A James Cook University dentistry outreach program has visited Far North Queensland towns Cooktown and Hopevale for the first time as students hit the road to deliver important oral health messages.
As part of a third-year subject, students and JCU dentistry staff shared practical tips and resources with primary school kids, helping them understand how to care for their teeth and build lifelong habits.
Students Andie Montag, Bradley Anderson, Riana Slow, Seungyeon Moon, Talyn Davies, and Yasmine Doroudi were joined by JCU staff members Gloria Silcock (dental hygienist), Dr Kornelija Sfera (registered dentist, JCU Dentistry Year three Coordinator) and Ali Ward (academic services) for the community oral health promotion project, which students design, deliver and evaluate.
“Cooktown and Hopevale were the most remote sites we have visited so far,” Sfera says.
“It really was a transformative experience for our dentistry students and the staff involved who may have not had any previous personal experience with communities placed in such remote areas. It was very rewarding and memorable on many levels.”
She says JCU Dentistry prides itself on having a positive community impact and outreach in north Queensland – and beyond.
“We recognise the multitude of vulnerable groups that greatly benefit from not only individual dental treatment we offer in JCU Dental clinics and partner placement sites, but also by our community programs.”
To help improve oral health education, JCU partners with communities to help services work better for people living and working in rural and remote areas.
Sharing helpful lessons
Student team member Talyn Davies says the community outreach program experience was a great way to give back and share helpful lessons to young people in remote areas.
“This project allowed us to live out JCU’s mission, connecting with rural communities firsthand,” she says.
“The kids made this a really special day. Each of them is so brilliant and bright, and seemed to have some awareness of many of the things we came here to talk to them about.
“Being such a rural, remote community, they don’t have some of the same opportunities or access to dental care that people in metro areas might take for granted.”
Fellow third-year student Andie Montag says the outreach offered an insightful look into disparate health outcomes in many rural and remote areas.
“I think activities like this are really helpful in bridging the gap between what the kids may know about oral health and actually putting changes into action,” Montag says.
“Lasting solutions come from making healthy choices the simplest ones, through public health policies and outreach that support community health from the ground up.”
