This Strategic Partnership aligns with the ongoing support for critical RFDS services by the Australian Government and follows the Federal Budget announcement in May of this year of an additional $71.3million over 3 years for the RFDS to support the delivery of essential health services. The funding enables the RFDS to continue to deliver primary healthcare, mental health and dental services across rural and remote areas in the face of rising costs.

The word is spreading across many of Australia’s most remote and rural communities that the ‘Flying Dentists are coming’. And the ever-expanding RFDS program to introduce regular and essential oral health services into some of Australia’s most remote and isolated regions is certainly giving many outback communities plenty to smile about. Research already shows a clear link between oral disease and specific health conditions and chronic diseases including diabetes, aspiration pneumonia and adverse pregnancy outcomes. But equally, poor oral health can also have negative impacts on speech, sleep, productivity, self-esteem, psychological and social wellbeing and relationships. Put simply, better oral health means a better quality of life for those living with chronic or life-changing dental issues. In episode #120 of the Flying Doctor Podcast, we meet one of the Flying Doctors working on the very frontier of outback oral health care delivery. RFDS Senior Dentist Dr Vaibhav Garg – or Dr Vai has his patients and work mates like to call him – has experienced his fair share of international oral health adventures during his career.

 In this insightful Flying Doctor podcast interview, Dr Vai also shares how a series of ‘sliding door’ moments during his formative, student years led him away from his initial dreams of a city based ‘dental profession’ and brought him instead to a career path that continues to bring him incredible opportunities, travel adventures and a true sense of purpose and passion. From chewing fibrous plants in Uganda to treating remote communities in the mountains of Peru, Dr Vai has also experienced goanna hunting, traditional ceremonies and bush tucker education during his time in many remote indigenous communities of Australia . Importantly, Dr Vai says his incredible SA/NT RFDS team of fellow dentists, hygienists and specialised dental assistants play a crucial role in everything he does. Conducting regular clinics across SA/NT every month, Dr Vai and his team use state-of-the-art mobile dental equipment to deliver a complete suite of preventative, early intervention and treatment services ranging from simple check-ups, x-rays and hygiene services through to fillings and extractions.

The community of Townsville will always remember the Christmas of 2019 as a time of catastrophic floods. But the Taylor family will always recall that Christmas in Townsville for a totally different reason. Because it was also the Christmas that they very nearly lost their one-year-old baby girl, Selene, to a rare bacterial complication from tonsilitis. That ‘complication’ caused a large abscess to form on Selene’s throat, which very quickly developed into a life-threatening situation for the normally bright and active toddler. In Episode #115 of the Flying Doctor Podcast, Selene’s mum Hayley shares her family’s terrifying ordeal – along with her memories of the incredible kindness of strangers. After being told that a mercy flight from their hometown of Bucasia (near McKay in Qld) to Townsville was Selene’s best chance of survival, Hayley suddenly found herself sitting on an RFDS flight, with her gravely ill daughter by her side. With no shoes, no wallet and no phone charger, the next few days would be a rocky Christmas holiday story for everyone involved.

The decision was quickly made by local Doctors to airlift Selene to Townsville hospital – as flying her to Brisbane meant a longer flight, that Doctor’s told Hayley could be the difference between her ‘surviving the flight or not’. Hayley recalls the incredible care and support she received from RFDS staff that day and how much of a difference that care made to her ability to cope with such an extraordinarily stressful situation. Later, Selene would be become one of the youngest patients in Australia to undergo an emergency tonsillectomy. And thanks to the staff at Townsville Hospital and Ronald McDonald House, Hayley and Selene would also make it onto the very last flight out of Townsville, before the 2019 floods stopped all flights in and out. Today, Selene is a happy and healthy 7-year-old and Hayley has been participating in the 2024 Oceans to Outback Challenge, as her way of saying ‘thank you’ to the RFDS and the many ‘kind strangers’ who helped her family out, when they needed it the most.