Meet Dr Roisin McGrath

Dr Roisin McGrath welcomed over 1,100 dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists from 34 countries around the globe at the 21^st International Symposium on Dental Hygiene (ISDH).

Dr Roisin McGrath is a Lecturer in Oral Health at the Melbourne Dental School.

Roisin was the Chair of the organising committee for the 21^st International Symposium on Dental Hygiene (ISDH), held in Brisbane on the 15^th-17^th August 2019. This Symposium was hosted by the Dental Hygienists Association of Australia under the auspices of the International Federation of Dental Hygienists.

During the opening ceremony, Roisin welcomed over 1,100 dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists from 34 countries around the globe. The theme of the scientific program was ‘LEAD’ – leadership, empowerment, advances and diversity, creating four distinct themes in the program.

Roisin additionally co-presented a workshop (with Vicki Langan, Health and Wellbeing Manager, Neami National) called ‘Who’s more anxious, you or your patient?’ This session was so popular that even when the room capacity was increased from 140 to 330, there was still not enough room for everyone to have a seat.

The celebrity guest speaker was Anh Do, who spoke about his life journey, from his arrival in Australia as a Vietnamese refugee to becoming a successful author, comedian and artist. Many of the international delegates rushed out to buy his books immediately after his presentation, despite previously having little to no knowledge about his extraordinary work.

It was wonderful that one of our Melbourne Dental School academics was chosen to Chair this International Symposium on Dental Hygiene, a triennial highlight in the oral health calendar.