Gift supports putting the mouth into health

From left to right: Phil Fitzgibbon, Managing Director of NSK Oceania, Professor Joerg Eberhard, Professor Chris Peck and Mike Covey, Vice President and Managing Director of Henry Schein Halas, at the donation offering at the Charles Perkins Centre

A generous gift from Henry Schein Halas and NSK will accelerate translational clinical dentistry research to understand the effects of dental treatment on general health, and enable research studies with participants from a wider Australian population.

The donation includes a diverse range of dental equipment and consumables from both Henry Schein Halas and NSK, such as a portable autoclave, disposable aprons, mobile sterilisers, dental bibs, toothbrushes, dental scalers, and the Dentalone.

The innovative NSK Dentalone is a dentist's office mobile cart that comes with a wide range of instruments and extended functionalities and enables dental treatment outside a dental chair.

"We're excited to receive the Dentalone, which consists of all the items a dentist would use when treating, at the highest standard, a patient in a dental clinic. This unit is used in hospitals, schools, homecare facilities, and by the Australian Defence Force, and is as effective and functional as it is impressive," said Professor Joerg Eberhard, Chair of Lifespan Oral Health at the University of Sydney.

"The portable unit will allow our dental researchers and Higher Degree Research (HDR) students to conduct clinical research projects and studies with participants that we were unable to reach before. For example, these include people in aged care facilities or women in their final stages of pregnancy who are not able to come to our clinical facilities," added Professor Eberhard.

With the donated dental equipment, dentistry researchers at the University will develop intervention trials that are needed to further understand the links between poor oral health and how it can impact overall health.

Commenting on this, Professor Chris Peck, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, said: "Research has found that poor oral health can contribute to major health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, premature births and dementia. Maintaining good oral health helps keep the whole body healthy, and this is at the core of our dental research strategy at the University. The donation will allow us to advance our research in this area, with our ultimate aim of improving the health and wellbeing of Australians."

"We are very grateful that Henry Schein Halas and NSK have donated this equipment to the University of Sydney and thank them for their generosity," Professor Peck added.