Competitions & Awards

A number of competitions and awards are offered by the Society:

The Colgate Postgraduate Research Award is offered at each ANZSPD Biennial Congress.

The ANZSPD Louise Brearley Messer Undergraduate and Postgraduate essay competitions are held each year.

The ANZSPD Alistair Devlin Memorial Grant is awarded to oral health initiatives and community research projects in the memory of Alistair Devlin in acknowledgement of his significant contribution to the society.

2024 Essay Winners Announced

2024 ANZSPD Louise Brearley Messer Undergraduate and Postgraduate Essay Competitions Winners Announced.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the ANZSPD Louise Brearley Messer Undergraduate and Postgraduate Essay Competitions for 2024 have been selected. The results are as follows:

Undergraduate Essay: Sharon Si Lin Huang, The University of Adelaide
TOPIC: Avulsion – should we replant teeth in the growing child? (Discuss the prognosis and treatment considerations involved in decision making).

Postgraduate Essay: Dr Lyndon Abbott, The University of Western Australia
TOPIC: E-cigarettes – effects, considerations and how do we educate parents and teens?

This essay competition was named in recognition of the great contribution made by Emeritus Professor Louise Brearley Messer AM in Teaching, Research and Administration in Paediatric Dentistry. The prize winning essays will be published in a future edition of Synopses, the ANZSPD Newsletter.

Special thanks are given to all of the students who participated in this year’s competition, their supervisors, and especially the judges.

  • Essays were initially submitted to the appropriate undergraduate or postgraduate course coordinator as a word processing document in one of the following formats (doc, docx, rtf).
  • The course coordinator submitted the best undergraduate essay, and all suitable postgraduate essays from their Dental School as email attachments to the Federal Secretary via email, with a note of support
  • No names or identifying marks appeared within the essays. The candidate’s name, home address, email address and University name should appear on a separate page to the remainder of the essay. 
  • Essays are coded for anonymity and sent to two judges. The two judges are appointed by the Federal Council of ANZSPD Inc. The decision of the judges are final.
  • The deadline for the submission of Essays was on Friday 20th October 2023.
  • The winner has been announced. All participants have been advised of the result by mail or email.
  • As mentioned in the notice of the competition, the prize winner will have their winning essay published in the newsletter of ANZSPD Inc., “Synopses”.

Past Winners

Historical Essay Competition Topics and Winners.

Louise Brearley Messer ANZSPD Undergraduate Essay Competition

2023 Winner

Sharon Si Lin Huang

The University of Adelaide

TOPIC: Avulsion – should we replant teeth in the growing child? (Discuss the prognosis and treatment considerations involved in decision making).

2022 Winner

Shi Han Su

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Discuss the risks and benefits of silver diamine fluoride. What cases do you think would most benefit? Should this be a public health initiative?

2021 Winner

Megan Khaw

La Trobe University

TOPIC: The use of resin infiltration in uncavitated enamel lesions is considered a novel technique. Based on the evidence, would you implement this preventive approach for your own patients in practice? Discuss.

2020 Winner

Richart Tien

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Does Water Fluoridation still have a place in today’s world? Explore the arguments for and against and summarise your findings to form an opinion.

2019 Winner

Paul Mueller

La Trobe University

TOPIC: Biosilicates have been found to have multiple applications in paediatric dentistry. What are they and are they as good as the alternatives?

2018 Winner

Kumudika Gunaratne

The University of Sydney

TOPIC: Dental caries in children – infectious disease or parental lifestyle choice? Discuss your views based on current knowledge of aetiology and epidemiology of the disease.

2017 Winner

Jamie Jing Wen Leung

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Bioactive and biomimetic dental materials have advanced from relatively specialised highly biocompatible low strength medicaments to include newly emerging restorative materials. Explain the definition of bioactive and biomimetic in the context of these materials and consider how the well developed and newer materials may be utilised in paediatric restorative dentistry

2016 Winner

Joon Soo Park

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Children who brush their teeth at least once a day with a toothpaste that contains fluoride will have less tooth decay. Twice a day use increases the benefit. Marinho et al, Cochrane 2003. Discuss the amount of fluoride contained in the toothpastes in widespread use for children in Australia and New Zealand. What are the differences in the minimum fluoride concentrations of these toothpastes between the two countries for different age groups and how have these changed over time? What are considered to be the net benefits in increasing fluoride concentration in toothpaste used for younger children?

