5 minute read
In Memoriam
In memory of
Dr Julian O’Brien
In this edition of the Western Articulator, we pay tribute to Dr Julian O’Brien.
Julian was born in Victoria and moved to WA to enlist in the dental school and fulfil his long-held ambition to be a dentist. From his early childhood, Julian had expressed an interest to become a dentist. It was revealed in his eulogy that when he was three or four years' old, his father found him with an old-fashioned brace and bit, drilling into a brick. When his father said: ‘What are you doing with that?’ Julian answered, ‘I want to be a dentist!’ It was at dental school that Julian met and became close friends with Dr Chris Barker. Chris recalls there were over 100 students enrolled and only 26 places in second year. “It was tremendously competitive, and we were both very pleased that we got through the rest of the course.” Chris says Julian’s talent as a dentist was clear early on. “He was extremely dextrous and very talented intellectually and at the practical side of things,” Chris says. “He was never happy unless he could really investigate something thoroughly.” Dr Richard Williams recalls meeting Julian within a few days of arriving in Australia, back in early 1992. “I was looking for a job in dentistry, having qualified in the UK,” Richard recalls. “There were very few jobs at that time, and I went through the Yellow Pages and was cold calling dental practices and there happened to be a job at his practice (Aardent Dental Centre in Victoria Park).” Initially, Richard worked with Julian as an associate self-employed dentist, and later became Julian’s business partner, working together for over 25 years. Richard says Julian was an amazing practitioner. “When I first met Julian, I was totally blown away by his ability,” he recalls. “His level of skill and his dedication to dentistry was awe inspiring to me as a young dentist and totally formative for me. I was very much the beneficiary of his great knowledge and expertise which led me down the right path. “Julian was awesome. He was driven by his own will to do the very best that he could do. He also was someone who would think outside of the square. An amazing practitioner and person generally.” Chris says Julian was adept at inserting implants and he would often refer his patients to Julian. “I also felt very comfortable as a patient of his,” Chris says. Richard adds Julian’s patients were very loyal. “I am still principal dentist at the practice and I’m often chatting to patients who speak very fondly of years gone by and talk about some of Julian’s funny ways.
“Patients are always reflecting on the great work he did. He was very good at putting people at ease, very calm and humorous with it. He was a very warm character and a very popular dentist.” Richard says as well as a mentor, Julian was also a great mate. “Even after he retired, he lived next door to the practice and I would go over for a coffee and a chat. He was very forward thinking and always contemplating novel solutions to problems. He was a very good and guiding influence in things outside of dentistry as well. “He was a great emailer – that will bring a wry smile to many a person’s face. He was if anything sometimes a bit overactive with the emails,” he laughs. Away from dentistry, Julian was a keen diver and underwater photographer. He was also known for his woodworking talent. “Julian had a terrific workshop which was very
well equipped with woodworking tools and machinery,” Richard says. “Over the years we did some projects for the practice involving woodworking, which always took much longer than we thought it would take. But of course, it was more to do with the camaraderie than the project itself at the end of the day. I have some very fond memories of tinkering away in his workshop over the years.” When asked about Julian’s contribution to the profession, Richard says he stood up and led by example, as a dentist, a mentor and in his role as President of the Australasian Osseointegration Society (WA branch). “Julian promoted implant dentistry quite extensively,” he says. In the mid and late 1990s, Julian was a member of the ADAWA Schedule and Third-Party Committee and was an active member of the HBF Consultative Committee. Once HBF embarked upon the preferred provider scheme concept, the ADAWA no longer engaged with HBF in this manner. Julian was very vocal against HBF’s participating provider scheme. Terry Pitsikas chaired this committee and Julian accompanied Terry in a joint submission and interview with the Productivity Commission in December 2004. Terry recalls the opening statement from Julian that went: “I'm not versed in the grand national economics of dentistry, but I think what I would like to say is perhaps best summed up in a preamble in a book by Iain Bamforth called A Literary Anthology of Modern Medicine". He spoke about Chesterton, who was a mercurial journalist and a brilliant polemicist. He was writing when fascist Italy was recommending corporatism as a political philosophy. He then quoted Chesterton in his book, The Medical Mistake - What's Wrong with the World, in 1910: “Chesterton said, 'I maintain, therefore, that the common sociological method is quite useless. The only way to discuss social evil is to get at once to the social ideal. We can all see the national madness, but what is national sanity? I have called this book What's Wrong with the World and the upshot of the title can be clearly stated. What is wrong is that we do not ask what is right.'" Terry says as luck would have it, Commissioner Banks from the Productivity Committee, who chaired the meeting, was familiar with Chesterton’s writings and philosophies. From that moment on, they had a wonderful audience with the Commissioner. Julian's well-read, warm-hearted, quirky and slightly eccentric nature wil be remembered by all of those who knew him. Dr Julian O’Brien passed away, aged 72 years, in July. He was an ADAWA member for over 45 years. Our sympathies to his family, friends and loved ones.
