August 5, 2025 • 50 mins
What happens when you say yes to adventure, purpose, and the unknown? In this episode, we meet oral health therapist Karli Grace, whose journey from private practice to working in Australia’s most remote Indigenous communities is as inspiring as it is impactful.
Karli shares what it’s really like delivering oral healthcare across Central Australia, East Arnhem Land and the Torres Strait, setting up mobile clinics in remote communities and building long-term relationships in places that often go months without dental services. And in true locum life fashion, her story includes unexpected twists, including a car accident that led to a love story with a pilot who now flies her to work.
Her warmth, resilience and genuine passion for improving Indigenous health outcomes shine through as she discusses her research into vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy and its link to enamel development in children. This episode is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when you follow your heart, stay curious, and use your skills to serve others.
It Takes Heart is hosted by cmr CEO Sam Miklos, alongside Head of Talent and Employer Branding, Kate Coomber.
We Care; Music by Waveney Yasso
More about Karli's Organisations of Choice, Darwin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Womens Shelter
Darwin Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Womens Shelter (DAIWS) was established in 1986 as a safe place for women and children escaping violence. For over 36 years DAIWS remains a proud Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation providing specialist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander domestic violence support service in Darwin and remote communities.
Get to know cmr better!
Follow @ittakesheartpodcast on Instagram, @cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment on Linked In, @cornerstonemedicalrec on TikTok and @CornerstoneMedicalRecruitment on Facebook.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kate Coomber (00:00):
This episode is a reminder that when we take risks
, say yes to adventure andfollow the path that feels right
.
Big things can happen.
Karli Grace (00:06):
I actually was quite emotional when I was there
.
I went on a helicopter ridearound and it was a sunset
helicopter ride.
It was really, really specialand while I was up there I
remember thinking I am soblessed, I am living a life that
is so full.
I am living a life that is sofull and having those little
(00:27):
moments where you just go.
I'm so thankful to all thepeople that encouraged me along
the way and kind of got me outhere.
Sam Miklos (00:30):
If you want to hear more great stories from our
healthcare community, be sure toclick, follow and subscribe,
and don't forget to check us outon our Instagram page.
It Takes Heart for all thebehind the scenes fun, fun.
(00:53):
Today we are joined by KarliGrace, an oral health therapist
who swapped private practice forlocum life.
From Alice Springs to theTorres Strait, carly has worked
hard to improve oral healthoutcomes in some of Australia's
most remote communities.
Welcome Carly to.
It Takes Heart, thank you.
Karli Grace (01:03):
It's a pleasure to be here.
I feel really honored.
Sam Miklos (01:06):
It's exciting to have you can we just talk about
oral health?
Therapist, that is a mouthful.
Karli Grace (01:12):
It's a lot like.
This is why we shorten it toOHT.
But if you say, if someone says, oh, what do you do for work?
No one knows what an OHT is,and no one knows what an oral
health therapist is either.
Sam Miklos (01:20):
So yeah, I need you to help.
What is an OHT, an overheadprojector.
Karli Grace (01:32):
So an oral health therapist a lot of people are
familiar with dental hygienist,so you go to your regular dental
clinic and you get your teethcleaned and then back in the day
dental therapy was a huge thing, especially in the school
dental service.
So an oral health therapist isalmost an amalgamation of those
two roles in the dental world,but then it also has a little
bit more around it.
(01:53):
So it's a lot of it's a heavyfocus on prevention.
So if you have a patient cometo you that is going through
cancer treatment, you diagnosethe different conditions that
they might suffer from becauseof their cancer treatment and
then help them, I guess, keeptheir mouth as healthy as
(02:13):
possible.
So you're giving them the tools.
But then I mean there's so manyother areas in the oral health
therapy world, but a lot of itis paediatric dentistry and
prevention.
And then it has a strong focuson periodontics as well, which
is gum health or gum disease.
So we diagnose, treat, manageand maintain gum disease.
Um, and it's I guess we're areal supporter in the dental um
(02:39):
little family or the dental teamto make sure that patients that
are going through, say, fullmouth rehabs are getting the
best treatment that they can get, if that makes sense yeah, I'm
just gonna say like with thepediatrics.
Sam Miklos (02:50):
Sorry, can I just ask you about?
The pediatric bed so you coulddo the pediatric dentistry is
that what you mean?
Karli Grace (02:56):
so where like?
