Rate My Professor Kate Naysmith

Kate Naysmith serves as Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Periodontics within the Department of Oral Sciences at the University of Otago's School of Dentistry, part of the Division of Health Sciences. She completed her Master of Community Dentistry (MComDent) in 2020 at the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, specializing in the Dental Epidemiology and Public Health programme. Her master's thesis, "The Oral Health Status of New Zealand Defence Force recruits and personnel," examined the oral health profiles of military entrants. Naysmith is recognized as key personnel in the institute's dental epidemiology and public health efforts.

The thesis-based publication, "Oral Health Status of New Zealand Defence Force Recruits," analyzed initial dental examinations, bitewing radiographs, orthopantomographs, and socio-dental questionnaires from 874 recruits aged 17-59 years over a 13-month period. Caries prevalence reached nearly 70%, with a mean DMFT of 3.0, elevated among females and Māori. Third molars appeared in 88.3% of cases, with nearly 60% featuring potentially problematic impactions, most common in younger recruits, those of medium or low socioeconomic status, and Army or Navy members. Mesioangular impactions predominated among mandibular third molars. These findings emphasize the necessity of thorough third molar evaluations prior to deployment to avert non-combat dental evacuations. Naysmith's additional contributions include co-authoring "Molar-Incisor Hypomineralisation – a review of its public health aspects" and "A review of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder from the dental perspective," both in the New Zealand Dental Journal. Her research interests encompass clinical dentistry, dental caries, preventive dentistry, dental education, pediatric dentistry, cariology, and community dentistry, with 17 citations to her work.