Healing Smiles New Clinic

Healing Smiles has opened their first clinic dedicated to expanding access to life changing dental care for survivors of Family and Domestic Violence – leading the way for the passionate team of volunteers to increase the volume of services provided. Dr Jacinta Vu, former Clinical Coordinator and Chair of the Healing Smiles Board, shares this exciting next chapter.

The Healing Smiles team is prominent in the dental community for their compassion and dedication to helping women survivors of family and domestic violence – in the six short years since its inception, the team has provided over $500,000 worth of pro bono dental treatment to more than 501 patients, referred from over 60 community services organisations.

Now, in an exciting new development over two years in the making, the team has their own dedicated clinic within a purpose-built healing and recovery centre at
the Ruah Centre for Women and Children, in Northbridge.

Jacinta says the partnership with Ruah was “meant to be”.

“We received a grant from the Department of Communities in November 2021, specifically to build a dedicated clinic for Healing Smiles. The search for a location
then started, but we hadn’t yet found somewhere suitable for the particular needs of a clinic treating survivors of family and domestic violence. Around the same time, I noticed news stories about the proposed Ruah Centre for Women and Children. In fact, I saw a LinkedIn post by a friend from high school about the project, so I messaged her for information, or connections. To my delight, she was on the Ruah Board and knew the project inside out. When she heard about Healing Smiles’ plans, she put me in touch with the Ruah team, who explained the concept of the building and services that Ruah planned to deliver at the Centre for Women and Children. I could see very clearly where Healing Smiles could fit in. At the same time, Ruah had wanted to provide a dental service to their clients in the building but hadn’t yet explored this. When I explained how Healing Smiles works, we knew that we were on the same page – helping women survivors of FDV recover, heal and thrive.”

“The Centre for Women and Children is the perfect place for us to create a central and purposeful location of service delivery. Ruah has been very intentional in its design and planning process – both of the physical layout of the building, and the wide array of supporting services to provide trauma-informed care and consideration for women and children who have survived horrific circumstances,” she adds. They consulted with women with lived experiences on every aspect of the facility and implemented numerous changes based on these invaluable recommendations. “The centre is the first in this space to offer a whole range of services such as legal support, financial counselling, medical services, psychology services, and, of course, dental care. It is so fantastic that we can help clients of the centre and can also refer our patients to services within the centre to assist their recovery.”

The new clinic is illuminated by natural light and wide windows. It features two chairs – and is staffed by a full-time clinical administrative assistant, who also provides dental chairside assistance. “We had an exceptional level support from Henry Schein Halas, and we have had a variety of equipment donated,” Jacinta says. “A-dec also provided us with heavily discounted equipment and dental chairs, and UDPM did our fit out. It was such a mammoth and challenging project, and to have reached this point to be where we are now, is really exciting.

“I would like to thank the board members of Healing Smiles, who all put in countless hours of work to make this a reality,” Jacinta says. “We have a lot of skills and diversity in our board including a lawyer, a charted accountant, a business strategist, and a researcher as well as our experienced clinical team.

With the new clinic now established, the Healing Smiles team is looking for more female dental volunteers to help treat patients, who are only referred by a case worker or partner organisation.

“We are looking for our current volunteers or new volunteers who would like to come in and do a regular session at the new clinic,” Jacinta says. “Volunteering even once a month for half a day would be a great starting point for us to get through our long waiting list of patients.

“Our volunteer dentists who prefer to work in their own clinics will continue to do so, and we will maintain clinical sessions at OHCWA as well.

“To have been able to witness our vision of a dedicated clinic come to fruition during my time as Clinical Coordinator and Chair of Healing Smiles over the last 4.5 years is more than a dream come true. I am so pleased to handover to Dr Lida Sayadelmi as the incoming Clinical Coordinator and Chair of the Board. Her dedication, positive attitude and determination are second to none, and I cannot wait to see where she leads Healing Smiles next.”

To someone considering volunteering with Healing Smiles, Jacinta says it is a very rewarding experience. “Dentists restore teeth every day, but the sense of ‘healing a smile’ is really uplifting. Many of our patients are so fearful of going to the dentist, worried about being judged and feel so ashamed about the state of their teeth. With FDV and coercive control, these circumstances have often not been of their making. To see how much empowerment you can give someone by being able to consistently listen without judgement, be compassionate, and empathetic with the struggles they’ve experienced goes far beyond providing a nice looking smile through technical expertise,” she says. “We have had patients write to us after their dental care has been completed, saying how positive, and sometimes life-changing their experience with Healing Smiles had been. Having a dentist who is non-judgemental, kind and gentle during their dental appointments makes them feel seen and heard. So many of the patients have described how it made them feel valued and gave them the confidence to care for other aspects of their life as well.”Jacinta, who was recently named the Australian of the Year 2025 Local Hero for Western Australia, continues as a Director of Healing Smiles. “In 2025 my focus will be on furthering partnerships in the FDV space, as well as raising awareness. Our priority is to fundraise via grants and private donations to enable Healing Smiles to keep running and reach us to even more women escaping FDV in 2025 and beyond.” She asks members of the dental community to keep an eye on their social media channels about fundraising activities, make introductions for Healing Smiles to potential sources of funding, or consider personally donating directly (which is tax deductible) via the website, healingsmiles.com.au/donate

To enquire about volunteering with Healing Smiles, please email: admin@healingsmiles.org.au

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