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Stacianne Tennant

Lecturer in Dental Hygiene and Therapy

Phone
+44 (0)1473 338958
Email
s.tennant@uos.ac.uk
School/Directorate
School of Health, Sciences and Society
Stacianne Tennant is a Registered Dental Hygienist She graduated with a BSc in Dental Hygiene from the University of Technology, Jamaica, in 2013 and completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Public Health with a specialisation in Environmental Health in 2018. Stacianne has over 10 years of clinical experience, having provided high-quality oral healthcare services in Jamaica before relocating to the United Kingdom, where she has continued to develop her clinical, educational, and leadership expertise.
Throughout her career, Stacianne has been committed to improving oral health outcomes through education, prevention, and public health initiatives. During her time in Jamaica, she was actively involved in community outreach and fundraising initiatives through her leadership roles within the Dental Hygienists' Association of Jamaica, promoting oral health awareness and access to preventive care.
Her long-term ambition is to influence oral health policy and integrate oral health more effectively into wider public health strategies, with a particular interest in maternal and antenatal oral healthcare, health inequalities, and preventive dentistry.

Stacianne began her academic career in 2015 as a Clinical Educator on the BSc Dental Hygiene programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica. Since then, she has gained extensive experience in higher education, teaching across both the theoretical and clinical components of dental hygiene and dental therapy programmes.
Her teaching philosophy is centred on developing safe, reflective, evidence-based practitioners who place prevention and patient-centred care at the heart of clinical practice. She is passionate about supporting students in developing strong clinical reasoning, professionalism, and leadership skills, recognising that dental hygienists and dental therapists play a pivotal role as preventive oral healthcare professionals.
Her academic interests include clinical education, curriculum development, assessment design, quality assurance, public health, periodontal therapy, and widening participation in oral healthcare.

Stacianne’s main interest is in oral health care knowledge and practices, particularly dental care during pregnancy. In her thesis “Oral Health Literacy and Practices Among Antenatal Patients Attending Public Health Facilities in the South East Regional Health Authority of Jamaica” she notes that the importance of having a high level knowledge in the fundamental aspect of oral health care practices is one thing, but the relationship between knowledge in maintaining good oral health based on practices is lacking.

During her time in the UK practising in the NHS dental services she found that, despite the awareness and positive practice towards dental service use of pregnant women, oral health education/information is relatively low. She believes appropriate oral health promotion strategies to enhance the utilisation of preventive dental services are vital.

Stacianne is excited to continue her research while at the University of Suffolk and aims to make significant scholarly contributions to the field of Dental Public Health.

Stacianne’s passion for providing oral health care drove her to be a founding member and the first president of the Dental Hygienist Association of Jamaica. Through this association she has managed to provide oral health care to communities and vulnerable people with limited access to oral health care across Jamaica. Now practising in the UK, her goal is to continue developing programmes that will increase oral healthcare accessibility in regions throughout the UK and internationally.

  • Registered Dental Hygienist with the General Dental Council (GDC)
  • Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA)
  • Member of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT)
  • Member of the British Society of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry (BSP)