A visit to the dental clinic
Seimi O'Mahoney gives dental therapist Faye McDonald a shy smile.
The eight-year-old is at the Devon Intermediate dental clinic with his mum for a six monthly check-up.
His younger brothers' head for the toy box on the floor. Ironically it contains a Barbie doll with a dentist chair. They haul it out and begin to play dental therapist, before losing interest and watching their big brother sitting in the "hot seat".
Séimi is just one of around 2000 children who will visit the Devon Intermediate clinic over the next year. Faye and her colleagues look after children from Westend Primary, St Josephs and Devon Intermediate, plus they fill a caretaker roll caring for Oakura and Westown Primary Schools – a list that keeps them very busy.
Child's play
Faye has been a dental therapist for nearly 35 years, after deciding at age three that dental nursing was for her.
"My mother took me to the dental clinic. It must have been a positive experience because I said 'I want to be one of those when I grow up'. I have never deviated from that. My mother tells the story that I used to set up a mock dental clinic in the bathroom and pretend to fill the teeth of my dolls and friends that I invited around."
It's a job she obviously still loves.
Many people have stories about the white smocked, red cardie wearing dental nurses of old. Today they're called dental therapists and wear more practical blue."They wanted to differentiate us from nurses," says Faye. "We do more along the therapy line than nursing. But the public still see us as nurses…"
Change for the better
The introduction of fluoride in the 1970s has had the biggest effect on the profession
Faye thinks. "When fluoride was introduced to the water supply and toothpaste it had a major impact on the nation's teeth."
Pre-1970s children were likely to have a mouth full of metal – rows of silver amalgam fillings testament to a dental policy to "drill and fill" any cavity – no matter how small. Just ask any middle-aged adult to open their mouth to see the results.
"Today the children's permanent teeth are in better condition than they were before the 1970s.
But in the baby teeth there's a swing back to having cavities – because there's such a high sugar content in foods and drinks today. Children are having lots of sweet acidy drinks– coke and fruit juices instead of good old water and milk– so their deciduous teeth are suffering."
A poster on the clinic wall says it all: with a PH of 7, water is neutral, lemon juice and stomach acid both have a PH of 2.0, coca-cola has only slightly less acid at a PH of 2.3…
Murder house image gone?
Faye rattles off a list of other changes she has seen over the years:
Local anaesthetic was a blessing for children who had had to put up with the pain of having their teeth drilled. Back then the nickname "murder house" was almost justified.
Nowadays kids have nothing to worry about says Faye. "There are children who fear the needle – kids talk the needle up – go out into the playground and say 'it was this big!'. We have ways and means of talking nervous kids around." She laughs, "we have wonderful powers of persuasion!"
Faye wants to check out Séimi's teeth to make sure the permanent ones are erupting OK. She sits him down , pops a couple of x-rays in his mouth and positions an x-ray machine in front of his smile. Stepping behind a screen she takes several shots – the prints will reveal if Séimi needs to make a return visit to the dental clinic with his mum.
Parents are encouraged to go to dental visits with their children and take an active part in their dental health. "Gone are the days when we dragged kids out of class. Today we ring parents, book appointments and encourage them to come along."
Dental therapists now work under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act a new initiative brought in by the Government in 2003. It means that dental therapists are now registered health professionals in their own right and responsible for their own practice.
Despite these changes dental therapy is in crisis in New Zealand. Numbers of dental therapists are dropping as those in the profession grow older and retire, and role numbers at the two training centres in New Zealand drop. Poor salaries do nothing to help the profession's image.
In Taranaki only 17 therapists treat the region's 23,000 children. It's something the Government are working on improving, says a letter to a disgruntled therapist from Minister of Health Annette King (an ex-dental therapist herself).
Faye doesn't know how long she'll stay in the profession. "I still enjoy it, and I'll be here as long as I keep on enjoying it."
One thing that hasn't changed over the years are the cotton gauze bumble bees and butterflies made by the dental therapists – and the stickers. At the end of his check-up Séimi gets to choose a sticker from the collection in the draw… and heads off happily home.