Kate Coomber (02:57):
I take the three kids in and line them up and we
have a little look around, yeah,and so when we do take them to
the dentist, are we seeing thedentist, dentist or are we just?
It depends on the dental clinic.
Yeah, does everybody have one.
Karli Grace (03:09):
It's becoming very popular so some clinics will
have multiple.
The last private practice thatI worked in we had four across
three clinics.
So usually on a day by daybasis there would be one working
and they do see usually all theall the children.
And so you're doing, you'redoing restorative treatment,
you're doing extractions, you'redoing essentially people know
(03:31):
are familiar with root canaltherapy.
We don't do root canal therapyon children's teeth but it's a
nerve treatment to be able toprolong the life of the tooth in
the mouth rather thanextracting it.
So it is all this sort of thetherapy base or the restorative
dental treatment that wouldhappen to a child is usually
going to happen from an oralhealth therapist.
But then you also do yourgeneral checks and cleans so
(03:54):
we'd see adults of all ages.
I've extended my scope so Ihave full scope and I can do
fillings on all ages.
And I've done a compositeveneers course so I can do
people's veneers.
Sam Miklos (04:04):
So you can add on.
Karli Grace (04:04):
Yeah, so you can really add on, but I mean you're
not even confined to justworking in a dental clinic doing
clinical treatment.
You can go and do education andyou can go and do I mean you
can work in academics andresearch.
Sam Miklos (04:18):
How far off being a dentist are you then, like when
you're?
Kate Coomber (04:21):
going.
I can add on this.
I can add on that.
Do you want to be Like, what'sthe?
Yeah?
Karli Grace (04:24):
where's the gap?
So I get asked that questionall the time.
I am so happy being an oralhealth therapist because I love
the role that I have in workingwith children and working in
preventative health healthcare,whereas I see the dentists.
Sometimes you look at dentistryas they're kind of like the
mechanics that fix the problemonce it's already occurred,
(04:47):
whereas from an oral healththerapy perspective, you're
giving people the tools to beable to prevent getting to that
yeah prevent bad oral healthoutcomes.
so you're you kind of enforcinggood oral hygiene habits at any
stage of life, not necessarilyjust children.
So I love that because I loveworking with people and I love
(05:08):
communicating and I love sharingmy knowledge, whereas if I was
a dentist, you still do havethat capacity by all means, but
I think you would end upfocusing more on just the you
know, bread and butter, fillingsand crowns and root canals,
yeah, whereas I get thatopportunity to really meet and
greet, will meet with mypatients and then end up um.
(05:31):
You get to know them and it's alittle bit more personal, um.
Sam Miklos (05:35):
But if you wanted to be a dentist, say you have to
go back to go do the whole thing, yeah, and can I ask if were?
Karli Grace (05:42):
so did you start a dental hygienist no so I started
straight out of high school,straight out of my first job at
Sumo Salad Sumo.
Sam Miklos (05:52):
Salad.
You're like this is not mycareer here now.
This is not where I'm going.
I've got better things.
Karli Grace (05:57):
I actually trialled a few different things.
I wanted to go down the legalpathway, so I worked for a
criminal lawyer first.
Oh, the legal pathway, so Iworked for a criminal lawyer
first, and then I did like apre-enlistment prep course for
the Defence Force.
I thought I wanted to be indefence and I very much fell
into the dental world.
I worked as a junior dentalassistant this is going back
(06:18):
many years and you do, you knowI did a Certificate III in
Dental Assisting and then I sortof went on and explored more
opportunities in that role andthen added on a Certificate IV
in Oral Health Education.
All this information abouttheir oral health or about their
(06:42):
health in general and what thatcan mean for their oral health,
because it's so intertwinedespecially chronic diseases and
systemic health issues arereally related to dental health
as well, and so I really startedenjoying that.
And then I was encouraged by alot of people to go and study
and people suggested studyingoral health therapy more so than
(07:04):
dentistry, because as atherapist I think you I think it
was maybe obvious mypersonality would be better
suited to working with peoplethat little bit more and having
that more preventative approachrather than that mechanic
approach, if that makes sense.
Kate Coomber (07:17):
The clue is actually in the title, isn't it?
Well, yeah, exactly.
So you mentioned they'reworking in private practice.
Yes, but you've been workingremotely, sort of locuming,
around the country.
What?
What took you down that path?
