, Kathryn Plonka; Queensland Health dental officer, Stephanie Salanitri and MPhil student, Margaret Pukallus, as well as dental investigations on twins by DClinDent student, Sue Taji. These studies, supervised by the School of Dentistry’s Associate Professor Kim Seow, will provide useful results that can be applied for preventive dental programs for children.
Another project will examine ways of determining oral health in young defence personnel, which could improve combat readiness, particularly during deployment. Nicholas Cusack and Gregory Mahoney will measure the effectiveness of commercially available saliva and plaque sampling products in assessing oral health.
UQ lecturer in speech pathology, Dr Gail Woodyatt has been awarded a grant from the Speech Pathologists Board of Queensland to explore the current treatment environment for children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).
Dr Woodyatt said the reported 20-fold increase in the incidence of ASD meant speech pathologists were spending substantial therapy time treating children with the disorder.
“While there is a lot of information on early intervention, there is little information to directly guide speech pathologists in their treatment choices, which needs to address individual differences in each child.
“My research will investigate the current intervention strategies of speech pathologists and inform the profession of training needs in the area,” Dr Woodyatt said.
The Speech Pathologists Board and The Dental Board are both funded solely by registration fees from all professionals practicing in the state.
Media inquiries:
Faculty Communications Officer, Marlene McKendry - 0401 99 6847.
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