Ms Rebecca Chen
People_

Ms Rebecca Chen

Lecturer in Dentistry (Education Focused)
Sydney Dental School
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Ms Rebecca Chen

Rebecca Chen is a Lecturer (Education Focused) in the Population Oral Health team at the Sydney Dental School.

Rebecca is a student-focused, evidence-based, innovative clinician academic. She has nearly 15 years of combined work experience in the higher education sector and dental public health policy within NSW Health. Rebecca has a track record of scholarly teaching output and a broad research skill set focused on equity and innovation for better oral health outcomes.

Rebecca has developed innovative educational programs to enhance preventive oral healthcare practices among clinicians to improve patient outcomes. Her notable contributions include supporting the Centre for Oral Health Strategy and the various stakeholders in developing the NSW Health COVID-19 guidelines for dental services. Rebecca has also contributed to policies and projects related to value-based oral healthcare, virtual oral healthcare, and dental referrals from Emergency Departments.

In her previous roles within NSW Health Rebecca had advocacted for oral health inequalities by drafting documents that have enabled coordinated initiatives to advocate for targeted funding in oral health from bodies like the NHMRC.

As an early career researcher, Rebecca has secured substantial funding for projects, notably for a mHealth program designed to support behaviour change in families at risk of early childhood dental caries. Her research contributions have an equity lens and span the fields of epidemiology, digital health, implementation science, health workforce models, and interdisciplinary health education. Her work has been utilised by NSW Health and evidence-focused organisations like the Sax Institute, reflecting her research impact on oral healthcare policy and practice.

Mobile Health technology (mHealth) used in Dentistry

Prevention of severe early Childhood Caries using a health systems approach

Public Health Dentistry

Interprofessional education for preventive practices

Cariology and Prevention

Rebecca utilises technology to enhance the students learning experience and will contribute to the Population Oral Health teaching across the BOH, DMD, and Masters programs. She will also coordinate foundation subjects within the DMD programs.

Co-designing theSmilesUp!mHealth program for the sustainable prevention of Early Childhood dental caries.

RCTs and adaption of mHealth interventions to support oral health behaviour change.

Patient Reported Outcome Measures development and evaluation.

International Association for Dental Research

Australian Dental and Oral Health Therapists Association of Australia

Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand

2019-Roland Bryant Award for Excellence and Initiative in Teaching for the Bachelor of Oral Health Program

2015- Finalist Australian National Youth Health Awards (Health Category)

2009- University of Sydney Academic Excellence Prize

2008-2010- University of Sydney Merit Scholarship

Publications

Journals

  • Koo, F., Chen, R., Fethney, J., Balante, J., Wong, G. (2024). Evaluating pre-and post-oral health literacy of undergraduate nursing students on an oral-systemic health learning intervention. Journal of Dental Education, 88(10), 1358-1366. [More Information]
  • Chen, R., Irving, M., Christian, B., Prabhu, N., Kumar, H., Sohn, W., Spallek, H., Marschner, S., Chow, C. (2024). SmilesUp text message intervention for early childhood dental caries prevention: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial. PloS One, 19(9), e0310561-e0310561. [More Information]
  • Mariño, R., Uribe, S., Chen, R., Schwendicke, F., Giraudeau, N., Scheerman, J. (2024). Terminology of e-Oral Health: Consensus Report of the IADR’s e-Oral Health Network Terminology Task Force. BMC Oral Health, 24(1). [More Information]

2024

  • Koo, F., Chen, R., Fethney, J., Balante, J., Wong, G. (2024). Evaluating pre-and post-oral health literacy of undergraduate nursing students on an oral-systemic health learning intervention. Journal of Dental Education, 88(10), 1358-1366. [More Information]
  • Chen, R., Irving, M., Christian, B., Prabhu, N., Kumar, H., Sohn, W., Spallek, H., Marschner, S., Chow, C. (2024). SmilesUp text message intervention for early childhood dental caries prevention: A protocol for a randomised controlled trial. PloS One, 19(9), e0310561-e0310561. [More Information]
  • Mariño, R., Uribe, S., Chen, R., Schwendicke, F., Giraudeau, N., Scheerman, J. (2024). Terminology of e-Oral Health: Consensus Report of the IADR’s e-Oral Health Network Terminology Task Force. BMC Oral Health, 24(1). [More Information]

2023

  • Wong, G., Irving, M., Forsyth, C., Chen, R., Tsai, C. (2023). Intraprofessional learning: Dentistry and oral health students’ readiness and experience. Journal of Dental Education, 87(11), 1542-1551. [More Information]
  • Balasubramanian, M., Ghanbarzadegan, A., Sohn, W., Killedar, A., Sivaprakash, P., Holden, A., Norris, S., Wilson, A., Pogson, B., Liston, G., Yaacoub, A., Milat, A., Huckel Schneider, C., et al (2023). Primary school mobile dental program in New South Wales, Australia: protocol for the evaluation of a state government oral health initiative. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 363. [More Information]

2022

  • Chen, R., Schneuer, F., Irving, M., Chow, C., Kumar, H., Tsai, C., Sohn, W., Spallek, H., Bell, J., Nassar, N. (2022). Socio-demographic and familial factors associated with hospital admissions and repeat admission for dental caries in early childhood: A population-based study. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 50(6), 539-547. [More Information]

2021

  • Wong, G., Koo, T., Fethney, J., Chen, R. (2021). Assessing oral health literacy of university nursing students: A cross-sectional exploratory study. Nurse Education in Practice, 53, 103066-1-103066-7. [More Information]
  • Cheng, H., Chen, R., Milosevic, M., Rossiter, C., Arora, A., Denney-Wilson, E. (2021). Interventions targeting bottle and formula feeding in the prevention and treatment of early childhood caries, overweight and obesity: An integrative review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12304. [More Information]
  • Chen, R., Santo, K., Wong, G., Sohn, W., Spallek, H., Chow, C., Irving, M. (2021). Mobile Apps for Dental Caries Prevention: Systematic Search and Quality Evaluation. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 9(1), e19958. [More Information]

2020

  • Chen, R., Irving, M., Wright, F., Cunich, M. (2020). An evaluation of health workforce models addressing oral health in residential aged care facilities: A systematic review of the literature. Gerodontology, 37(3), 222-232. [More Information]

2019

  • Chen, R. (2019). The International Caries Detection and Assessment System is a Visual Diagnostic System that is Highly Reproducible and Accurate for Coronal Carious Lesions Detection But Only Moderately Reproducible and Accurate For Assessing Lesion Progression. Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice, 19(1), 91-94. [More Information]

2017

  • Wong, G., Chen, R. (2017). Critical Appraisal of a Cross-Sectional Study on the Association Between Vitamin D and Dental Caries in Canadian Children. International Journal of Evidence-Based Practice for the Dental Hygienist, 3(1), 35-38. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2013

  • Nutrition Choices & Oral Health, Chen R, Tsai C, University of Sydney/Healthy Sydney University Seed Funding