Oral Health Messages for the Australian Public: 2022 Update Underway

Dental diseases such as dental caries and periodontal disease are highly prevalent conditions with broad impacts on individuals and the community. In 2019-2020 the combined expenditure on dental disease in Australia was almost 10 billion dollars. The individual and societal costs of dental disease are staggering given that dental disease is largely preventable.

In a bid to improve Australian oral health, the National Oral Health Plan (2004-2013) was developed; now replaced by the Nnational Oral Health Plan (2014-2024). The National Oral Health Plan (2004-2013) included a goal; to establish clear, evidence based oral health promotion messages to guide the Australian public. 

In 2009, a working group established by the National Oral Health Promotion Clearing House at The Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, University of Adelaide developed a consensus statement on oral health messages for the Australian public. The consensus statement was highly effective, and enabled a focussed, and strategic approach to oral health promotion in Australia. 

However, in the 13 years since the statement, the evidence base underpinning oral health promotion in Australia has grown and therefore an update of the consensus statement is needed.

The Australian Dental Association (ADA) is taking the lead in updating this Consensus Statement, working with the Melbourne Dental School at the University of Melbourne. The Melbourne Dental School has begun work on this project by leading a collaborative expert group to update the Oral Health Messages for the Australian Public. 

To establish the expert group to develop the consensus, an Expression of Interest (EOI) will be made available to interested individuals to take part in the process. This will be released in the near future, with the EOI and further information made available by the ADA.

Read the current Oral Health Messages for the Australian Public.

Your thoughts on the 2009 consensus statement are important to us. To assist us in the development of items to be included in the update, please complete the feedback form.