Dr Dilini Ratnayake

Department of Community Dental Health, Faculty of Dental Sciences
dilinirat727@dental.pdn.ac.lk
+94773344148 ,081 2397471
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Dr Dilini Ratnayake

Lecturer in Community Dentistry
MD and MSc in Community Dentistry, University of Colombo
BDS (Hons) Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, (UK)

Biography

Dilini Ratnayake is a Lecturer in Community Dentistry and a
Board-Certified Specialist in Community Dentistry in Sri Lanka

Research Awards, Grants & Patents:

  • Research Grant- College of Dentistry and Stomatology of Sri Lanka 2020/2021.
  • Best Oral Presentation- Free paper session- Annual Scientific Sessions of the College of Community Dentistry of Sri Lanka 2025
  • Sri Lanka Dental Association Award for the Best Article in the Sri Lanka Dental Journal 2025
  • Q1 paper award 2025- University Research Council

Research Interests

  • Salutogenesis and sense of coherence in health improvement
  • Sustainable models of community dental services reaching socially disadvantaged communities
  • Competency-based education strategies to improve teaching and learning in public health

Ongoing Research Projects

  • Salutogenic pathways to positive oral health among children under five years living in adverse rural contexts in Kandy district, Sri Lanka: perspectives of caregivers and care providers
  • Evaluation of a Student-led Community-based Teaching–Learning–Service Initiative for Screening and Early Detection of Oral Cancer and Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders among Estate Communities in Sri Lanka

Publications

  • Ratnayake, D.L., Nagahawaththa, R.K. & Ekanayake, L. A salutogenic mobile health application for adolescent oral health: development and feasibility study. BMC Public Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28877-x
  • Ratnayake DL, Ekanayake L. Sense of coherence is associated with daily free sugar consumption and oral health-related quality of life in 15-year-old school children attending government schools in Kandy district, Sri Lanka: a cross-sectional analytical study. BMC Oral Health. 2025 Dec 3;25(1):1868. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-07260-z
  • Ratnayake, D.L., Richards, W., Ameen, J., Coll, A.-M., & Filipponi, T. (2025). Income inequalities and dental caries in 12-year-olds: An ecological comparison between a high- and a lower-middle-income country. Oral, 5(3), 71.
  • Richards, W., Ratnayake, D., Coll, A.-M., Filipponi, T., & Ameen, J. (2025). The elephant in the room: addressing systemic inequalities in dental healthcare. British Dental Journal, 239(4), 245–248.
  • Ratnayake, D.R.D.L., & Ekanayake, L. (2025). Design of a salutogenic mHealth intervention to promote oral health among 15-year-old adolescents in Kandy District: A qualitative study. Sri Lanka Dental Journal, 55(1), 13–21.
  • Ratnayake, D.R.D.L., Richards, W., Wilson, M., De Silva, D., & Coll, A.M. (2025). “Designed to Smile” in Wales and its implications to improve oral health care of children in Sri Lanka: A desk review. Ceylon Journal of Science, 54(2), 539–551.
  • Ratnayake, D., Usoof, R.S.A., & Ekanayake, L. (2023). Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of a Sinhalese version of the Sense of Coherence 13-item scale among adolescents in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Journal of Science, 52(4), 485–493.