Dr Danyon Graham

Since graduating with BDS(Hons), Danyon has worked in the Maxillofacial units at Auckland, Middlemore, and Christchurch hospitals. Currently in his final year of medical school, he is simultaneously pursuing a post-graduate Master’s research degree in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago Wellington. He intends to specialise in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery while maintaining his research and advocacy work in the field of dental public health.

A retrospective audit and cost-analysis of patient referrals to the Christchurch Hospital Oral and Maxillofacial Service for management of acute odontogenic infections from 2018 to 2020 was conducted. The rate of patient referrals doubled throughout the study period and surpassed one per day in 2020. The total cost for managing this patient sample was approximately $4.4M.

There is substantial inequity within the current oral health care system, with young adults, Māori, and Pacific peoples over-represented among those referred acutely. The majority of patients were treated and discharged from the ED by dental house surgeons (junior dentists), implying that appropriate care could have been delivered in the community had it been accessible. This would spare valuable hospital resources and improve patient outcomes.