Event

Professor of Dental Public Health, Rahul Naidu, delivers his Inaugural Professorial Lecture on the topic, Promoting Oral Health: Why Does It Matter and How Can It Be Achieved? 

This will be the first virtual inaugural lecture at The UWI St. Augustine Campus. Tune in on Wednesday, December 9 at 6:00 p.m. (AST) via Zoom.

To register, please visit: https://uwi.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8A2hWBWhTlyZ_ppXMYbQwA

Please note: If you are experiencing any technical difficulties accessing the above link, please copy and paste it into your respective browser.

Abstract

Oral health is an essential part of general health and well-being. Globally however, oral diseases are a major public health concern. For instance, dental caries (tooth decay) is one of the most common diseases worldwide, frequently more severe in early childhood and if left untreated, can affect a child’s health and quality of life. In the Caribbean region, tooth decay in young children is a public health problem, and there is an urgent need for its prevention and management.

Oral diseases can also have negative effects throughout the life course and share many of the same risk factors as other chronic health conditions. Developing strategies to promote good oral health therefore requires an understanding of these risk factors and the integration of oral health into the wider public health agenda.

Drawing on findings from local research and international evidence and best-practice, this presentation discusses some of the challenges and opportunities for promoting and improving population oral health.

 

About Professor Naidu

Rahul Naidu BDS, MSc, DDPH (RCS Eng), MFDS, FDS (RCS Ed) PhD, Professor of Dental Public Health

Rahul Naidu undertook his undergraduate training of Guy’s Dental Hospital, University of London (graduating in 1989). He worked in general dental practice with the UK National Health Service before moving to the Caribbean where he continued to work in general dental practice and joined The UWI School of Dentistry, as a part-time clinical instructor.

He completed postgraduate training in 1998 at King’s College London Dental Institute, being awarded a MSc in Dental Public Health (with distinction) and the Diploma in Dental Public Health from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He returned to Trinidad in 1999, to take up the post of Lecturer in Community Dentistry at The UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences.

Since joining the academic staff of The UWI School of Dentistry, he has been involved in clinical teaching, research and continuing dental education. He has presented research findings regionally and internationally and published peer-reviewed scientific articles in oral epidemiology, child dental health and dental education.

He was awarded a Fellowship from the Faculty of Dental Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2014 and a PhD in Oral Bioscience from Trinity College Dublin in 2015. Within the field of dental public health, he has contributed to national and regional oral health policy and collaborated on international research aimed at reducing inequalities in oral health.

His research has focused on the influence of social and behavioral determinants on oral health in early childhood and the effectiveness of community-based prevention to improve dental health.