Kimberley Dental Team - May 2022 Trip

Our first team arrived through Broome and travelled across to Halls Creek, where we spent the week. 

Navigating COVID protocols was somewhat of a challenge, but everything went very well and we were able to see and treat 160 people at the Halls Creek hospital dental clinic, Yuri Yungi Aboriginal Service dental clinic and at the communities of Ringer Soak and Yiyili. 

We also performed very well at the Kimberley Hotel quiz night and enjoyed a sausage sizzle BBQ at Caroline Pool. 

The outgoing and incoming teams had a changeover in Kununurra while John and I prepped for our trip to Warmun Community. The new team met us in Warmun on Sunday afternoon, and we had a busy two days working in the community before returning to Halls Creek for the rest of the week. The week two team provided a service for 174 people in Warmun, Frog Hollow and Halls Creek. Our final team came in through Broome where they met the outgoing team, handed over vehicles and drove across on Sunday. 

This final week was spent in the Kutjungka region visiting the communities of Billiluna, Balgo and Mulan where we saw and treated 161 people before returning to Broome via an overnight at Fitzroy Crossing that included a celebratory dinner. 

Statistics exceeded expectations of the numbers of people treated in May 2022. The teams provided examinations, oral health education and dental services for 495 people. Additionally, these services included 154 extractions, 219 restorations, 26 scale and cleans, 45 topical fluoride treatments and 584 fissure seals. 

Thank you to the Australian Dental Association (WA Branch), for their ongoing support of KDT in general and especially for awarding Grants for final-year dental students in 2022. These Remote Area Student Scholarships greatly assist with their remote placement costs. KDT are now preparing for a return to the region on July 22 for three weeks.