GETTING THE CONVERSATION GOING ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ORAL HEALTH AND CHRONIC CONDITIONS

With
Dr Carol Tran, Oral Health Therapist &
Scientific Program Chair, 
Oral Health Association of Australia (OHAA) Congress &
Past President,  Dental Hygienists Association of Australia (DHAA) &
Co-director, Oral Health Home

PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Brisbane | September 2025

Dr. Carol Tran is an Oral Health Therapist and co-founder of Oral Health Home, an organisation focused on innovative, prevention-oriented oral health education and outreach. She is a Past President of Dental Hygienists Association of Australia (DHAA) and currently is the Scientific Program Chair, for upcoming congress in October 2025, for the newly formed Oral Health Association of Australia (OHAA).

A pivotal moment in Dr. Tran’s career was her leadership work with the DHAA. Throughout her tenure, she has served as a Director and President, leading national advocacy strategies and chairing committees on governance and special needs dentistry. One of her major achievements was successfully campaigning for oral health therapists, dental hygienists, and dental therapists to receive provider numbers, enabling them to be recognised as Medicare health care providers in their own right. This experience helped shape her belief in the potential for oral health practitioners to drive broader healthcare reform, ultimately inspiring her to co-found Oral Health Home.

Dr. Tran enjoys making oral health accessible and meaningful, particularly for often-overlooked communities. Currently, she is piloting a chewing and oral hypofunction program in aged care that uses technology to enhance residents’ oral function, alongside collaborating with CSIRO on food engineering research. She observes a growing awareness of the connection between oral health and overall wellness, but acknowledges ongoing challenges such as workforce shortages and fragmented funding. For those looking to enter this sector, she advises aspiring professionals to advocate, innovate, and think beyond traditional clinical roles.

Source: Adapted from supplied text