CPD Spotlight

Meet

Dr Leon Smith

We caught up with oral and maxillofacial surgeon and CPD favourite, Dr Leon Smith.

After completing his dental studies in 2001, Leon worked in Katanning and Perth before an opportunity arose to head north. “One of my friends, who was also a dentist, moved to Darwin and I decided to go with him as a bit of an adventure,” Leon recalls. “In Darwin, I began to do surgery,” he adds. “I met a surgeon from Adelaide who was very kind to let me be involved in surgery and he encouraged me to go on and train as a maxillofacial surgeon.” The following year, after finishing his primary exams, Leon moved to Melbourne to complete his medical degree, returning to Darwin for his internship. After Leon and his wife had their third baby, they decided to move back to Perth, but Leon continues his working relationship with Darwin, heading up north to work three days a month. “This has been a long-term commitment for me because Darwin was pretty integral in me getting into training. I have such a long history with Darwin as I have worked there as both a dentist and a doctor,” Leon explains. “I feel a bit obliged to provide a specialist surgical service in a place where they have limited access. “I grew up regionally, where we certainly didn’t have access to maxillofacial surgeons, so as a specialist, I still feel that I have a role in that community. Certainly, if I didn’t make that move to Darwin, I don’t think I would have progressed to a specialist. It was an integral move for me.” Back in Perth, Leon is kept busy, juggling commitments including his private practice, work at Royal Perth Hospital and lecturing. “What I have tried to do over the last two years is to rationalise some of my commitments,” Leon says. “It’s very hard, especially when you start out as a specialist, to decide where you are best focusing your time. These days, I try to do what I think is important and work where I am needed.” A favourite in CPD circles, Leon used to be wary of public speaking but quite enjoys it now. “It’s a bit of a break in the normal routine, and it also gives the opportunity to refresh your own knowledge,” he says. “It keeps you contemporary with what you are doing and gives you the ability to share the experience that you have accumulated with people who are really eager to learn.”

5 MINUTES WITH

Dr Leon Smith

If you weren’t an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, what would you be doing for a living?

I would be a tradesman. I applied for dentistry in my second year of university and didn’t expect to get in. That summer, I started my pathway on an electrical apprenticeship.

What is your favourite book or band/musician?

Book – I like sci fi books. I made a point a few years ago to get my way through sci fi classics. I have just read Ender’s Game. Music – I have a diverse appreciation of music so I will listen to absolutely everything. A lot of surgeons will have their requirements for playlists in theatre, but I am happy to listen to whatever music is going.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

At the moment, everything is focused on my kids and their sport. I like watching them play and supporting them. I would like to have more time to commit and help out with coaching but with my schedule and being on call and working away I cannot commit to every weekend. I get so much satisfaction watching my three boys grow and interact in their teams and their individual pursuits. Last weekend I spent 16 hours watching the state swimming championships for my nine-year-old, who swam six events. It was 16 hours sitting there to watch him perform for all of five minutes, but it was worth it.

Is there anything people might be surprised to learn about you?

I ride off-road motorcycles. I do long distance, endurance desert races, so often 400-500km races in very remote areas near Alice Springs. I have always ridden motorbikes, but it’s something in the last 2-3 years that has become a big focus of my life. The last 18 months there has been a lot of dedication and training for me to get one of my bucket list things ticked off by doing the Finke Desert Race. That was a big event for me in terms of training and injuries and overcoming the hardship of what is one of the toughest off-road races. Next year my goal is to cross the Simpson Desert twice in six days on a motorbike. WA Dental CPD’s Hands-on Extraction course is always popular. “I think extractions, despite being such a fundamental part of dentistry, are taught in varying degrees to people as they go through training,” Leon says. “Some people get very good experience, and some people get limited experience. It is quite a threatening environment to learn extractions on real patients, so I think people enjoy the fact that they can practise, they can ask questions, they can get advice off a group of surgeons who have done countless of extractions and have made mistakes and know how to correct them and know how to predict them. This gives them an opportunity to retouch and reskill in that area.” When it comes to his work, Leon says he enjoys problem solving and the more challenging cases. “From a collegiate point of view, I really like that part of being a specialist is you always get to work in teams, whether it’s with another specialist or general dentist,” he adds. “I like those interactions with my colleagues, and I really enjoy that team environment because it’s a two-way street; you always learn things from other people. “From a clinical perspective, you can do lots and lots of operations but the ones that really stand out are the operations that really have an impact on the patient’s quality of life,” he says. “They are the patients that I find the most rewarding. It can be something very simple or it can be very complex surgery, but if you improve the patient’s quality of life, you have done a good service and I enjoy that about my job.” What is on the horizon for Dr Leon Smith? “I am quite settled at the moment,” he says. “I am happy with my private practice, and certainly happy at Royal Perth Hospital. I really feel part of the team there. I think there will be little changes in career but in terms of future plans, I want to do more with my three boys and activities outside of work with them.”

LECT URE DIN NER

MRONJ Dinner

3

CPD

Thursday 24 March

Registration from 6.15pm Course 6.30pm to 9.30pm

University Club

Hackett Drive, Crawley

Three-course dinner

$198 inc gst

MEMBERS

COURSE OUTLINE

Every year, there are several cases of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ), in which complaints arise because of a failing in the informed consent process. The potential sequelae of this condition can be very serious, including fatality.

Have you ever wondered: could this medication cause MRONJ? When do I need to refer to an oral maxillofacial surgeon? What are the risks that I should warn the patient about? Should I recommend the patient stop their Prolia injections?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• A general discussion about MRONJ • The latest medications implicated in this condition • Informed consent and risk management • Appropriate referral and advances in MRONJ management

Participants of the course will be provided with an advance e-copy of an MRONJ clinical resource guide co-authored by the presenters.

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Dr Amanda Phoon Nguyen is a Perth oral medicine specialist, PhD candidate, adjunct senior lecturer at The University of Western Australia, and consultant at Perth Children’s Hospital. She is passionate about oral medicine, and her professional roles include co-chair of the Australasian Sleep Association Dental Sleep Medicine Council, on the Board of Studies in Oral Medicine, Editor and Examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons, Vice President of the Dental Specialists Society of WA, among others. Her other roles include Director of a not-for-profit foundation focused on cancer research, and with Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation. Dr Leon Smith is a dual-qualified specialist oral and maxillofacial surgeon. After completing BDSc at UWA he practiced general dentistry in WA and the VNT. Leon completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery at the UMelb. He completed his advanced surgical training at Royal Melbourne Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne. Leon is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons and is actively involved with training dentists and advanced surgical trainees at the UWA. Leon maintains his relationship with the NT, practising three days per month in a specialist oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic in Darwin. He is also a Specialist Consultant at Royal Perth Hospital.