Dental Asia January/February 2024

SHOW REVIEW
impact, treatment needs,
priorities, and management.
Plugging these gaps
through research helps to
improve our health as a
whole, while serving as a
key driver for innovation in
the delivery of quality oral
care,” said Assoc Prof Chng.
After the opening address,
Prof Marco Peres,
deputy CEO research and
education, National Dental
Centre Singapore (NDCS),
set the tone for the joint
event in his plenary lecture
on ‘Achieving Universal
Oral Health Coverage for
All’. Prof Peres added the
clause “is necessary but
not sufficient” to the title
of his lecture to frame
and complete his view on
universal health coverage
as spoke of his strong
support on the subject and
highlighted areas in need of
improvement.
A panel discussion
moderated by IADR-SEA
Division president Prof
May Wong followed where representatives
from Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and
Cambodia expounded on the current state and
challenges of oral health in their respective
countries.
After the opening ceremony, the programme
for the remaining days featured a line-up
of over 60 local and international speakers
in a series of workshops, lectures, and
symposiums.
The ‘Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD)
Research in SEA: Strength in Synergy’
workshop gathered clinicians and scientists
interested in TMD research and the key leads
of International Network for Orofacial Pain
and Related Disorders Methodology (INfORM)
in South East Asia. Singapore’s Dr Adrian Yap,
Malaysia’s Dr Kathreena Kadir, the Philippines’
Dr Jonathan Fandialan, Indonesia’s Dr Carolina
Marpaung, and Thailand’s Dr Phanomporn
A workshop session on TMD research in South East Asia
A ‘Lunch and Learn’ session where participants gathered in smaller groups over food
where speakers provided insights on unique topics
Vanichanon all spoke during the session
which introduced the current concepts of
TMD, its signs/symptoms, classification,
aetiology, and identification.
In other programme highlights, Laureate
Prof Eric Reynolds, Centre for Oral Health
Research, Melbourne Dental School, and Prof
Paul Pronyk, director of Duke-NUS Center for
Outbreak Preparedness (COP) gave plenary
lectures on ‘Microbiome Modulation and
Fluoride Activation by a Saliva Biomimetic
Promotes Oral Health’ and ‘Evolutions in
Global Health – what does it mean for oral
health?’ respectively.
Some of the key topics that were covered
included universal oral health coverage, oral
systemic health connection, microbiome
modulation and periodontal disease, teledentistry,
AI, orofacial devices, and digital
dentistry technologies.
The IADR also provided
a platform to facilitate
cooperation among
investigators and the
communication of
research findings and their
implications throughout the
world. Two hundred and
nineteen submissions for
abstracts were accepted
and displayed in various
oral and poster sessions at
the event venue.
Tanyaphon Danpipat from
Chulalongkorn University,
Thailand won the first prize
in the Hatton Award, Junior
Category, for her submission
on ‘Amino-acid Starvation
and DNA-proteincrosslink
Repair Affect Candida
Oxidative Stress
Susceptibility’. Winner of
the Hatton Award, Senior
Category, was Shuting Gao
from The University of Hong
Kong, for his submission
on ‘Injectable Polyxylitol
succinate-based Adhesive
Hydrogel for Periodontal
Regeneration’.
Against a backdrop of the growing burden of
oral diseases worldwide with 3.5 billion people
afflicted, 1,2 the socioeconomic burden from
direct costs such as treatment expenditures
and indirect costs from lowered productivity
due to absenteeism from work or school and
reduced quality of life for those afflicted, can
be substantial.
The convergence of international dental
researchers and oral health professionals at
the Joint IADR-SEA/IOHS scientific meeting
strives to play a role in fostering collaboration
and continuous learning for impactful
research to improve oral health outcomes. DA
REFERENCES
1. GBD 2017 Disease and Injury Incidence and
Prevalence Collaborators. Lancet 2018.
2. GBD 2017 DALYs and HALE Collaborators.
Lancet 2018.
62 DENTAL ASIA JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024