About us

The Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH) is Australia's pre-eminent population oral health research body providing a broad range of dental and oral health statistics for Australia. 

Our stakeholders, in addition to the University, include government agencies, dental organisations, and private corporations. 

  • Our vision

    ARCPOH will be the driving force behind innovative, cross-disciplinary and internationally renowned research that would place the University of Adelaide front and centre in reputational excellence. This creative collaboration will lead to exponential growth in industry partner engagement and in developing future leaders across many areas of health with which population oral health intersects.

    The conceptual framework underpinning ARCPOH’s 10 year vision is described through 4 domains: oral epidemiology; dental health services; Indigenous oral health; key populations (children, older adults, regional & remote), with the foundations of ARCPOH’s vision built upon leadership and governance, collaboration, and a multidisciplinary approach. Core components within each domain are research, education & advocacy.

  • Our mission

    ARCPOH's mission is to undertake research and research training in population oral health that is internationally recognised to be of the highest quality.

  • Our aims

    ARCPOH aims to:

    • increase and diversify the Centre's research program and associated research training that is currently undertaken in Adelaide and with colleagues elsewhere in Australia and overseas
    • extend and strengthen collaborative relationships with researchers in Australia and overseas through ongoing interaction and fostering synergies that will increase the Centre's scholarly output
    • attract postgraduate research students of the highest potential
    • engage and partner with communities, end users and industry to undertake research that is relevant to the needs of the population
    • produce research evidence that promotes the translation of findings into practice and policy. 

  • Our story

    The Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH) was established at The University of Adelaide in 2001 under the leadership of Professor A John Spencer (2001-2011)(now Professor Emeritus). Through a culture of innovation and excellence, ARCPOH established itself as a world leading research centre in population oral health.

    ARCPOH included the academic area of Social and Preventive Dentistry and the externally supported Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Dental Statistics and Research Unit (DSRU) and the Colgate Oral Care supported Dental Practice Education Research Unit (DPERU).  In 2011, the Indigenous Oral Health Unit was established through the leadership of Professor Lisa Jamieson.

    ARCPOH's research program focused on the distribution and determinants of oral health, the burden and impact of oral disease, the efficacy and effectiveness of population oral health interventions, oral health services and labour force research and oral health policy analysis. ARCPOH researchers are renowned for leading Australia's national surveys of oral health and the use of dental services for several decades as well as the development of seminal research, such as service provision by Australian dentists, the oral health of older Australians, especially those in aged care facilities, the effectiveness of water fluoridation and the development of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP, Slade and Spencer, 1994).

    ARCPOH continued to strengthen its research and research training capacity in population oral health through the tenure of Professors Kaye Roberts-Thomson (2011-2013), Marco Peres (2013-2018), David Brennan (2018-2020) and Dr Liana Luzzi (Interim Director, 2021). The current Director is Professor Lisa Jamieson (2022-).