GETTING THE CONVERSATION GOING ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS
With
Dr Carol Tran, Oral Health Therapist &
Scientific Program Chair,
Oral Health Association of Australia (OHAA) Congress &
Past President, Dental Hygienists Association of Australia (DHAA) &
Co-director, Oral Health Home
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Brisbane | September 2025
Dr. Carol Tran is an Oral Health Therapist and co-founder of Oral Health Home, an organisation focused on innovative, prevention-oriented oral health education and outreach. She is a Past President of Dental Hygienists Association of Australia (DHAA) and currently is the Scientific Program Chair, for upcoming congress in October 2025, for the newly formed Oral Health Association of Australia (OHAA).
A pivotal moment in Dr. Tran’s career was her leadership work with the DHAA. Throughout her tenure, she has served as a Director and President, leading national advocacy strategies and chairing committees on governance and special needs dentistry. One of her major achievements was successfully campaigning for oral health therapists, dental hygienists, and dental therapists to receive provider numbers, enabling them to be recognised as Medicare health care providers in their own right. This experience helped shape her belief in the potential for oral health practitioners to drive broader healthcare reform, ultimately inspiring her to co-found Oral Health Home.
Dr. Tran enjoys making oral health accessible and meaningful, particularly for often-overlooked communities. Currently, she is piloting a chewing and oral hypofunction program in aged care that uses technology to enhance residents’ oral function, alongside collaborating with CSIRO on food engineering research. She observes a growing awareness of the connection between oral health and overall wellness, but acknowledges ongoing challenges such as workforce shortages and fragmented funding. For those looking to enter this sector, she advises aspiring professionals to advocate, innovate, and think beyond traditional clinical roles.
Source: Adapted from supplied text
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Emerging researcher appointed to James Packer Chair in Mood Disorders at UNSW
The UNSW Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health is widely renowned as the pre-eminent psychiatry research department in the country and one of the leading university psychiatry research groups internationally. In 2023 it celebrated 60 Years of Psychiatry & Mental Health at UNSW Sydney.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Professor Kimberlie Dean, Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UNSW Sydney, about the recent appointment of mental health disorders expert and clinician researcher Dr Aswin Ratheesh to lead the James Packer Chair in Mood Disorders at UNSW Sydney. -
Belonging in a medical device company
Edith de Boer is the HR Director for Zimmer Biomet in Australia and New Zealand. Her career originally was in telecommunications and consulting in Europe. After leaving The Netherlands, Edith worked into the Australian medical research industry, before moving into a human resources role at Zimmer Biomet. Edith spoke to Australian Health Journal about her role and the organisation.
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South Australia prioritises preventive health
On 28th November 2024, the SA Parliament passed legislation to make preventive health a key part of South Australian health system for the first time, through a new agency aptly named Preventive Health SA.
Preventive Health SA will lead evidence-informed and innovative action to prevent and reduce the burden of non-communicable health conditions and improve health equity across the South Australia population.
