Filling the script

Dr Alex Park is currently a Senior Lecturer in General Dental Practice/ Pharmacology at UWA Dental School. He has a unique perspective to offer students – having qualifications in both Dentistry and Pharmacy. Back in 2007, Alex began a Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of Otago, before graduating in 2010. “I was an intern pharmacist in 2011 and became a registered pharmacist at the end of that year,” he recalls. “I moved to country Victoria in 2012 and worked for about a year in a regional community. “When I started working as a pharmacist I enjoyed the clinical side of it, but I felt I could do more,” he says.

A new direction

Looking for the right fit, Alex did a training in Dental Assisting and Pathology Specimen Collection and realised that Dentistry was where he wanted to be, so enrolled into the Doctor of Dental Medicine course at UWA. He also realised there was an opportunity for research in Dentistry, which he was passionate about, so with the support of Winthrop Professor Mark Tennant AM, Associate Professor Estie Kruger, Professor Robert Anthonappa and Dr Michelle Huang, Alex simultaneously did two research projects in 2016, and has now published numerous research articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is also an editorial board member for BMC Oral Health and an associate editor of the International Journal of Pharmacy Practice. “During my undergrad as a pharmacist, it sounded like publishing was an impossible task, so I was excited to have that opportunity through Dentistry,” he recalls. “I think my involvement in research was why I got into the General Dental Officer year. During Dental School I also completed my professional honours in clinical pharmacy at the University of Tasmania.”

A passion for teaching

Alex was starting work on his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy in Dental Public Health) when COVID hit, so he decided he would also take on a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education at the University of Otago to see if teaching would be a good path for him. He then started as a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at the Dental School, as well as the Optometry School. “Professor Ngo then approached me and said they needed someone to teach General Dental Practice, so in 2022 I was a first-year coordinator for the Doctor of Dental Medicine program, teaching basic operative dentistry,” he recalls.

Teaching during COVID restrictions was challenging, but Alex says it led to a strong connection with his students.

As well as teaching, Alex found the opportunity to give back by cohosting the Year 9/10 Djinanginy school excursion program, hosted by UWA (which allows Indigenous students the opportunity to understand what university is like).

“I have been co-hosting the program since 2016 and it is great to be able to inspire and motivate the students with the idea of dentistry. I think it has also been a good experience because it helps me realise, I don’t have to always do extreme volunteering to know that I am contributing.”

Therapeutics Committee

In November 2022, Alex was appointed to the Therapeutics Committee as a two-year Federal appointment. “Dr Amit Gurbuxani encouraged me to pursue it, and he helped me realise my potential,” he says. “I wanted to be able to find ways to communicate therapeutic dental therapy and related concepts to the wider dental community. I have almost 12 years’ experience in health and dental combined so it was good for me to show that I can provide some investigative knowledge on dental therapeutics. If there are any therapeutic goods administrative issues in terms of drug shortages, or if there are any new policies when it comes to drug related issues, I can tell people about those issues, changes and polices,” Alex explains. “I am happy to contribute, and I like to think I have some niche skills that I am fortunate to be able to share.” He adds members from the dental community are welcome to contact him for a casual chat about drugrelated queries. “I’m not ADA Pharma Advice, but if they wanted to have a chat about the ways to find resources and how to look up information or upskill, I can point them in the right direction,” he says.

The future

Alex is heading to Scotland in June – looking at drug-related adverse effects in older patients.

He is also looking forward to doing more research and applying his knowledge he gained from the doctoral thesis he recently submitted.

Spreading the oral health message

Our dentists help spread the word about the importance of oral health on World Oral Health Day at a wonderful community event in Mirrabooka.

We were thrilled to collaborate with Dental Health Services, Aboriginal Health, Town Teams Mirrabooka and the City of Stirling to host a World Oral Health Day Smile Session at Mirrabooka Town Square on World Oral Health Day, March 20.

Dr Sahara Saeedi, chair Oral Health Education Committee says the collaboration of the groups was formed at an ADAWA Council meeting following a request from councillor Dr Peter Duke.

“I’m a member of a community activation hub in Mirrabooka called Town Teams – myMirrabooka,” Peter says. “The group was hosting Harmony Week events, including a community BBQ and picnic, and I was asked if (my practice) would host an oral health event. We decided Monday would be a good choice as it coincided with World Oral Health Day.”

Peter accepted the personal invitation as a member of Town Teams, but when another person on the committee (who happens to be the health promotion officer for North Metro Health) suggested fellow ADAWA Councillor and A/Director of Aboriginal Health, Dr Trish Elder should also be approached,

Peter realised the value the ADAWA Oral Health Education Committee would bring in raising the success and impact of the event.

After discussions at an ADAWA Council meeting about the event, Dr Gino Cirrilo volunteered that Dental Health Services should join as well, which led to a wonderful collaboration between the three stakeholders – working together to create more impact and connect with more members of the local community to spread the message about the importance of oral health.

ADAWA donated more than 400 oral health packs to give out to members of the public, and the stand was also equipped with informative brochures and literature. Sensodyne also supplied denture boxes and denture cleaning agents.

Being Harmony Week, there was also an important focus on Indigenous oral health. “Trish engaged so well with the aboriginal community; she was bringing people over to the stand and did an amazing job,” Peter says.