Karli Grace (07:32):
so I I mean that it's a long journey that got me
there eventually.
You know there's a lot oflittle pathways that eventually
led to the work I'm doing rightnow.
But I actually started workingas a locum so fly and-in,
fly-out worker, more on acontract basis rather than
taking permanent positions inremote communities.
I started that when I was 21 asa dental assistant.
(07:56):
And then that's when I fell intooral health education and I
ended up going over to Indonesiaand setting up an oral health
program on a remote community.
Wow, and that was really fun,and it was, I mean, the power of
Google Translate.
I wouldn't have been able to doit because I was probably the
only Like you were the team.
Sam Miklos (08:14):
No, it was just.
Karli Grace (08:15):
Well there was a team in the volunteer
organisation I was working for,but we were doing turtle
conservation, so it wascompletely different.
We were using toothbrushes toclean the turtles.
But I just sort of I saw anopportunity and I thought these
kids are out of school, becauseit was school holidays, let's
set up this little oral healthpromotion program.
And so we kind of got the kidsall brushing and made posters
(08:38):
and tried to make it fun.
So that then again, I guess,highlighted that interest for me
, that I want to do more.
I want to like, you can only dothat for so long, I want to
take this that step further.
So I ended up going touniversity and while I was
studying in the uni holidays Iwould always go back and work
(09:00):
remote because I was a poor unistudent.
I needed the money, and this wasyou know it's hard to take a
permanent position if you're atuni, so this was perfect for me
it's very flexible.
That's a really great ideaactually when you're at uni like
to go and be doing those localroles yeah yeah, I tell a lot of
my dental nursing friends thatif you want to do it, you can
make it.
You can make it happen.
So, yeah, so that ended uptaking me to university and then
(09:24):
I always knew that the maingoal was to get back out to
remote Aboriginal communitiesand work, because I always had
this drive to work for, I guess,underprivileged people and
communities that havedisadvantages and disparities,
and so it was really importantfor me to sort of come full
circle with that and go back outas a therapist I mean, the
(09:46):
dental assistants they have ahuge role when we go out remote
as well, but I think, being thatone that's doing the treatment
and making the clinicaldecisions and giving feedback to
the clients, as well to theorganisations that I work for,
on how you can approach acertain issue or obstacle and
(10:06):
how you can work with thecommunities to be able to get
the best oral health outcomes,so it feels nice to be out there
doing what I always dreamed of.
Sam Miklos (10:16):
Where are some of the places you've been?
Karli Grace (10:18):
Oh my goodness, Okay, a community that I go to
fairly regularly is WAD Air.
So up in remote top endNorthern Territory it's a
community that unfortunately ithas a sort of a bad reputation.
It's had a lot of, I guess,social issues and political
issues there, but it's actuallyone of my favourite communities
(10:39):
to go to and whenever I go thereI feel somewhat welcome in the
community, particularly thehealth clinic.
You know, I know the, the staffthere now, and I think there's
this appreciation that the, thatone person, is returning.
So that's a community that Ireally love.
And then I've been to oh mygoodness, maningrida,
(11:01):
millingimbi, ramanginning,gapuyak, the Torres Strait.
I just came back.
How many days ago now, a fewdays, a few days Can you paint a
picture?
Kate Coomber (11:13):
You mentioned there that sometimes some
communities might have a bad repor what have you, but you
really enjoy the work there.
Can you paint a picture formaybe someone who's thinking you
know what is remote work?
What is a remote community?
What are you talking about?
Karli Grace (11:25):
I mean so remote communities are?
Well, they're just that,they're remote.
They're far, far away.
You have to Do you fly to them?
Sam Miklos (11:34):
Do you drive to them ?
Karli Grace (11:34):
Well, it depends.
So if you're in CentralAustralia doing in Northern
Territory, we drive to all thecommunities.
So I did a trip at the start ofthis year, in February I
believe it was, and I think wecalculated it was about 3,800
kilometres in four weeks, fourand a half weeks maybe, and
that's sort of going from AliceSprings to Alicarong and then
(11:59):
back, and then to Tennant Creekand then back, and then to
Elliott and then to.
We went, actually we drove allthe way over to the WA border
and worked in a beautifulcommunity called Docker River
which is just surrounded by themost incredible mountain ranges.
