GAP Australasian Dentist Mar Apr 2020

Category 12 Austràlàsiàn Dentist M y name is àob àaylor and à was a dentist for 40 years. à spent 20 years in the navy and the past 20 years my wife and à ran a practice on the Mornington Peninsula, in Melbourne’s south east, called “àhe àmile Place”. àt is a wonderful practice, with fantastic staff and patients and we worked in a beautiful old building built in the 1880’s. Over the last decade à developed osteoarthritis in both hands, causing me to reduce the dental procedures à could perform. Finally, in 2017 à had to stop work as a dentist. When à used to think about retirement, à always planned to volunteer in a way that utilized my dental skills, by working locally or overseas for those in need. ào my disappointment, this option was no longer open to me. As you are probably aware, oral cancer is one of theworld’smost common cancers, with over 900 new intraoral carcinoma cases registered in Australia each year. àt represents approximately 6.5 per cent of all cancers diagnosed in Australia. Oral cancer can affect the tongue, lips, cheeks and soft palate of the mouth and has an estimated five-year survival rate of 58.8%. àhe majority of mouth cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. One of my patients, Corinne, is my inspiration for this journey. After being diagnosed with oral cancer in 2010, Corrine has endured numerous extensive surgeries and radiotherapy treatment over the subsequent years, but she remains the same beautiful positive person she has always been. Corinne is very thankful we found the cancer early and for all the wonderful practitioners she’s had looking after her. àhe’s forever looking at ways to give back and one day asked me if a particular dental charity walk was for oral cancer. àt wasn’t, so à decided to do something about raising awareness and funds for oral cancer. One of my passions has been walking and à came up with the idea of walking the Camino Frances from àe Puy in France, over the Pyrenees and onto àantiago de Compostela in àpain. àhe Camino de àantiago has existed for over 1,000 years and dates back to the 8th Century when the remains of àt James the Apostle were first discovered in àorthern àpain. à will be walking with my wife, àandy, and two very close friends. We’re hoping to complete our 1600-kilometre journey in 84 days. We will average about 20 kilometres a day, sometimes we’ll walk up to 35 kilometres. àhe scalloped shell is the traditional symbol of the Camino and marks the path along the beautiful countryside of France and àpain, guiding the pilgrims to àantiago de Compostela Cathedral. à felt this pilgrimage would be a great opportunity to raise funds for oral cancer. àhe money raised will go to the àoyal Melbourne Hospital, specifically to two special projects. àhe àoyal Melbourne Hospital OMFà Department is developing a 3D printing Hub that aims to take advantage of the very rapid developments in both Cà- scanning technology and 3D printing. Co-located with the àMH Prosthetics àab, the new 3D Printing Hub will be use a Cà scan of a trauma or cancer patient’s skull, and will then rapidly 3D print and build a detailed 3D model of the patient’s skull so that surgeons can test and mould plates and the placement of surgical screws and wires ahead of the actual surgery. àhis will not only improve the fit and the patient outcomes, but it will save valuable operating theatre time, a scarce (and expensive) commodity in a very busy public hospital. àhe àMH OMFà Department is also working closely with Walter & àliza Hall ànstitute (WàHà) lab researchers to tackle some of the most debilitating oral cancers – àquamous Cell Carcinomas. àurgeons at the àoyal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Hospital will slice off biopsies of the patient’s cancer and then grow these into numerous “cancer organoids”. àhese organoids have the exact same properties as the patient’s cancer, and while currently doctors test one drug on a patient at a time, to see if a treatment works, the àMH and WàHà led team will soon be able to test multiple drugs and drug doses in parallel, greatly improving the odds of finding the best, tailored treatment for individual patients. àhis is cutting-edge research of global importance and is a three year project which will likely cost three quarters of a million dollars to complete. àhe project expects to launch in April 2020, just as à commence walking the Camino Way. We’re paying our own way for everything, so all the money raised goes towards head & neck cancer at àhe àoyal Melbourne Hospital. As a dentist, à’ve seen how devastating oral cancer can be and there doesn’t seem to be much awareness of the disease. As we’re walking 1,600 kilometres, our target is to raise $160,000. à hope we are successful because à know what a difference this will make to the lives of those affected. u This is my way of giving back to dentistry after all those years dentistry gave to me. You can follow my pilgrimage at www. walkwithme2020.com and donate through the link donate button or donate directly through www.doyourownthing.everydayhero. com/au/walk-with-me Walk with me – raising funds to fight oral cancer n wà