focusinterview. Dentists: Dr Mark Braithwaite, (BDS), Dr Annika Braithwaite (BDSc); Oral Health Therapist: Megan Gollan (BOH and Grad Dip DT); Practice Manager: Karen Holborow; Dental Assistants: Candice Balaam, Heidi Lewis, Misti Roy.
Braithwaite’s Family D E N TA L
Braithwaite’s Family Dental celebrates 100 years in business in 2018! It’s a business that’s not only stood the test of time, but moved with the times, incorporating new technology, training and ideas.
H
ow did your business begin? Dr Brian Braithwaite came to Taree in 1962 and took over the dental practice at 41 Manning Street, formerly run since 1918 by Dr George Ruprecht. Dr Brian’s wife, June, was the practice manager. In 1988, their son Mark returned to Taree and joined the practice. In 2003, it became evident the old Edwardian shopfront was too small, and with regret Mark relocated to the renovated 92 Albert Street. While Dr Brian has been retired for some years, Mark’s daughter Annika joined us as a dentist in 2018. During her studies Annika spent her holidays assisting at the practice, so she has a great understanding of the business and the community. What services does your business provide? We are a family dental practice. Annika and Megan are both wonderful with their child patients. Megan offers comprehensive scaling and hygiene care. The operating microscope in Mark’s treatment room is used for fine detail, such as root canal therapy. With his keen interest in endodontics, Mark is a member of the Australian Society of Endodontology and frequently attends meetings. He also pursues an interest in implant restorations. To what do you believe the business owes its longevity? We are a family business and strongly involved in our community. We focus on evidence based quality care to meet the needs of patients. We involve our patients in their treatment choices and dental care. We really enjoy seeing our patients return in the following years and seeing that they
48 Manning-Great Lakes focus
have taken notice of our preventive suggestions. It is a real pleasure to see that a repaired dentition is now stable, functional, attractive, and our patient is proud of the effort they are making to look after their mouth. Three generations speaks to our patients in terms of longevity of our service. Annika is looking forward to seeing her paediatric patients grow with the practice. She’s particularly enjoying continuing treatment of our long-standing clients, who used to see Dr Brian! What have been some significant changes to dental practice and technology you’ve observed over the years? Dentistry has certainly changed. The profession has adopted many business management ideals and now is thankfully more responsive to the needs of our clients and involves them more in their oral care. Awareness of healthy eating and oral hygiene, and fluoride and remineralisation therapies have been tipping the balance away from dental decay. And we like technology: we carefully evaluate evolving fields such as tooth coloured restorations and computer milled ceramics, to ensure that we provide long lasting work. Dental implants have opened up a whole range of exciting possibilities for us. The Child Dental Benefits Scheme has also been a great success: now we can provide bulk billed care for eligible children who would otherwise miss treatment. Who is currently on your staff? Karen is our practice manager, who has an amazing awareness of scheduling and appointment requirements. Commencing as a dental assistant in 1994, she became our manager in
2005 and is a great comfort to patients who have been attending our practice for years. Megan is our oral health therapist. She is qualified in dental hygiene (preventive care, hygiene, scaling for all ages) as well as dental therapy (more complex care, including restorations and extractions for patients up to 18 years). Megan commenced her dental career at our practice as a dental assistant in 2004. Megan then decided she wanted to go further and was accepted into the BOH degree and dental therapy diploma. Candice is our youngest dental assistant. You will regularly see her either in reception or inspecting the practice for cleanliness, as she is our environmental cleaning officer. Heidi is our dental assistant and infection control officer. She oversees the sterilisation room and regularly reviews the sterilisation processes. Misti joined us after a career as a dental assistant with NSW Health. Ongoing education and training must be important in such a well-established business. What dental associations is the business involved with, and what training have staff completed recently? Mark is the current President for the ADA NSW North East Division and Annika is the Secretary. This means they gain insight in to important issues in providing dental services to the community and actively plan content and lecturers for continuing education courses. They are looking forward to some exciting speakers booked for the division this year, as well as the Trans-Tasman Endodontic Conference and the NSW ADA Conference. With Megan they will also be attending the Swiss Dental Academy. Mark has also enjoyed his time as a clinical
tutor at Charles Sturt University. His regular trips to supervise dental students were a great opportunity to compare current concepts with university staff. Megan was invited to be an educator at the University of Newcastle. For two days a week, she guides budding oral health therapists through their degree, and is at the forefront of current teachings. Megan was previously the Assistant Secretary of the Australian Dental and Oral Health Therapist Association, NSW. We recently completed our periodical National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards reaccreditation. Our practice reviews its policies to meet the highest standards, providing quality assurance for our patients. Brian, Mark and Annika - what are your other interests? Brian has raised many Hereford cattle. What time he has left after Rotary commitments, he spends building scale steam locomotives and preserving historic MGs. Mark grew up sailing on the Manning and still competes on catamarans. He’s a cyclist, is heavily involved with Taree Film Society, and is a Grand Designs tragic who loves 20th Century architecture and design. Annika has played netball since age six and now enjoys giving back to the sport through coaching. She enjoys walking her dogs and social tennis comp. More info? Are you accepting new patients? Website: www.braithwaitedental.com.au or Braithwaite’s Family Dental on Facebook. Alternatively, please phone us! We most certainly are accepting new patients. Call 6552 1172 or book online via the website! Thanks everyone.