History, colonisation and oral health

Knowing and understanding the history of colonisation in Australia is important to tackling the gap in oral health that persists in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. In this episode of the Dental as Anything podcast I speak to Patrick Mercer. Pat is a Wadawurrung Kulin man with family connections to Ballarat and Melbourne in Victoria. He currently works as a Lecturer in First Nations Health at the Melbourne Dental School and as a tutor within the Wurru Wurru First Nations Health team at the School of Medical Education at Melbourne University. We discuss the importance of understanding our history and the role of the built environment in both perpetuating the impacts of colonisation but also in providing an opportunity to tell a different story, particularly in the form of statues and building names. Understanding this history is particularly relevant given that the Australian Dental Council competencies for newly graduating dental practitioners includes the requirement to acknowledge colonisation and systemic racism; address individual racism and biases; foster a safe working environment; and provide culturally safe care to diverse groups and populations.