To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the importance of preventive dentistry and oral health promotion and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. The following topics will be covered: principles of prevention; oral diseases and conditions of public health concern - a review; the epidemiology of the common oral problems; prevention of dental caries; prevention of periodontal disease; prevention of other diseases of oral health concern; evidence-based preventive dental care; principles of health education, health protection, and oral health promotion; and analysis of health education and oral health promotion initiatives. On the completion of this unit of study, the student will be able to: understand the efficacy and effectiveness of risk reduction strategies in relation to the common oral problems and conditions; select interventions and strategies for the prevention and control of oral disease and the promotion of oral health; and understand the limitations of health education and the potential for oral health improvement through effective oral health promotion strategies.

To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the role and scope of dental health services within health care and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. The following topics will be covered: dental services in the twenty first century; the primary health care approach; assessment of the role of Western Dentistry (the limits of conventional dentistry); the limitations of a "high-risk" approach for the prevention of dental caries; the common risk factor approach: a rational basis for promoting oral health and strategies for developing oral health care programs in deprived communities; priorities in oral health care services; review of the Save our Kids Smiles program in New South Wales; the prevention of social inequalities in oral health; adult access to dental care in Australia; and ethnic indicators of dental health schoolchildren resident in areas of multiple deprivation. On the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to: understand the principles governing primary health care; understand the principles governing the delivery and management of dental services; and develop resources and implement and manage appropriate dental services for populations.

To provide students with sufficient background and appreciation of the importance of population oral health and to provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and acquire essential knowledge in this field for the effective practice of population oral health. The following topics will be covered: the oral health status of Australians - the changing profile; water fluoridation legislation, benefits/risks, the politics of fluoridation, the arguments for and against water fluoridation, how to respond to antifluoridationists; overview of policies and initiatives regarding dental services - the example of New South Wales; and dental workforce and dental services issues. On the completion of this unit of study, students will be able to: evaluate and monitor dental service delivery systems; plan and manage oral health programs for populations; understand the principles governing the development of resources, assets, and the workforce; understand the principles of health policy formulation and review, and the direction and financing of dental services and oral health promotion; understand the principles of economic evaluation; understand the regulations and legislation governing dental practice in New South Wales; design and understand the use of surveillance systems to monitor oral health; and communicate and collaborate with groups and individuals on oral health issues.