Dr Tom Broomhead
BA (Hons), MSc, PhD
School of Clinical Dentistry
Research Associate
Full contact details
School of Clinical Dentistry
19 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
- Profile
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My background is in geography, and I graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA in Human Geography in 2009 and an MSc in Social and Spatial Inequalities in 2011.
In 2013 I joined the School of Clinical Dentistry as a Research Assistant, before starting a PhD exploring the impacts of neighbourhood environments on oral health. I completed my PhD in 2017.
Following the PhD, I worked as a Research Associate in the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (2017-2018), before joining the School of Clinical Dentistry as a Research Associate in 2018.
- Qualifications
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BA (Hons) Human Geography, University of Sheffield (2009)
MSc Social and Spatial Inequalities, University of Sheffield (2011)
PhD, University of Sheffield (2018)
- Research interests
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My main research interests include geographical variations and inequalities in health-related outcomes, particularly concerning oral health.
Since joining the School of Clinical Dentistry I have worked on the following related projects:
- Analysing national patterns of supervised toothbrushing programmes in England (2023-present)
- Working with the City of Doncaster Council to investigate neighbourhood profiles and vulnerable populations (2023-2024)
- The Oral Health Observatory - using standardised international oral health-related datasets in six countries (2019-2020)
- National patterns in paediatric hospital admissions for dental extractions in England (2019)
I am also interested in quality of life and everyday impacts associated with oral health, and have been involved in the following related projects:
- Living with removable partial dentures (2021-2022)
- Psychometric validation of the gum health experience questionnaire (2020-2021)
- Development of a gum-related quality of life measure (2018-2019)
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Analysis of public records of lobbying practices of the ultra-processed sugary food and drink industries in Chile: a qualitative study. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 100794-100794.
- ‘It's like being in a tunnel’: Understanding the patient journey from tooth loss to life with removable dentures. Journal of Dentistry, 145, 104964-104964.
- Using Standardised International Oral Health-Related Datasets in 6 Countries. International Dental Journal.
- Exploring experiences of living with removable dentures—A scoping review of qualitative literature. Gerodontology. View this article in WRRO
- Development and psychometric validation of the gum health experience questionnaire. Journal of Clinical Periodontology. View this article in WRRO
- Standardised Practice-Based Oral Health Data Collection: A Pilot Study in Different Countries. International Dental Journal, 73(4), 566-573.
- From micro to macro: Structural determinants and oral health. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 51(1), 85-88.
- Gum health and quality of life—subjective experiences from across the gum health-disease continuum in adults. BMC Oral Health, 22(1).
- Neighbourhoods and oral health: Agent-based modelling of tooth decay. Health & Place, 71, 102657-102657.
- National patterns in paediatric hospital admissions for dental extractions in England. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 49(4), 322-329.
- Introducing CASCADEPOP: an open-source sociodemographic simulation platform for US health policy appraisal. International Journal of Microsimulation, 13(2), 21-60. View this article in WRRO
- A rapid review of variation in the use of dental general anaesthetics in children. British Dental Journal, 229(1), 31-39. View this article in WRRO
- Rasch model of the child perceptions questionnaire in multi-country data. Journal of Dentistry, 93. View this article in WRRO
- Systems science and oral health: Implications for dental public health?. Community Dental Health, 36(1), 55-62. View this article in WRRO
- Application of geographic information systems and simulation modelling to dental public health: Where next?. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 47(1), 1-11. View this article in WRRO
- Structural Determinants and Children's Oral Health: A Cross-National Study. Journal of Dental Research, 97(10), 1129-1136. View this article in WRRO
- Who attends a Children's Hospital Emergency Department for dental reasons? A two-step cluster analysis approach.. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 45(1), 49-58. View this article in WRRO
- What are the most accurate predictors of caries in children aged 5 years in the UK?. Community Dental Health, 31(2), 111-116.
- The Treatment Alliance and the Provision of Removable Dentures: Exploring the Emotional Work of the Dental Team. Dentistry Journal, 12(11), 344-344.
- Oral health, sugary drink consumption and the soft drink industry levy: using spatial microsimulation to understand tooth decay. Regional Science Policy & Practice. View this article in WRRO
Chapters
- Spatial Microsimulation and Agent-Based Modelling, The Practice of Spatial Analysis (pp. 69-84). Springer International Publishing
Conference proceedings papers
- Teaching activities
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PhD supervision: Yanela Aravena-Rivas (University College London) - Impact of the governance system on sugar consumption patterns among the Chilean population (co-supervisor, 2021-present).
I have also previously contributed as a lab demonstrator on undergraduate GIS modules and postgraduate statistics modules and supervised a masters level dissertation in Dental Public Health.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Co-lead of the Place and Communities workstream (Healthy Lifespan Institute – University of Sheffield).
Member of:
- International Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (IADR)
- Behavioural, Epidemiologic and Health Services Research (BEHSR) group of IADR
- British Society for Oral and Dental Research (BSODR)
Journal referee for Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, Community Dental Health, BMC Oral Health, BMC Health Services Research, British Dental Journal, Addiction, Health and Place, Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy.