Rate My Professor Jonathan Broadbent

Professor Jonathan Broadbent is Professor of Dental Public Health in the Department of Oral Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, at the University of Otago. He earned his BDS, PhD, and Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dentistry with Distinction from the University of Otago. As a registered specialist in the scope of Public Health Dentistry, Broadbent initially pursued a clinical career in dentistry before entering academia, inspired by a research project undertaken during his undergraduate studies. He advanced to full professorship in 2021 and leads the dental epidemiology and public health research group at the Sir John Walsh Research Institute.

Broadbent's research centers on dental public health and epidemiology, particularly longitudinal studies of dental diseases from childhood through adulthood. He serves as the dental principal investigator for the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, applying trajectory modeling to investigate the epidemiology of dental caries, tooth loss, periodontal disease, and social inequalities in oral health, as well as links to general health outcomes such as mental disorders and chronic conditions. His prolific output includes over 166 publications with nearly 8,000 citations. Notable works encompass 'Oral health beliefs in adolescence and oral health in young adulthood' (Broadbent et al., Journal of Dental Research, 2006), which demonstrated how adolescent beliefs predict adult oral health; 'Dental plaque and oral health during the first 32 years of life' (Broadbent et al., 2006); 'Community Water Fluoridation and Intelligence: Prospective Study in New Zealanders' (Broadbent et al., American Journal of Public Health, 2015); and recent contributions like 'Caries Trajectories From Childhood to Adulthood Associated With Mental Disorders in Midlife' (2025). Broadbent received the 2023 International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Distinguished Scientist H. Trendley Dean Memorial Award for meritorious research in epidemiology and public health dentistry. He holds editorial positions including Scientific Editor of the New Zealand Dental Journal (since 2017), Associate Editor of the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (since 2019), and Editorial Board member for BMC Oral Health (since 2021), having peer-reviewed over 300 manuscripts for more than 60 journals. Broadbent also reviews grants for funders such as the New Zealand Health Research Council and international bodies, and mentors emerging researchers and clinicians.