Visits to the dentist as a child prompted Arlene Belzer to really ‘sink her teeth’ into a career in oral health.
Working with children in a clinic or school dental van and securing a guaranteed position after training at the Queensland Health School Dental Therapy Training Centre in Brisbane, only added to the appeal.
“I thought this career sounded very interesting and proceeded to visit the staff at the Victoria Park School Dental clinic to find out more,” she said.
“I went to this school in Mackay in the 1970s and watched the clinic being built. The staff were extremely welcoming and provided me with valuable insight into what the job entailed. The rest is history.”
Her 40 years of dedicated service with Queensland Health began in Emerald, but Arlene has spent much of her career as a dental therapist working in the Mackay district, travelling to outlying schools including Clermont, St Lawrence and Airlie Beach.
“Apart from the stability and flexibility of the role, I’ve always enjoyed seeing so much of the countryside, driving through cane, sorghum, cotton and sunflower fields and setting up mobile dental vans in schools in the mountains or near a beach,” she said.
“I’ve loved working out there and looking out the dental van window to see kangaroos, deer, peacocks and cockatoos on school grounds.
“I’ve also loved all the children and families I have met from such diverse backgrounds. Now and then I will treat a patient whose parent I treated when they were a child and then I remember how old I am.
“The last 40 years have gone by in the blink of an eye.”
More recently, Arlene has been part of a team supervising final-year CQU Bachelor of Oral Health Therapy students in their paediatric placement.
She admits she has witnessed many significant changes in materials used and infection control standards in dental therapy in her career.
“Forty years ago I wasn't wearing gloves or gowns and restored teeth with silver amalgam (silver) fillings,” Arlene said.
“Now I am wearing full PPE and restore teeth with tooth-coloured adhesive materials.
“Digital records and X-rays have been by far the best innovation. Developing, drying and mounting X-rays took so much time, but now it’s all done in an instant.
“Filing and retrieving patient records would also take hours; now it takes only a second.”
Despite so much preventative information and free dental services, children were unfortunately still presenting with multiple decayed and infected teeth. There were many reasons behind such presentations and not all of them were because of increased sugar consumption or a lack of regular and correct brushing, she said.
Outside of work, Arlene likes to dabble in arts and crafts, crocheting earrings and sketching.
“I also spend time with friends and family, especially my grandson and hope to do some travelling with my husband soon.”
At the Length of Service celebrations at Mackay Base Hospital earlier this month and upon presentation of her 40 years of service pin, Arlene said she had always appreciated the support and respect of the HHS and her colleagues in the oral health unit.
“One of the biggest rewards though is building rapport with a patient who may be petrified of dental treatment and with time and patience, you can coax them through,” she said.
“I love it when they say thanks for fixing my teeth, even when they say it with a numb lip!”