Dentist Visit – The Outback Way

Yesterday I was up and at it early so I could get Clancy and Harry to town for a dental check up. Now, I use the term “town” loosely because it was Camooweal where there is just basically a pub, roadhouse & post office!  I whipped up some devilled sausages so Miss Pip could turn the slow cooker on for me as I didn’t think I would be home in time.  Oh how right I was.  This is how things went down…

You see the RFDS Dental Truck is in Camooweal at the moment.  For 2 weeks actually.

This truck travels around western Queensland visiting communities that don’t have easy access to a Dentist.  Apparently they have been coming to Camooweal for a few years now but this is the first year I have heard about it.  I phoned and made an appointment as soon as I got the email notification.  My boys were so overdue for a check up and after Clancy’s performance the last time we visited I wasn’t all that keen.

So off we went.  A 6 hour round trip, 24 gates there and back (0k, that is a lie – there were only 22 because one was open) and all dirt road.

I was so impressed with the truck, so of course I whipped that phone out faster than you could say blog and started snapping photos left right and centre.

Turns out the boys needed further work.  Harry had one hole and Clancy had 3.  Mother of the Year here my friends!!!  Alex – the lovely Dentist – told me “You will need to make another appointment to come back for the fillings (omg – I think I have been saying that wrong all these years, I think I have been saying “fill ins”… I just had to Google it, ha ha ha)… anyway I nearly burst into tears.  For starters I am more scared of the dentist than my kids, I think, and secondly – um…. 6 hour round trip on dirt road with 22 gates…. nooooooo don’t make me do it again.

I just nodded and then went and had a little chat with Jo – who I made this appointment with.  I asked if there was any chance I could get this all done later that day so I didn’t have to come back in – I would rather hang around in town than have to drive back in.  Jo shuffled around some appointments and told me to come back at 1:15.  Perfect.  I could have kissed her.  So the kids and I went and had a lovely lunch at the pub.

Then it was time to face the “Filling” music.  Clancy was not happy so I did what any parent would do – I bribed him.  Yep, good old fashioned bribery.  It worked a treat too (Clancy is now the proud owner of a 3DS, well he will be when it arrives in a couple of weeks on the mail plane).  Alex wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle getting all 3 fillings done at once – that is 3 needles my friends…. and he is 6!  It was a little hard to get him in the actual chair to start with and the first needle wasn’t that flash (maybe that was just me actually, he was pretty good) but after that he was a little champion.  Alex managed to get all 3 holes sorted and Clancy had one super numb mouth by the end of it all.

Harry was a dentists dream patient.  We didn’t hear one complaint out of him, he didn’t even have a needle.  Oh and he even had a big ulcer in his mouth that hurt when he opened wide.  He was just so good.

All in all this dentist experience was honestly one of the best I have ever had (probably because “I” didn’t have anything done, ha ha ha)… the 3 women in the truck – Alex the Dentist, Jane the Dental Assistant and Jo were all fantastic.  They were so good with the boys and after spending quite a lot of time with them – we eventually left at about 3pm – we were all laughing and having a great old time.

The truck was just something else.  There are usually 2 dentist going but the other dentist was arriving that day.

Oh and did I mention it is all FREE!!!  I know, pick yourself up from the floor… we all know how much you usually get stung for just a check up alone!

Now something else funny happened.  As if the service couldn’t get any better.  I mean, imagine getting all that work done in one day at a normal dentist.  For starters it is near on impossible to even get an appointment and I am not all that impressed with the dentists in Mt Isa to tell you the truth.  I got chatting with Jo and told her I was off to Brisbane next week and had 3 dentists appointments sorted, I told her I was getting new front teeth – veneers.  We must have been chatting about colour etc and I told her I probably should get them whitened before I get the veneers made but didn’t really know how to go about it.  Well, BAM…. Jo said – “That’s ok, I will take you over to see Adrian the Denture man and he will sort you out”.  You see there was another van there – Adrian the Denture Man.  The “Denture Adventurer”.  I kid you not.  I said to Jo “What do you mean, will he whiten my teeth for me?”  She told me he could make me up a mould and send me on my way with a whitening kit.

GET…OUT…OF…TOWN.   NO WAY!  I still didn’t believe it “What do you mean, what – we go and see him now and he can do it today??” …. “Yep” said Jo.  Simple as that apparently.

So when Clancy was all done off we went, next door to see Andrian.  I told Jo she was like a Laxetive because she “makes shit happen”.  This was all just too good to be true.  But no, it was real.  Adrian didn’t muck around, I mean it was 3pm by this time.

He took moulds of my teeth, whipped up a little guard type thing and sent me on my way with my whitening kit.  I just need to wear this for 90 minutes each day and he reckons by the time I see the Dentist next week my teeth should be a lovely colour – a couple of shades lighter.

WHAT A BLOODY LEGEND.  Now, my friends… if I were to have that done in the city I would have had to first make an appointment for a consultation, then probably go back to have the moulds taken.   They would have been sent away to be made then I would go back for collection/fitting.  Apparently it would probably cost me about $800.00!!!  This only set me back $290 and I can claim a fair chunk of that back through my private health.  What the acutal???

So thank you to everyone… to Alex, Jane, Jo and Adrian.  You guys were amazing.  Service with a smile that’s for sure.  I will definitely be coming back next year.  I can’t recommend this service enough.  They are heading to Dajarra next, so to all of my friends anywhere near there I strongly urge you to call and make an appointment – even if you are a few hours away, go and see them!!!  Call 1800 002 507 to make an appointment, Jo will sort you out in no time.

And there you have it my friends.  A day jam packed full of dental work.  Oh and we managed to get home by 7:30pm!

Thank goodness Pip – our Governess – is such a domestic goddess because she had dinner all sorted – what a legend!

Have you been to the RFDS Dental Truck?
Any funny Dentist stories?
How do your kids go with a Dentist visit?