Research Interests
Community Child Health Curriculum and Pedagogy Theory and Development Dental Materials and Equipment Dentistry Developmental & Child Psychology Education Assessment and Evaluation Health and Community Services Health Promotion Medicine, Nursing and Health Curriculum and Pedagogy Odontology Paedodontics Population Health Child and Adolescent Health Oral HealthMs Katrina Plastow
Senior Lecturer
School of Dentistry
College of Health
Katrina is a member of the academic staff of the Adelaide School of Dentistry, Adelaide University. She is a registered dental therapist and began her career with the South Australian Dental Service, working across metropolitan and country clinics and developing experience in clinical leadership and service delivery. Katrina is committed to professional and ethical practice and serves as a health practitioner assessor with SACAT (formerly the SA Health Practitioners Tribunal).
Katrina holds a Bachelor of Education (Adult & Vocational) and a Bachelor of Science in Dentistry (Honours, First Class). She is an Education Specialist and inaugural member of the Adelaide Education Academy, and currently leads Online & e-Learning within the School.
With extensive experience teaching across the Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS), Katrina designs and delivers student-centred learning in tutorials, simulation and clinic, including case-based learning, small-group discovery and interactive online resources.
As BOH Year Coordinator (Years 1 & 3) and course coordinator for key BOH courses, she leads curriculum and assessment development, supports student progression, and mentors staff as part of her academic leadership roles.
Katrina co-developed and coordinated the Graduate Certificate in Oral Health Science (Adult Restorative) and has played a role in programme accreditation nationally, including as ADC Accreditation Monitoring & Site Evaluation Team Chair and as an assessor for program accreditation.
Her scholarly interests span oral health and dental education, with publications in child oral health (including sugar-sweetened beverages, fluoride and caries) and contemporary learning and teaching (including generative AI in higher education).
She has secured competitive learning and teaching and mobility funding, including New Colombo Plan support for Health Smiles Cambodia and international professional development in health education and e-learning.
Katrina’s broad research interests include child oral health, dental education and online/e-learning.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 - ongoing | ADS Academic lead, online & e-learning | University of Adelaide |
| 2019 - ongoing | Assessor | SACAT |
| 2018 - ongoing | Senior Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 2016 - ongoing | Education Specialist, Adelaide Education Academy | University of Adelaide |
| 2014 - ongoing | ADC Accreditation Monitoring & Site Evaluation Team Member/Chair | Australian Dental Council |
| 2009 - 2018 | Dental therapist representative | SA Health Practitioners Tribunal of the SA Dental Board |
| 2002 - 2017 | Lecturer | University of Adelaide |
| 1996 - 2001 | Clinical tutor | University of Adelaide |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Science in Dentistry (First Class Honours) | |
| University of South Australia | Australia | Bachelor of Education (Adult and Vocational) |
| Date | Title | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | Diploma in Dental Therapy | University of Adelaide | - |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Lee, D., Arnold, M., Srivastava, A., Plastow, K., Strelan, P., Ploeckl, F., . . . Palmer, E. (2024). The impact of generative AI on higher education learning and teaching: A study of educators’ perspectives. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 6, 10 pages. Scopus197 WoS111 |
| 2013 | Armfield, J., Spencer, A., Roberts-Thomson, K., & Plastow, K. (2013). Water fluoridation and the association of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and dental caries in Australian children. American Journal of Public Health, 103(3), 494-500. Scopus111 WoS103 Europe PMC85 |
| 2013 | Barbetti, K., Newsham, C., & Plastow, K. L. (2013). Non-nutritive sucking – habit with a consequence?. ANZJDent&OHT, 1, 10-14. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Plastow, K. L., & Gardner, S. P. (2018). Flipping and drawing to enhance student engagement and learning in Dental Anatomy (Work in progress),. In ICEL 2018 - Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on e-Learning Vol. 2018-July (pp. 567-569). Online: Curran Associates, Inc.. |
| 2018 | Plastow, K. L., Gardner, S. P., & Watson, M. (2018). Flip and Draw! Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning in Dental Anatomy. In The ADOHTA 5th International Conference, Hobart, TAS, Australia,. Hobart Tas. |
| 2016 | Plastow, K., & Cooper, R. (2016). Healthy Kids Cambodia: A peer mentoring approach to an overseas clinical placement.. In College of Oral Health Academics (COHA) CPD Event, Adelaide.. |
| 2012 | Miller, J., Plastow, K. L., & Barrow, S. -Y. (2012). Critical appraisal of research for clinical application.. In ADOHTA International conference, Canberra, Australia. |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2017 | Plastow, K., Karanicolas, S., Snelling, C., & Cooper, R. (2017). STUDENT AS PARTNERS: SUPPORTING WORK READY GRADUATES THROUGH CO-CREATION. Poster session presented at the meeting of 9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION AND NEW LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES (EDULEARN17). Barcelona, SPAIN: IATED-INT ASSOC TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT. WoS1 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2014 | Plastow, K. L. (2014). Consumption of sugars, exposure to fluorides and dental caries in Australian children. Thesis submitted for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Dentistry (Honours). |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2014 | De Anselmo Peres, M., Harford, J., Plastow, K. L., & Miller, J. (2014). Submission from Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health to World Health Organisation in response to the Draft guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children.. |
|
Learning & Teaching Advancement grants 2019 - $5000 L & T Advancement grant
2018 - $7950 L & T Advancement grant
2017 - $9700 L & T Advancement grant
2016 - $9500 L & T Advancement grant
Faculty e-learning grant 2016 - $4500 Faculty e-learning grant
New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility Grants 2024-25 - $75,900 NCP Mobility Program funding – Health Smiles Cambodia
2017 - $39,600 NCP Mobility Program funding for 2018 round – Health Smiles Cambodia
Asia-Bound Short Term Study Mobility Grant 2014 2014 - $10,000 Asia-Bound Short Term Study Mobility Grant
|
As an educator, Katrina has taught in both the Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) and Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) programmes for over twenty years. She jointly developed the Graduate Certificate in Oral Health Therapy, and was an inaugural member of the Adelaide Education Academy for education specialists at the University of Adelaide. Katrina has an interest in developing and utilising engaging, student-centred teaching and learning initiatives including blending on-line learning and direct instruction, and clinical simulation.
Year Coordinator | BOH years 1 & 3
Course coordinator | Dental & Health Science IOH, Dental & Health Science IIIOH
Educator/Clinical tutor | Clinical Practice IOH, Clinical Practice IIOH, Clinical Practice IIIOH, Dental Science & Practice I, Dental Clinical Practice I, Evidence-based Dentistry I/IOH
| Date | Title | Type | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Assessor | Peer Review | South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) | - |
| 2014 - ongoing | Accreditation Monitoring & Site Evaluation Team Member | Peer Review | Australian Dental Council | - |
| 2007 - 2018 | Dental therapist representative | Peer Review | SA Health Practitioners Tribunal | - |