Dental As Anything

Knowing and understanding the history of colonisation in Australia is important to tackling the gap in oral health that persists in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.

In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Patrick Mercer. Pat is a Wadawurrung Kulin man with family connections to Ballarat and Melbourne in Victoria. He currently works as a Lecturer in First Nations Health at the Melbourne Dental School and as a tutor within the Wurru Wurru First Nations Health team at the School of Medical Education at Melbourne University.

We discuss the importance of understanding our history and the role of the built environment in both perpetuating the impacts of colonisation but also in providing an opportunity to tell a different story, particularly in the form of statues and building names. Understanding this history is particularly relevant given that the Australian Dental Council competencies for newly graduating dental practitioners includes the requirement to acknowledge colonisation and systemic racism; address individual racism and biases; foster a safe working environment; and provide culturally safe care to diverse groups and populations.

Are you a Luddite? Do you know the origins of the term? It might surprise you to know that the original Luddites opposed the automation of textiles and weaving jobs during the industrial revolution. They weren’t opposed to the technology as much as they were concerned about the impact on their jobs. And they foresaw the disruption that has rippled through many industries since then, as automation has taken jobs and made them redundant.

Do we have anything to fear in the dental profession? There was a recent announcement that US company Perceptive has developed an AI-controlled autonomous robot performing an entire clinical procedure on a human patient. You can watch the video here.

What does this mean for the future of dentistry?

This week on Dental As Anything, Matt discusses some of the history of technological disruption, emerging technologies in dentistry and the future under our new robot overlords.

Does your boss contact you after hours asking you to complete tasks? Or are you the boss always texting your employees to get additional work done?

New laws have come into effect across Australia now to protect the rights of workers to disconnect from work and switch off in their own time.

In this episode of the Dental As Anything podcast we look at the history of ‘right to disconnect’ laws, the influence of the industrial revolution and the importance for both employees and employers in ensuring that they understand the new changes.

Are Health Stars making us healthier? That’s the intent behind those little star ratings that you find on food and drinks in the supermarket and convenience stores. The Health Star Rating system was introduced as a voluntary scheme in 2014 to try and tackle a slew of diet related diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. So it’s worth reflecting on whether they are actually meeting their objective or not, 10 years down the track. And if not – then why, what are we doing wrong, and what do we need to do to fix it?

In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Dr Alexandra Jones from the Georges Institute about food and health policy, its role in improving health outcomes and the tension between good policy and accusations of a nanny state.

What can we – as dental practitioners and advocates – really do to tackle the social and commercial determinants of health? And is it even our role to do so. In the previous episode of the Dental As Anything podcast I argued that poor oral health was as much a social issue as it was a dental issue. In this episode we explore some of these social issues, focusing on poverty and income equality, and look at the impact of unconditional cash transfers in improving health and wellbeing.

Is poor oral health a dental issue or a social issue? Is the solution to reducing increasing rates of tooth decay and periodontal disease found within the four walls of the dental clinic, or is there a need to step back and consider this as a social problem as well?

In this episode of Dental As Anything, I talk about the inverse care law, how that plays out in the maldistribution of the oral health workforce, and the important role dental practitioners have in tackling the social causes of dental disease.

Artificial intelligence tools are expanding into all areas of health practice, and clinical notes provide an opportunity for efficiencies - but it's important to be aware of the risks.

In this episode I speak to Bree Jones from Melbourne University about the use of artificial intelligence in writing health records. What does it mean to summarise information? How accurate will that AI summary mean? Do you know the best way to ask the right questions to ensure the most accurate summary - a skill known as prompt engineering. Is there a risk of bias in the way that AI tools interpret information? And importantly, what are some of the legal ramifications.

If you are considering using AI tools to assist with your clinical notes (or you are already doing so), then this is a must listen episode.

You wouldn't invest in tobacco companies, but would you invest in fast food and sugary drinks, knowing the harms they cause?

In this episode of Dental As Anything I pose the question of whether health practitioners should invest in companies that cause harm and contribute to the stream of patients coming through our doors. Should making greater investment returns come at the expense of public health? Does this blur the lines between our personal and professional identities?

There are many parallels between the pressure cooker environment of the MasterChef kitchen and a dental practice. So it shouldn't be surprising that there are valuable lessons that could be useful. Although it’s been nearly 10 years since I was on the show, it sometimes feels like it was just yesterday. I often reflect on the experiences over that 5 month period – because the more I look back, the more I realise how much the lessons from the MasterChef kitchen have helped to influence and shape who I am today.

In this episode of Dental As Anything, I share some of the life lessons that I learned on the show that I have found to be particularly valuable.

The somewhat controversial issue of tongue ties hit the media last week, with a newspaper article highlighting some harrowing patient stories and the boom in popularity of the tongue tie release procedure.