The Melbourne Dental School's Honours program is available to graduates with a Bachelor of Oral Health or equivalent.
The School offers a multidisciplinary environment so if you have a Bachelor of Oral Health or equivalent with a major in one of the following disciplines you are encouraged to apply:
Dental therapy
Dental hygiene
Oral health therapy
Health promotion/public health
No 1. Oral Health Promotion for People Living with Severe Mental Illness:
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur & Ms Roisin Mc Grath
This project to improve oral health for people with mental illness living in the community has been developed in collaboration with Neami National over the past 5 years. This Honours project will continue this ground breaking work by developing, implementing and evaluating oral health promotion interventions in community and clinical dental care settings to improve oral health for this vulnerable group.
Research Theme: Mental Health
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 2. Systematic Reviewing
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur - a second supervisor will be appointed based on the area of study.
Evidence for oral health care decision making and clinical guidelines is not well established in many areas. This study stream enables the students to develop and undertake a systematic review to inform the practice of oral health therapy in a preventive, clinical or behavioural area of their interest.
Research Theme: Oral Health
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health, or Clinical Research
No 3. Models of OHT Practice
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur & Prof Mike Morgan
This project will involve a scoping study using Delphi sampling to identify the range of settings and models of care in which oral health therapists are practicing.
Research Theme: Child Health
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 4. Dental & Oral Health Therapists Use of Stainless Steel Crowns
Supervisor(s): Ms Brenda Ryan & Prof Julie Satur
This study will involve an evaluation of the use of stainless steel crowns by dental and oral health therapists and the influences on treatment decision making around this modality.
No 5. Aboriginal Health Needs Assessment
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur - a second supervisor will be appointed based on the area of study.
This study will examine oral health needs in an Aboriginal Community to contribute to Health Promotion Program Planning.
Research Theme: Child Health
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health, or Clinical Research
No 6. Evaluating BOH Student’s Service Learning Experiences
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur
This project will evaluate the service learning experiences of BOH students who undertake extramural practice in curriculum activities such as Health Education and Oral Health Therapy research
Research Theme: Professional Education
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 7. Adult Scope Dental Therapy Practice Study
Supervisor(s): Prof Julie Satur & Ms Brenda Ryan
This study will evaluate the services provided by graduates of the Graduate Certificate in Dental Therapy (Advanced Clinical Practice) course.
Research Theme: Professional Education
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 8. Barwon Child Oral Health Birth Cohort Study
Supervisor(s):
The Barwon Interventional Study (BIS) Dental component is seeking support from an interested BOH Honours students to participate in the 2019 Dental examination / survey of approximately 700 school children. The study is a collaborative project involving RCH Dentistry and the MCRI research team to elucidate risk factors for dental caries in childhood by reviewing a birth cohort of children at 7 and 10 years of age. The research protocol and ethics approval are yet to be finalised and confirmed.
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 9. Prosthetic rehabilitation for head and neck cancer patients following radiotherapy
Supervisor(s):
This project has been developed in collaboration with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC), Dental Oncology Unit. There are currently no clinical guidelines on the timing of the placement of dentures following radiation therapy, some clinicians electing to wait until two-years post-radiation to limit the complications, including osteonecrosis. The aim of this project is to review the timing of dentures placed at PMCC and other dental oncology units in Victoria by conducting a retrospective medical record audit to determine the type of treatment, both oncology and dental, and the timing of the denture placement and establish whether there is evidence to support clinical practice.
Research Theme: Dental oncology
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
No 10. Exploring oral health care practices in a sub-acute stroke rehabilitation unit
Supervisor(s):
This project will involve investigating oral health care practices during stroke rehabilitation and working collaboratively with allied health professionals to design an oral health program.
Research Theme: Interprofessional practice, Capacity Building
Areas of Excellence: Population Oral Health
Melbourne Dental School Contact
Dr Roisin McGrath- BOH (Honours) Coordinator
Email: rmcgrath@unimelb.edu.au
For further information about the course, visit the Honours page.