Dental adventures in the Canadian Backwoods and Arctic

As a young dentist, spending my formative years working in these wild areas helped me develop vital skills and focused my interest on paediatric dentistry. Over the course of three years my work taught me lessons on adaptability and, more importantly, on how to take each opportunity that presented itself and use it to build a career that I could have never intentionally designed.

Working in the backwoods of British Columbia

I was practicing in the NHS, early in my career, when I decided I wanted to travel. After discussing possible positions with colleagues at the dental hospital where I worked, I was directed towards a job opportunity in the backwoods of British Columbia. For the next couple of years, me and my first wife travelled from the middle of Vancouver Island to the Yukon, from the Queen Charlotte Islands in the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains with the prime purpose of providing dental care for children under the age of nine. However, at the end of the day, we would also help any adults and teenagers that needed it. We performed vital work for those communities, who often only had access to a dentist for two weeks, once every 18 months.

We had been warned there was no back up available. We were in complete isolation with no opportunity to bring in consultants or access other facilities. We had to be incredibly adaptable and work our way out of any dental or behavioural problem, but the local population welcomed us with open arms. British Columbia’s approach to children’s dentistry was quite different than in the UK. It introduced us the use of stainless-steel crowns, local anaesthetics (at the time still dismissed in the UK as far too difficult to use on young children), and rubber dam. As our skills increased, it became extremely rewarding work.

Experiencing the Inuit settlements of the Arctic

During my time in British Columbia, I thoroughly enjoyed working with children, so I decided to specialise in paediatric dentistry at the University of Rochester. Afterwards, I considered moving back to the UK, but the job prospects were scarce. Ultimately, I ended up contacting the Canadian Government, who were in desperate need of dentists in Churchill, Manitoba. In January 1969, I started running their clinic and I was tasked with traveling out into the remote Inuit settlements of the Arctic.

My work here was hugely different to the role I performed in British Columbia. The Canadian Government provided us with relatively decent quality equipment at the main clinic, paid for all travel expenses and found our accommodation. During my work in the Inuit villages, however, I stayed, and set up a clinic, in the nursing stations. The portable dental equipment was limited to extremely crude ex-army equipment. This could be very frustrating at times, as we could not provide the high-quality dentistry we were used to performing.

The arctic, while incredibly marvellous, is a terrible environment. I had to adapt to waiting days for a WW2 plane that may or may not have been able to fly and bring us back. I remember an instance where I had to wait four days for a plane, unable to do any work as the message could arrive at any moment that we had to quickly make our way to the airstrip. When discussing my time there, I am often asked if I was scared. The truth is, in your 20s there’s very little you are afraid of. There was an occasion in which the engine of our plane stopped while we were in the air, and it was a single engine aircraft. I had been told that the chances of surviving the plane crash would be remarkably high, however, being found afterwards was more remote. Everything was fine in the end, but at the time the situation did not really worry me, I saw it as an adventure.

The possibility of modern-day dental adventures

This type of dental adventure has become increasingly less available to young dentists. There are still parts of the world where British dentists can find a role, but these are few and far between. Today’s dentistry courses are longer, have more post-graduate requirements, and leave students with a much bigger debt than they once did. By the time they graduate, young dentists are 3 or 4 years older than we used to be, so while we were free to venture out and seek adventure, they have to prioritise their future career and building their family life.

Many people choose dentistry because they see it as a set path. After you qualify, you know to an extent what to expect from your future. It has a degree of comfort to it. You must be a specific type of person, who is looking for excitement and adventure, to decide to practise in such difficult environments. When I decided to undertake this work, I had no idea what path it would lead me on. I had no real interest in becoming an academic. It is important to take every opportunity that comes your way, and not think too much about what you will do afterwards. Just make sure to keep your mind open and to experience as much life as possible.