But it's so different, you know, if you're from the east coast
of Australia I mean, I haven'tdone west coast but east coast
(12:20):
of Australia we see, you knowbeautiful, green, lush mountain
ranges and and the ocean andeverything, but it genuinely
feels like you're in a differentcountry.
It is so um the the just theterrain is different.
It's red, like be expected tosee a lot of red dirt and it
will stain your shoes yeahum, actually I drove at one
(12:44):
point.
I drove up up to Nullumboy totake a job up in East Arnhem
Land and I worked there for sixmonths.
This was as an oral healththerapist, but in a more
coordinator role and I took mycar up there and I was just in
the mechanic yesterday and theyhad to replace my fan.
I left there in 2019 and it'snow 2025.
He said I had to just take thefan out because it was busted up
(13:06):
a bit and he goes it was fullof dust and I said what colour
was the dust?
Sam Miklos (13:09):
And he's like it was real red.
Karli Grace (13:12):
And I said oh, yeah that's from working in East
Arnhem Land.
So you know, visually it's verydifferent.
I guess socially it's reallyunique because you don't I don't
think people get theopportunity to really tap into
what it's like living andworking in remote communities
(13:32):
unless you put yourself in it.
So from a cultural perspective,I feel really blessed that I've
been able to experience certainthings firsthand and sit down
and get to know people and getto know their families.
It's not just, you know, you gointo a dental clinic and you do
a couple of fillings or youtake a few sick teeth out.
You really get this opportunityto connect with people and
(13:56):
learn little bits about culturethat you don't really see in
textbooks or you weren't taughtat school.
So I feel really thankful forthat, that I have been able to
connect with people in thatsense.
Sam Miklos (14:07):
How was the?
You know that first time youwent to a remote community, was
it daunting?
And for someone who's about todo that.
What advice do we give them?
Karli Grace (14:18):
So my first community back when I was a
dental assistant I went to Water, which I kind of love because
it's a place that it was almostwhere I started doing remote
work, and I now still continuegoing to that community and the
people I work for the clientsthey do know that I love going
to Water.
And this is up top end.
Kate Coomber (14:37):
This is up top end , yeah.
Karli Grace (14:39):
So you know you're taking out a little four-seater
plane.
Maybe might have six seats,depends on, I guess it depends
on which, um which, aviationcompany you go through, but
they're, they're little planesand they uh, I I mean, I think
they're fun I guess you'relimited on what you can take.
Kate Coomber (14:58):
That's the way you're gonna get out there um,
so it's.
Karli Grace (15:03):
I mean that's, that's a challenge in itself for
some people.
Kate Coomber (15:06):
I was going to say people need to be aware of that
right, because some peoplewon't feel comfortable doing
that?
Karli Grace (15:09):
Yeah, 100% yeah.
Sam Miklos (15:11):
It's the same as if you're not into long drives.
Kate Coomber (15:13):
Well, yeah, like that's a lot of driving.
I love it, but if you're notcomfortable or confident, I
would have to say I'm a goodflyer.
Karli Grace (15:25):
I I'm a good flyer.
I mean I have to be.
I've been flying for work forthe last 20 years, but I love
the drives, and the reason Ilove the drive is because I get
to just rock out and listen tomusic the whole time.
Are you driving on your own?
It's really vast distances.
So in Central Australia when wedrive out, you take a nurse with
you.
Sometimes you will be yourconvoy, depending on if you're
(15:45):
taking out a dental van becausewe'll set up the large dental
vans at a health clinic or at aschool and then the driver of
the van needs to get back to thecentral hub, which will be our
springs.
Kate Coomber (15:58):
It's sort of like mobile dentistry coming in.
Karli Grace (16:00):
Yeah, so we end up sort of taking two cars out and
he takes one back and then hemeets us back there to take the
van back.
So it's a lot of logisticaloperations that get done behind
the scenes that we don't have toworry about.
They just sort of go.
There's the keys and here's your.
You know we have to do carchecks.
I mean, my first trip toCentral Australia, on my
orientation, it was like, allright, get out the back, we're
(16:30):
going to show you how to changea tyre.
That was my next question.
How handy are you with a car?
I like to say I'm great, but mymechanic will say otherwise.
Kate Coomber (16:36):
Just to give people scope of the distances
you're talking about.
You know how long is that drive?
Yeah, if you, you know you'regoing to Tennant Creek, you're
going to these communities.
