Kimberley Dental Team

Our students give back with the Kimberley Dental Team

At ADAWA, we encourage and celebrate the volunteering efforts of our members. Via ADAWA grants, we were pleased to assist some of our student members give back and have the experience of a lifetime on a Kimberley Dental Team trip.

Brigitte O’Brien

ADAWA GRANT RECIPIENT

Brigitte says going on the Kimberley Dental Team trip this year was an incredible experience. “I am so thankful to the KDT and ADAWA for selecting me to go,” she says. “The trip taught me so much and was eyeopening in more ways than one! “Practising in remote areas where often there isn’t an opportunity for people to attend the dentist easily really showed me the power of dentistry and the importance of good dental health,” she says. “Access to services is so variable because of the spread and distribution of people within this country, meaning remote areas like the Kimberley often have people we met on our trip were so beautiful, kind and welcoming of us. The first day we went to a new location, people were slow to start arriving at the clinic, especially in Halls Creek. However, come the second day when word had got around what we were doing, we couldn’t get out of the clinic at the end of the day as it was so busy.” Brigitte says the highlight of her trip was working alongside the wonderful team. “Along with this, practising in the Purnululu National Park community was a dental highlight for me,” she adds. “This place, as well as being an Instagram-worthy tourist attraction

I feel extremely fortunate that I had the opportunity both here and elsewhere to be able to go into places that don’t exist on the map, meet the locals and make a difference

limited access to all services, especially health care. Many of the people in remote communities have to drive for multiple hours to get emergency care of any kind, so to be able to practise dentistry in their town or community makes it so much easier for people to get the dental care they need. Since the KDT wasn’t able to do the trips last year because of COVID-19, the last dental care some people had was in 2019, which made the work we were doing even more important. “Doing extractions without x-rays and having to use small movable units to power handpieces added challenging elements to the care we were able to provide, and I will never look at outdoor deck chairs the same way after they were converted to makeshift dental chairs when fully reclined,” she adds. “The for its beautiful natural rock formations, is home to an Indigenous community, and I feel extremely fortunate that I had the opportunity both here and elsewhere to be able to go into places that don’t exist on the map, meet the locals and make a difference.” Brigitte says she would 100% recommend any dental students apply for the Kimberley Dental Team trips. “Going on the KDT has been the best experience of Dental School for sure,” she says. “The days are long, you spend a lot of time outside in the heat, and it’s definitely not a holiday, but the experience of practising dentistry in remote Australia was absolutely awesome and I got to do it with some amazing people.”

“As we complete our 12th year of KDT, we continue strong professional relationships with ADAWA, the Office of the Chief Dental Officer, Dental Health Services, the International College of Dentists (ICD), Academy of Dentists International (ADI), SDI Limited and OHCWA. Kimberley every year. We now have had 38 final-year dental students join our Kimberley teams since 2010. “All four students were excellent, engaged well with community, listened and worked closely with our experienced volunteer mentors on the team, all of which are ADAWA members.

“This year, ADAWA provided three awards to assist three of our four final year students, with Richard Tien, Brigitte O’Brien and Xie Jie Tan joining us in 2021. Alice Gregory was the recipient of the John Prichard Memorial Travel Scholarship, which is a generous prize that supports a student in the

“Our Kimberley communities were busy, and they all provided some great clinical outcomes including complex restorative, difficult extractions and seeing some good bush prosthodontics. Thank you to our five great Teams of 2021” Jan and John Owen

Xie Jie Tan

ADAWA GRANT RECIPIENT

Xie Jie says volunteering with the Kimberley Dental Team has easily been the highlight of her Dental School experience. “Working with the amazing team to provide care in East Kimberley communities solidified my passion for rural dentistry,” she explains. “The opportunity to work in a remote setting and learn from such experienced practitioners against the backdrop of the beautiful Kimberley landscape was one of a kind.” She says she would highly encourage any student thinking of joining the Kimberley Dental Team on their future trips to apply. “Thank you to ADAWA for their generous grant and awarding me this incredible experience,” she adds.

Richard Tien

ADAWA GRANT RECIPIENT

“Volunteering with the Kimberley Dental Team was a fantastic experience that allowed me the opportunity to experience and confront disparities in oral health in rural and remote Australia face-to-face,” Richard says. “It’s one thing to learn about oralhealth disparity and barriers to care in the classroom, but certainly an entirely different and eye-opening experience to get to live, work, and travel in the communities. “At the same time, it’s heart-warming to see the relationships and brilliant impact that the KDT has made in the communities over their many years of operation,” he adds. “Overall, volunteering with the KDT was a highly rewarding and unforgettable experience.” Richard says he wholeheartedly encourages any student to apply to volunteer with the Kimberley Dental Team for a highly rewarding and enjoyable experience. “I would love to thank the ADAWA for their generous support to allow students to participate in this excellent opportunity,” he adds.

Alice Gregory

JOHN PRICHARD MEMORIAL TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP

Alice says during the trip they travelled over 800km across the Kimberley region, setting up treatment areas in schools, as well as community centres, in remote Indigenous communities. “Treatment ranged from examinations and cleans, to fissure sealants, restorations and extractions,” she explains. “Each day also had a strong focus on delivering important oral health messages to the community. It was eye-opening to see the burden of disease in these regions, but positive to see the impact that the KDT has had during their visits over the years. Being part of the team was an amazing experience, assisting in delivering much needed oral health care to such disadvantaged areas.” Alice says volunteering with the Kimberley Dental Team has been one of the highlights of her time in Dental School. “I could not recommend it more to students considering applying for future trips,” she says. “I am so appreciative to the John Prichard Trust for their support that allowed me to attend the trip,” Alice adds. “I am also very grateful to Jan and John Owen, and all of the hard-working volunteers at the KDT, whose hard work and commitment have kept the organisation going over the years.”