Hosted by UWA Dental School and OHCWA, 15 volunteer dentists (including 8 new graduates) and 12 volunteer assistants gave up their time to provide pro bono care to clients referred to the Australian Dental Health Foundation from Salvation Army, St Bart’s, Foundation Housing, Headspace, Centrecare, Women’s Health and Family Services, Uniting WA, Ruah, 360 Health + Community (Street Doctor), and Crossways.
Co-organiser Dr Tracey Gold was thrilled a Dental Rescue Day was able to be held after a Dental Rescue Day had been on-hold for some time due to COVID-19 restrictions and scheduling conflicts.
“There have been a lot of clients that have been desperate for dental treatment,” Tracey says. “People have been so busy in their practices and it was difficult to find the right time and venue to hold a Dental Rescue Day. Luckily, OHCWA was kind enough to donate the use of their Dental Student Clinic between student times, so we were finally able to find a window of time that meant we could hold the Rescue Day.
“It was the first time a Dental Rescue Day had been held in the Dental Student Clinic with UWA, with the approval of clinical operations manager, Michelle Huang,” Tracey adds. “The clinic is massive, with about 50 chairs, so we could go larger scale next time but we wanted to ensure that this Rescue Day ran smoothly.”
As well as a number of experienced dentists who regularly volunteer, Tracey was thrilled that a number of new grads put up their hands to help on the day. “I thought it was incredible that a number of new grads volunteered,” Tracey says. “It was very brave of them, because a lot of them had not even started working yet after graduating and they were working alongside some volunteer dentists who had been their tutors.”
For Tracey, this enthusiasm from new grads was a highlight of the Rescue Day. “I think it is encouraging for the profession that there is so much enthusiasm amongst the new people coming through for volunteering,” she explains. “In the past we have always had the more experienced practitioners giving back. How good is it going forward that we have these new dentists that haven’t even started working yet and they are already volunteering?
“There seems to be a culture in this group coming through that they are so interested in volunteering and helping out where they can,” Tracey adds. “We had a great turn out of new grads, and there was a number of others that were very interested as well but they were in their first week of work and couldn’t take a day off that soon.
“Often new grads think they need to get more experience first before volunteering, so it was great to see how comfortable these new dentists were and that they realised how important it was and what difference they could make. I think this is very positive for our profession.”
As always, it was a rewarding experience for all the volunteers involved. “The volunteers feel like they are part of something, and the patients are so thankful,” Tracey says. “I had feedback from new grads saying, ‘keep my name on file and let me know when it is happening again’, which is wonderful. We also had a number of current dental students who volunteered as assistants, and they also said they learned so much just by watching things they would not normally see.
”Tracey says the Dental Rescue Day could not have gone ahead without the generosity of OHCWA donating the use of their clinic, materials and equipment, the support of Daniel Hopkins and OHCWA staff and ADHF’s Andrea Paterson. She hopes the Dental Rescue Days can be held twice a year, fitting in with student breaks at UWA.
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