AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST 11 PORTABLE DENTISTRY Portable dentistry is both practical and in demand Meet Dr Mark Wotherspoon, an experienced promoter of portable and aged care dentistry, and creator of a hygienic dental appliance product range. Inspired by patients that could no longer visit his dental office due to frailty or illness, Dr Mark Wotherspoon started to provide portable dental care – offering treatment in the comfort of the patient’s home. Learn his full story. Why did you decide to study dentistry? I really wanted to be a professional golf player, but I found out quite early that I wasn’t a great golfer (laughs). As a teenager, I had a part-time job working in a bar collecting glasses and washing dishes. One of the barmen was studying dentistry, and when work was a bit slow he’d be studying and I’d look over his shoulder at these fascinating textbooks. And the rest is history. How was dentistry perceived back then? Was it seen as an important profession? Yes, a very important one. In fact, at the university I went to, dentistry students and medical students studied together in the first year. And although it’s already a very well-respected profession, we would certainly like people to better understand the connection between oral health and their general health. “We would like people to better understand the connection between oral health and their general health.” What were your first steps after graduating from dental school? I’d been living in a very happy home, but when I graduated from dental school all I wanted to do was move as far away as possible. I applied for a job as a government dentist in the very remote Kimberley region of Western Australia. I was based at a small hospital in Wyndham, but every 6-8 weeks we would charter a light aircraft, pack up our portable equipment and fly out to isolated indigenous communities to set up short-stay dental clinics. I enjoyed that time very much. I was only 22, my dental nurse was 16 and the pilot was 19 – you can imagine it was quite an adventure. What was the state of oral health within Aboriginal communities? It was quite good, more gum problems than decay-type problems. Most of the work I was doingwas extracting teeth. If somebody was in pain, they’d come in and I’d take the tooth out, there was no comprehensive dental treatment. Were there any important moments from those days that have had an impact on your whole career? It taught me that checklists and systems are very important. I had to be super organised. If you left something behind, you couldn’t just turn around and get it out of the cupboard. As I was the only dentist within 800km of these towns, I felt an enormous responsibility towards the people who were relying on me to look after them. It instilled in me a great sense of responsibility towards my patients and my small team. It also proved to me that a portable surgery was both practical and in demand. Your CV also includes a period of military service in the Army Dental Corps. What was your role in the army? Military service in Australia is not compulsory, you volunteer for it. I joined the Australian Regular Army as a Dental Officer. Although I was only there for a few years, it was a wonderful experience and it had a profound effect on me. I learned to work within a large organisation and I became fitter and stronger, which is very important in our profession to reduce back and neck problems. In the end, I was treating a lot of very fit, young, healthy people, and providing a lot more preventive services than restorative services. I did enjoy my time in the military because I went from working on my own in a very isolated place to working in a larger clinic with more experienced dentists, hygienists and nurses. I was like a sponge and picked up many tips and tricks. Nowadays you run a few professional activities simultaneously. How is your work week divided into the different activities now? I spend one day a week going out with my portable dental clinic, Dentist to your Door, going to aged care facilities and providing care for people in hospitals and in their homes. I still work as a general dentist three or four days a week, and I spend one or two hours a day working on my other business, the Dr Mark’s HyGenie range of products. I need to be kept busy and I enjoy a busy lifestyle. Tell us more about Dentist to your Door. When did you start this service and what was your motivation? There were two reasons. One was personal and the other one was professional. My mother had a lifetime of health problems and I realised how much work went into looking after somebody with health issues. Any sort of assistance that we can give to such families is invaluable. I saw the value in being able to go out and help. Froma professional point of view, some of my long-termpatients who would seeme INNOVATIONS Dr Mark Wotherspoon
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