Student gets national recognition

THE mouth is the gateway to the whole body, and for La Trobe University student WanYing Chia, closing the gap of access to oral health has become her biggest passion.

Ms Chia was recently awarded the Dental Hygienist Association Australia national student of the year award for taking part in a social responsibility project as part of her final year of study.

The project involved an outreach campaign called Orapact, which aims to provide care products and education about oral hygiene practices to disadvantaged communities.

“As dental students we always get a lot of sample products from dental companies, and a lot of us realised that we don’t use all of them and most of them sit on the side or go to waste,” she said.

Reaching out to homeless organisations in Bendigo, Ms Chia and her team managed to partner with Saltworks, Impact Recovery, MADCOW, and Kangaroo Flat Rotary Club, promoting preventative dental care to a range of participants.

“The feedback from participants was amazing,” she said. “Through education and just giving them the tools, it changed their life and opened their mindset of not just going to the dentist when you’re in pain but look after your own oral health at home.”

Born in Malaysia, Ms Chia said she never went to the dentist growing up, and there was no such thing as flossing.

Now, the young professional is passionate about delivering oral health products and education to those who need it most.