Rethinking oral health: A prevention first approach

Author: Dr Alexandra Jones, Co-Founder and Board Chair
This article was originally published in Pro Bono News on 20 February 2026

Dr Alexandra Jones is the Co-Founder and Board Chair of Friends of Really Excellent Dentistry. Alex has over 30 years’ experience in general dentistry and a PhD in molecular biology and oral pathology. She was a founding co-partner in a private dental surgery for over 25 years and is an experienced practitioner, academic, teacher, examiner and manager, in a diverse range of dental settings.

Alex obtained her Fellowship the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons with distinction in 2005 and was inducted into Fellowship of the International College of Dental Surgeons in 2017, in recognition of her professional meritorious achievements. 

Read on for our interview with Alex!

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position

I began my career as a clinical dentist, driven by a love of science and a desire to help people live well. Early on, I became fascinated by why oral disease occurs, not just how to treat it once it’s advanced. That curiosity took me into research and academia, where I completed a PhD and spent many years teaching and researching the biological drivers of oral disease.

Alongside this, I worked in my private practice in regional and urban New South Wales. Over time, the disconnect between what we know about prevention, the nature of oral diseases, the sophistication of our treatment modalities and what people can actually access, became impossible to ignore.

I saw too many people living with avoidable pain and shame, not because they didn’t care about their health, but because the system wasn’t designed to support them early, equitably and through all phases of life’s journey.

That tension between excellent science and poor real-world outcomes (when people aren't eligible for care or can't afford care) is what ultimately led me to co-found Friends of Really Excellent Dentistry (FRED).

Today, my work sits at the intersection of clinical practice, research translation, health promotion and systems advocacy. My focus is on making prevention practical, accessible and embedded into everyday life, rather than something reserved for people who can afford regular dental care.

What drives you to do the work that you do?

I’m driven by a very simple idea: many oral diseases are preventable, and no one should suffer because the system failed to support them.

Teeth are visible. When something goes wrong, people often carry not just pain, but deep shame. Over time, I’ve come to understand oral health as a social justice issue as much as a clinical one. Factors like where you live, how much you earn, and whether you feel safe seeking care shape oral health outcomes far more than individual willpower or decisions.

What keeps me motivated is the knowledge that we already have the science. We know what works.

The challenge now is translating that knowledge into tools, systems and messages for everyone. Prevention is not only kinder, it’s smarter, more cost-effective, and better for the health system as a whole.

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

I would tell myself to trust that sense of unease.

Often in my career I felt unsettled by the gap between the available, wonderful clinical excellence (if a person or system has the resources, state-of-the-art-dentistry in Australia is the best that money can buy, compared to anywhere in the world) versus the outcomes for people who don’t have access to such care.

It took time to realise that unease wasn’t something to just accept because there was “nothing that could be done” or “it is what it is” or even “you can’t help everyone”. Rather, it was a signal pointing me towards how we might work together to make the situation fairer. So I guess I mean I’d be stronger sooner, and more sure that it feels unfair because it is unfair!

I’d also remind myself that impact doesn’t always come from staying neatly within one lane. Some of the most meaningful work happens at the edges, between disciplines, between sectors, and between science and lived experience and that’s why any success is a team sport, totally!

Any words you live by day to day?

“Try to do the least harm, and the most good.”

In dentistry, that principle has a very literal meaning - preserve tissue, intervene thoughtfully, respect biology. Dentistry is a humbling profession if we let it shape us.

I try to do this more broadly. Whether in research, leadership or advocacy, I try to understand that people’s lives and situations are always more complex than the data suggests.

What are you currently watching / reading / listening to?

I tend to gravitate toward work that explores philosophy, lived experience, and human behaviour, often outside of health.

I’m currently reading a mix of social policy essays and fiction about science that centres on place and belonging. This is going to sound so nerdy, but I really wish my brain worked in way that I understood maths, like really understood it. That way maybe I would have a language to better describe the incredible humbling complexity of how biology works!