2015 Winner

Lisa Otway

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Deep Dental Caries – to leave or to remove. New Perspectives on an Old Theme.

2014 Winner

Kenneth Koh Shou Bin

The University of Adelaide

TOPIC: There is an emerging trend on the use of probiotics and organic diets. Discuss the effects of these supplements and diets on the oral environment of a child.

Louise Brearley Messer ANZSPD Postgraduate Essay Competition

2023 Winner

Dr Lyndon Abbott

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: E-cigarettes – effects, considerations and how do we educate parents and teens?

2022 Winner

Dr Caitlin Hurley

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Discuss the dental implications of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease in children and how these might be managed.

2021 Winner

Dr Asika Lathif

The University of Sydney

TOPIC: Paediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnoea is considered the most severe in the spectrum of sleep disordered breathing and affects up to 1-4% of children. Discuss the role of the dental professional in proper screening, diagnosis and earlier treatment of paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea.

2020 Winner

Dr Amanda Leske

The University of Melbourne

TOPIC: Discuss the indications for using cone beam CT radiography to all aspects of paediatric oral assessment and management compared to traditional radiographic investigations. Where CBCT is indicated, what are the barriers or precautions to be considered in obtaining these images as the first line investigation?.

2019 Winner

Dr Jana Nikolovski

The University of Sydney

TOPIC: We are into a new era in which parental-based research from internet searches and social media exposure is having a significant influence on what oral health care services they are wanting their children to receive. Discuss examples of services that may be requested by parents from you based on their research that may be deemed alternative to conventional oral health care practice. How you would approach each of these situations? Include in your answer evidence for and against both alternative and conventional treatment option outcomes.

2018 Winner

Dr Vanessa Cho

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: A new class of anticoagulant drugs, the new oral anticoagulants or NOAC’s, have begun to play a role in the management of thrombotic diseases. Discuss: (1) Thrombotic disease in children and whether there may be a place for NOAC’s in the management of these children, and (2) The dental management of patients on anticoagulants and how this would need to be altered for any children taking NOAC’s.

2017 Winner

Dr Greg Celine

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Over the last decade, endodontic treatment has changed significantly with access to technologies including NiTi files, reciprocating motors and advanced obturation techniques and materials. Discuss the application of this advance to primary dentition endodontics, indications and contra indications and alternate treatment modalities.

2016 Winner

Dr Maansi Juneja

The University of Sydney

TOPIC: Over the last five years there has been increasing awareness of the role of the labial and lingual frenulae on a neonate’s attachment and efficiency during nursing. Discuss the oral physiology of a baby nursing, factors that can decrease a baby’s ability to nurse efficiently and problems these cause. Also discuss management options and the possible relation between poor nursing efficacy and the risk of early childhood caries.

2015 Winner

Dr Chaturi Neboda

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Discuss tooth coloured crowns in the primary dentition: Developments, improvements and limitations

2014 Winner

Dr Rana Yawary

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Discuss the management of the oral biofilm in paediatric dental patients

2016 Winner

Dr Maansi Juneja

The University of Sydney

TOPIC: Over the last five years there has been increasing awareness of the role of the labial and lingual frenulae on a neonate’s attachment and efficiency during nursing. Discuss the oral physiology of a baby nursing, factors that can decrease a baby’s ability to nurse efficiently and problems these cause. Also discuss management options and the possible relation between poor nursing efficacy and the risk of early childhood caries.

2015 Winner

Dr Chaturi Neboda

The University of Western Australia

TOPIC: Discuss tooth coloured crowns in the primary dentition: Developments, improvements and limitations

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