Dr Moira Smith
Moira is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director, Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit in the Department of Public Health, University of Otago Wellington, and Associate Member, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago. Moira currently chairs the NZ Oral Health Clinical Advisory Network. Moira graduated BDS in 1987 from the University of Otago, and practiced dentistry in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In 2010, Moira left private practice to undertake her doctorate in public health and has since undertaken research in a range of areas of public health interest, including oral health and children's environments.
Dentist scientific programme
Teledentistry – its use and acceptability among end-users in Aotearoa New Zealand
Interest in, and use of, telehealth techniques including those for oral health care has risen globally since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. For several groups of the population, teledentistry has the potential to improve access to oral health care and help address oral health disparities. In this presentation, I will share findings from recent research about the use and acceptability of teledentistry among dental practitioners and people who live and work in aged care, and propose suggestions on what is needed to support its safe and appropriate use.
Team day programme
Through the eyes of children: oral health-related findings from Kids’Cam and Kids Online
What do 12-year-olds see and encounter as they go about their day? How might this influence their oral health? Kids’Cam and Kids Online, world-leading, innovative research projects investigating children’s physical and online worlds, provide some answers. Using wearable cameras and virtual meeting software, University of Otago researchers have been able to learn more about the world children live in and the implications for their health. With an emphasis on the cariogenic features in children’s worlds, findings from both projects will be presented with recommended actions to reduce children’s risk of oral disease proposed.