DDUH Researchers win top prizes at IADR using TILDA data
Posted on 19 October 2026
Congratulations to Dr Vinay Sharma and Dr David McReynolds who presented their work using TILDA data at the recent Irish Division of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR), Annual Scientific Meeting 2026 on the 8th and 9th of October 2026.
Dr Vinay Sharma, postdoctoral research researcher in the DDUH presented on his work “Lifetime Fluoride Exposure and Educational Inequalities in Caries Experience Among Older Irish Adults”.
This study examined whether lifetime exposure to Community water fluoridation modifies the association between educational attainment and dental caries experience in older Irish adults. It was found that educational inequalities in caries experience were evident among older Irish adults at low lifetime CWF exposure but attenuated at medium and high levels; formal testing did not confirm effect modification. Larger studies with adequate numbers in high-exposure groups are needed to establish whether CWF reduces these inequalities.
Vinay took home first prize in the Dental Health Foundation Oral Presentation Competition
Dr David McReynolds, PhD researcher in the DDUH, presented on his work “Association Between Dentition Status and Frailty: TILDA Wave 1 to Wave 5 Longitudinal Analysis”. This analysis consisted of a cross-sectional inferential analysis at Wave 1; followed by a longitudinal inferential analysis from Wave 1 to Wave 5.
At Wave 1 of TILDA, an association was found between self-reported dentition status and four validated measures of frailty. There is high confidence in the external validity of the findings due to the underlying nationally representative sample and minimal attrition bias.
From Wave 1 to Wave 5, a temporal association wave found between baseline edentulism and incident frailty, as measured by Fried's Physical Frailty Phenotype and Rockwood's Frailty Index of Deficit Accumulation. Sensitivity analyses found a potential dose-response relationship between decreasing tooth count and incident frailty.
David took home first prize in the Postgraduate Hatton Research Prize competition.
