News Archive

A group of students in the School of Dentistry who won a prestigious national prize for research are part of a new generation of dental students making important findings that are being widely aired.

Seven students now in fifth year had their research into treatment of dental avulsion presented in a poster at the recent annual congress of the ANZ division of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR).

The conference was held in Perth in October with participants from dental schools in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Carla Graneri presented the poster and won second prize in the junior section of the IADR/Unilever Hatton Divisional Award.

As a result, she will fly to Miami next month to deliver the research results at the international IADR meeting, which will be attended by dental researchers from around the world. The prize includes flights, accommodation and registration.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Carla to showcase research from the UWA School of Dentistry,” study supervisor Dr Linda Slack-Smith said.

Carla represents the research group which consisted of Erin Hardie, Se Von Fong, Hanna Gee, Sigourney Henneker, Roy Goonewardene, David Humphries and herself.

The research was completed as a requirement of the fourth year Paediatric Dentistry unit co-ordinated by Dr Boyen Huang.

The study assessed the level of knowledge of spectators at children’s sporting events in Perth with regard to the management of dental avulsion, an urgent dental emergency in which the tooth is knocked out of its socket. Immediate management greatly affects long-term prognosis.

The results, from a cross-sectional survey of spectators at junior basketball, football, and hockey events, found many parents and spectators were not aware of the immediate management of tooth avulsion. However, most were able to correctly identify measures to prevent tooth avulsion, such as mouthguards.

“This study detected a need for effective dental injury education aimed at parents and sporting spectators and the importance of first aid availability for such situations,” the researchers concluded.

Dr Slack-Smith said the research would be written up by the students for submission to the Australian Dental Journal.

“They are part of a new generation of dental students coming through who are undertaking research and who will hopefully contribute to research in the future in the School of Dentistry,” she said.

”It is unusual for students to present internationally. But I think that is changing. They have more in their curriculum about undertaking research and the School research activity is increasing as we increase our staff.

“We have students graduating with refereed publications.”
One third year dental student is writing her third paper on a series of projects, having had one published already.

Dr Slack-Smith said she had read the history of the IADR and she believed John McGeachie was the only person who had received an award at the national competition for support to present internationally, in 1969. He is now Professor of Anatomy and Human Biology and for three years was Head of the School of Dentistry, a position he relinquished at the beginning of 2003.