2OO9 – 2O1O - Faculty of Dentistry - University of Otago

ALISON MELDRUM
MDS (Otago)
Oral Sciences
Senior Lecturer
Alison Meldrum’s main areas of research include the allied
dental professionals workforce, childhood caries, and
student learning and acquisition of knowledge.
Research and Collaboration
Improving the oral health of preschoolers – developing a
workable and effective tool for oral health professional.
This project was funded by a NZDA research grant
and involved Annette Hannah, Dawn Coates and
Wendy Aitken. This research aims to investigate whether
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an effective chairside
education tool for the caregivers of young children.
Underpinning oral health promotion is ‘the process of
enabling people to increase control over, and to improve,
their health’ (MOH, 2004). This principle of enabling
people is at the heart of MI, which is a patient-centred
method designed to augment an individual’s motivation to
change a problematic behaviour. This research developed
Motivational Interviewing methodology for use in New
Zealand Dental Clinics with the caregivers of young
children (aged 6–24 months) and examined its efficacy in
a controlled environment.
An evaluation of the acceptability of primary health care
nurses delivering oral health messages. This pilot study is
in collaboration with Susan Moffat, Dawn Coates and
Wendy Aitken, and supported by a University of Otago
Research Committee grant. There is limited international
research on primary health care providers’ involvement
in oral health care promotion. Research in Australia found
that practice nurses have no confidence or self-perceived
legitimacy to deliver oral health anticipatory guidance, and
that there was a clear need for clear and consistent oral
health information and agreed roles between disciplines.
There is a need to provide intervention packages and
effective training for practice nurses to enable them to
undertake oral health promotion activities.
Three general practices in the Dunedin area were
recruited. Practice nurses from each complete a brief
training programme to enable them to deliver a brief
oral health message to infants at their five-month
immunisation appointments.
42 FACULTY OF DENTISTRY RESEARCH REPORT 2009-2010
Recent Publications
Moffat SM, Coates, DE, Meldrum AM. New Zealand’s
changing oral health workforce. A dental practitioner’s
guide to dual trained dental therapists/dental hygienists.
New Zealand Dental Journal 6: 57-60 (2009).
Kardos RL, Meldrum AM, Moffat SM. The University of
Otago. In: Tsang TKL (ed.) Oral Health Therapy Programs in
Australia and New Zealand –Emergence and Development.
Knowledge Books and Software Publishing, Queensland
pp75-98 (2010).
Tang A, Moffat SM, Kardos RL, Meldrum AM, Walsh L.
Looking forward to the future: Directions and Innovations.
In: Tsang TKL (ed.) Oral Health Therapy Programs in Australia
and New Zealand –Emergence and Development. Knowledge
Books and Software Publishing, Queensland (2010).