“It was a very successful event from a community and dental health promotion aspect,” Sahara adds.

The Oral Health Education Committee hopes this event will be the start of many more collaborative oral health events, and Sahara adds ADAWA is happy to support members if they would like to do other community outreach events. Thank you to our Councillors, Drs Peter Duke, Sahara Saeedi, Trish Elder and Gino Cirrilo and the ADAWA Oral Health Education Committee for their efforts to make this event such a success.

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Visit hif.com.au/adawa and use the access code ADAWA Alternatively call HIF on 1300 13 40 60 or email sales@hif.com.au

Thank you, Dr Martin Glick

After more than a decade as the Dental Health Services Representative on ADAWA Council, Dr Martin Glick has retired. We caught up with him about his time on Council and his future plans.

Why did you initially decide to join ADAWA Council 13 years ago as the DHS representative?

It was a combination of two things; one being that at the time the Director of Dental Health Services (DHS) was an ex officio member of the ADAWA Council and that arrangement had been in place for many years. Secondly, it was a great opportunity to continue on the good work that previous DHS Directors had done in forming very collegial relationships with ADAWA members, Council and Executive to progress the advancement of dentistry in WA, in the many forms that this takes.

What have been some of the highlights during particular time as they did change often. In a general sense, other highlights were the ongoing work done by ADAWA Council and Executive in dealing with other issues that arose either on a State or National level.

What are your hopes for the DHS and ADAWA relationship going forward?

That the current excellent working relationship that exists continues and any expertise DHS has can be shared with ADAWA to improve how the business operates for the benefit of all the members.

What consultancy work will you be continuing?

At the moment I have just finished having two months' holiday and am now back at DHS doing some project work. My previous managerial role has been filled and Catherine Alford is now the Manager Central Clinical and Support Services.

What are your plans for retirement?

These include travelling to Melbourne (often) to see our granddaughter, doing some walking on the Bibbulmun Track, riding on the Munda Biddi Trail, woodworking, learning to play the drums (I hope the drum teacher has a lot of patience as I have no sense of beat or rhythm), going to the gym to keep fit, gardening, overseas travel, starting up meditation on a more regular basis, doing some volunteering and learning some simple magic tricks to impress my granddaughter. I think that should keep me pretty busy once I stop work completely. Do you have a message you would like to leave for ADAWA members?

COVID rules were at any

I have a number of things that are on my list to start.

I would urge all dentists to become a member of the ADAWA so that the ADAWA is the true voice of dentistry in WA and speaks for all dentists. With a large membership base there is the opportunity for ADAWA to provide suppo rt to all members, in whatever way that is, so that each member recognises the value that belonging to ADAWA encompasses.

Not long after starting work in private practice, Dr Stephanie Tan says she felt there was something lacking. “I needed something else to enrich my day-to-day,” she recalls. “I figured that since I had a passion for community service, and I also had skills as a dentist that I might as well put the two together and offer my time and skills to an area of need. It was around this time that I also started encountering patients who were victims of domestic violence in my day-to-day work. Moved by their stories, I wanted to be able to help in a tangible way. Shortly after that, I saw a social media post about Healing Smiles and knew that it was the perfect opportunity.”

Stephanie currently volunteers with Healing Smiles once a month, however this can change depending on what’s needed for each patient. “I split my time between volunteering for Healing Smiles and for St Pat’s, such that I volunteer my time to one organisation or another once a fortnight at least,” she adds. For Healing Smiles cases, Stephanie says she usually performs the basic scope of general dentistry, which includes root canals and dentures, in addition to the usual fillings and cleans. “A great aspect of the program is that there are wonderful specialists who volunteer their time to whom we can refer,” she adds. “If ever there’s anything out of my scope or anything I’m not so sure about there’s a whole host of people who can help.”

Stephanie shares that volunteering has been a greatly rewarding experience. “A lot of the feedback I receive has been centred around their being appreciative of the patience and empathy I have for them during appointments, as many of them are dental phobic or have anxiety disorder in general,” Stephanie says. “It’s always been a joy to be able to create an environment where my patients feel comfortable enough to share their stories, and in many cases, overcome great personal anxiety in order to sit in the dental chair.”

“A recent standout moment would have to have been getting to see one of my Healing Smiles patients with her full upper and lower dentures,” she adds. “It had been such a long time coming, and she had been through so much both in life and in the dental chair, so it was amazing to be able to give her back her smile again.”

As a new practitioner, Stephanie is no stranger to the stresses of accomodating to a new environment, however she finds that Healing Smiles consistently creates a welcoming and safe environment for anyone who wants to join.

“The volunteering experience was really great! This is very much a credit to Sandra Wood (who is the Volunteerism Coordinator for Healing Smiles), who really has been the reason why I’ve been able to volunteer at all.”

“She’s always been accommodative to the times and availabilities I’ve put forward and always checks that I’m not overloaded. She has made Healing Smiles such a wonderful environment for the dentists to volunteer their time.”

To other dentists thinking about volunteering, Stephanie says to give it a try. “I’ve loved it since starting, and through the program I’ve gotten to meet so many wonderful people –colleagues and patients alike. It’s a fantastic opportunity and I really encourage other new grads in getting involved.”