Community Oral Health
The group is building on the momentum gained during the past few years to develop a focused programme of research relating to community oral health. Recent key appointments have increased the critical mass and expanded the skill mix of the group, resulting in a multidisciplinary team capable of both developing and leading strong external collaborations in relation to identified areas of work.
A review of the group’s strategy has identified major research themes which align with priority health issues set out in Scottish Government health policy. One over-arching theme has been identified, namely the investigation of oral health inequalities. This will be pursued from two perspectives: epidemiology and the evaluation of interventions designed to address such inequalities.
The major research topics examined from an oral health inequalities perspective will be child dental health and head and neck cancer. In addition, research on inequalities associated with facial injuries and the oral health of older people will also be developed.
The following methodologies are included in our research: epidemiology, quantitative analyses of routine data and primary data collection, qualitative approaches, record linkage (and eHealth), public health ethics research, systematic reviews of observational studies and public health interventions, and health economic evaluation.