- Title
- An assessment of a dental education program for young Aboriginal children in Australia
- Creator
- Smith, Leanne
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2020
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Young Aboriginal children have a high prevalence of Early Childhood Caries which may cause pain, facial swelling and difficulty with eating and sleeping. Although Early Childhood Caries is preventable, current approaches have not been successful in reducing the caries prevalence among this priority population. The main reasons for this relate to a shortage of dental facilities and staff in rural and remote locations, children not receiving preventive care in a timely manner and a lack of culturally appropriate services. To contribute to the prevention of dental caries in Aboriginal children, The University of Newcastle and The University of Sydney implemented a dental education program, ‘Smiles not Tears’. The program is unique as it utilises Aboriginal Health Workers and does not rely on dental facilities or dental personnel. Aboriginal Health Workers have an important role in providing healthcare for Indigenous people. Their role covers an array of health services, prevention and screening in a culturally appropriate environment. However, dental screening and preventive dental advice is excluded. To include dental screening and preventive dental advice in the Aboriginal Health Workers role, the Smiles not Tears dental education program was developed and implemented in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in New South Wales, Australia. Through the program Aboriginal Health Workers are trained to offer fluoride toothpaste and toothbrushes, teach families about dental health, and screen children’s teeth for dental caries. The program was assessed using both quantitative and qualitative methodology to record caries prevalence, feasibility and cultural appropriateness. After analysing the results of the training program, dental examinations and end of study interviews it was clear that the Smiles not Tears program provided considerable benefits. Aboriginal Health Workers had improved knowledge and confidence in delivering oral health messages to families and learnt how to screen teeth for dental caries at its earliest stage. Young Aboriginal children had a significant reduction in dental caries, with most children in the program having healthy teeth and the program was considered culturally appropriate.
- Subject
- early childhood caries; health education; Indigenous; oral health; young children; thesis by publication
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1473290
- Identifier
- uon:48992
- Rights
- Copyright 2020 Leanne Smith
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 27 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |