Enriching the day-to-day

Dr Stephanie Tan has only been out of Dental School for a few years but has channelled her passion for community service and her skills as a dentist towards volunteering with Healing Smiles and at St Pat’s.

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.”

"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.”

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.”

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“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.”

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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.”

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