Dr Mohit Tolani

Dr Mohit Tolani is a young community minded health care professional with a burning passion for dental literacy and equity of access.

He is an outstanding example of someone who, although early in his career, has already dedicated countless hours to helping those who struggle with what can be painful, embarrassing, limiting or even life-threatening dental issues.

Dr Tolani wants to reduce the “fear barrier and cost barrier” between dental practitioners and the community aiming to increase accessibility to dental care for all.

Graduating from Griffith’s Gold Coast campus in 2016, where he won  Awards for Academic Excellence and leadership, Dr Tolani now works as a regional dentist in Dapto, a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales.

He spends as much time treating paying patients as he does assisting those unable to afford care and some days he probably spends more time on the road, or in the air.

In 2017, he delivered basic dental, eye and general health management information to high school and TAFE students in Shepparton and beyond, also servicing neighbouring rural towns and aged care centres, from a mobile dental van, as part of the Shepp Health project and his role at Goulburn Valley Health hospital.

In addition to various initiatives, he currently volunteers with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) to provide dental care to marginalised and indigenous communities in remote and rural NSW including but not limited to Bourke, Goodooga and Collarenebri and their regional based correctional centre.

Ahead of his time, he embraced social media to reach parts of the community too scared to ask for help in person, offering free advice and more importantly, compassion to those for whom dental and public health concerns have significantly impacted their lives.

“During the (ongoing) COVID-19 pandemic, I started a dento-pandemic health literacy campaign, utilising digital mediums to educate the community on ways to manage dental health while staying safe,” he said.

“Last year, when we ran a dental literacy campaign, many people were sending us videos, especially if they were too scared to come to the dentist during Covid, in case they caught any sort of infectious conditions around.

“I asked them to call us or send us a video, to send us a Facebook story, explaining what their concern was.

“That removed people’s cost barrier and in turn removed the fear barrier because they weren’t in the surgery directly.

“Technology has played a very good role in building confidence and removing fear.

“We’ve seen the advent of new technology, especially with FaceTime, Facebook, and also video calls or tele dentistry.

“Also showing before and after images to the patient with an intra-oral camera is the new face of dentistry, where people can appreciate what the dentist is doing and what changes have happened.

“Monitoring change over periods definitely helps build confidence for the patient, and ultimately they take more ownership of their own health, because your mouth is your gateway to your general body.”

Dr Tolani says taking advantage of new technologies to help patients has been incredibly rewarding.

“A lot of patients have benefited and some with dental diseases we’ve caught at an earlier stage, which has been fantastic.”

He cites the case of a woman who put off visiting the dentist last year but contacted the clinic with concerns. Dr Tolani recognised the signs and referred her to a specialist, who diagnosed treatable oral cancer.

“It is a sad story, but we called it at the right time because if it was any later, who knows where it might have progressed to,” he said.

Dr Tolani currently sits on the Australian Dental Association NSW’s Dental Advocacy Committee and Professional Support Committee working on several policies and public health linked strategies for the future.

He was awarded the 2020 Australia Day Outstanding Achievement Award by the Wollongong City Council for noteworthy community service within the field of dentistry and wider healthcare sector addressing gaps in dental health within various population groups.

In 2018 he was a Pride of Australia National Medal winner for his role in addressing inequities in society, contribution to the wider Australia community via volunteerism and leadership, in association with community advancement through academic, professional and personal endeavours.

Towards the end of this year, Dr Tolani plans to launch the New Smile 2021 project, aiming to provide free dental treatment to those in severe need as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and who are from marginalised communities with limited access to oral health services such as nursing homes.

“I think when I took this job, my condition was I want to do things my way, in the sense that I want to do community-oriented projects bridging the gap between public and private sectors. And that kind of practice was new, but it’s been quite rewarding.”