Written by Dental Assistant, Molly McKenzie.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve been working alongside our Dental Lead, Trish, in Warburton - a remote community in Western Australia’s Ngaanyatjarra Lands.
All up, we managed to see around 50 patients, including people who travelled in from surrounding communities like Patjarr, Wanarn, Warakurna, Blackstone and Wingellina.
To give you an idea of the distances involved, Wingellina is about five hours’ drive from Warburton on a good day. Now imagine making that journey with a raging toothache that’s been giving you grief for weeks. That’s the reality for many of the patients we saw.
Most of the people we treated were in the 20 to 60 age range. We did see a few kids, but it can be tough. Getting children into the chair relies heavily on parents or caregivers being able to bring them in. Even then, there’s often fear involved.
Many of our patients have been living with significant dental pain for a long time.
Between the high number of people needing complex treatment, the huge distances they travel, and factors like dental anxiety (needle phobia is very common), we’re often limited in how much we can do in a single visit.
Each community is given a nominated day by Ngaanyatjarra Health Service (NG Health) to travel in and see us. For example, the Blackstone mob travel around 3.5 hours to get to Warburton. They might arrive around midday with four to six patients needing urgent care and a long road home before dark. We always try to make the experience as positive as possible, but when you’re doing as many extractions as we are, that’s easier said than done.
We were lucky to arrange for some aged care patients to attend with the help of NG Health carers. One moment that really stuck with me was when a grandson came to visit his grandmother after hearing she was in town. I’m not sure how long it had been, but judging by her reaction, it had been quite a while. It was a beautiful, emotional moment and a reminder of the human connections this work supports.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to provide dental care to these remote communities.
The rate of oral disease out here is disproportionately high and access to dental services is limited. But despite everything, we’re always welcomed warmly. Community members recognise us by the colours of our RFDS shirts, and we try to engage as much as we can. Building trust is everything. The more trust there is, the busier we get.
A day in the life in Warburton? No need for an alarm clock. The peacocks at the roadhouse will wake you up soon enough. From there, it’s off to the clinic to see what the day brings. If you’re lucky, you finish just in time to catch one of those incredible desert sunsets and maybe even spot a few wild camels on the way.
I moved to Australia from the UK just over two years ago. I started in Perth, then spent much of my first year working in remote Northern Territory. That’s when I discovered the RFDS WA and the world of remote dentistry.
Honestly, I didn’t fully appreciate the work of the RFDS until I became part of it. The sheer size of WA is almost impossible to wrap your head around, especially coming from the UK, but I’m slowly getting used to it!
Working for the RFDS means making meaningful, tangible change. It means being part of something that helps people who would otherwise go without.
4 to 10 August is Dental Health Week – a week to recognise the impact dental health has on our lives.