Karli Grace (16:41):
So the longest drive I've done was over to the
WA border, which from AliceSprings was I mean I remember
putting it in Google Maps and itwas, it said 10 hours, and I
was thinking, oh, this is a day,and I mean we stopped at Yulara
on the way, so where?
Uluru is.
So I mean, that was cool.
Sam Miklos (17:00):
I was just going to say that, no problem.
Karli Grace (17:03):
Stunning.
But then you keep going and,yeah, I think all up it was, it
ended up being maybe like anine-hour day driving and then
you get in.
You know you feel prettyexhausted after that, but I just
live on such a high of the workthat I do.
Sam Miklos (17:15):
And you're travelling, yeah, you're seeing
the countryside, it's beautifulBecause you're right, lara, like
so many people wouldn't get tosee it.
No, I've been waiting for atrip to get out there.
Karli Grace (17:25):
So that particular trip, I have to say, out of all
of the trips I've done, there isone other trip that is
sentimental, that is special,but that trip was very much.
It was really profound for mebecause I ended up getting to go
to Uluru and just witnessingsuch a magnificent landmark and
(17:48):
even Katajuta, which isn't evenit's close by but I guess it's
nowhere near as popular.
There's something spiritualabout it and it was.
I actually was quite emotional.
When I was there I went on ahelicopter ride.
Yeah, it's true, it was a sunsethelicopter ride and it was
really, really special and whileI was up there I remember
(18:11):
thinking I am so blessed thatthis is what I do for a job,
that I have the opportunity andthe privilege to be able to see
these things, and I know it'staken a lot of hard work to get
to it and a lot of sacrificetaken a lot of hard work to get
to it and a lot of sacrifice anda lot of risk.
But I am living a life that isso full and right and the path
(18:32):
that I wanted to go, like thedirection I wanted for my, for
my life, and having those littlemoments where you just go I'm
so thankful to all the peoplethat encouraged me along the way
and kind of got me out here andmade it happen and just those
little parts of fate where youthink, if that never happened,
that never would have happened.
I'm a big believer in thebutterfly effect and chaos
(18:54):
theory, and I think everythinghappens for a reason and
wherever you are in a moment iswhere you're meant to be, and I
genuinely feel that every singletrip I go on which is really
cool when was that?
I've got to ask where the otherone was.
I was going to say the samething.
Because, I was at Allure lastyear and I'm like you're right.
Sam Miklos (19:12):
It's so spiritual like you can feel it.
And then there was this otherone and I'm like what's that?
Karli Grace (19:18):
So the other one is more of a it's not like a
pretty landmark, I, but it's notlike a pretty landmark.
I actually had a car crash.
I was going to water and I hada car crash, which was really
unfortunate.
It was really, you know,frightening.
It was handled incredibly.
I was really well supported byall the management team and I
(19:40):
was silly enough that the nurseand I, we, were asked do you
want to go out to the remotecommunity or do you want to stay
here and just take a day?
You don't need to go out, we'llchange your flights around,
we'll change things around, getyou accommodation.
And I sort of looked at thenurse and I thought, if you're
happy to go, I'm happy to go,because I just look at it as the
community needs the service.
Kate Coomber (20:00):
And you felt.
Karli Grace (20:01):
okay, I felt totally fine.
I mean I was a bit like myneck's, a little sore.
It was fine.
I ended up walking on thetreadmill that night type of
thing.
I was fine.
It was more just the shake upof having a car accident.
But she said, no, yeah, let'sget out there.
And I think because when you'reworking on the ground, you do
(20:23):
unfortunately see howunderserviced these places are,
and it's not because peoplearen't trying, it's because we
do have lack of funding andresources to get out there.
Yeah, but when I sort of lookat it and I go, this is three
weeks that they're relying on noone's been here.
(20:43):
Well, I was actually the lastperson that was there, and that
was four months before, and Iknow that each child needs on
average, three to four teethextracted or filled, and there's
X amount of kids in thecommunity.
These people need this service.
So taking one day away is just anon-negotiable for me.
I'm like, if I can work, if I'mokay, I'm getting out there.
(21:04):
And so we went and I woke upthe next morning and I couldn't
get out of bed, so I was verystiff.
Anyway, long story short, gotthe health clinic doctors to
check me over.
They said we need to actuallysend you back to Darwin for a CT
scan.
My management team wanted aphysio to clear me to be able to
(21:25):
go back, because dentistry isso heavy on your neck.
So I did that and anyway, Iended up having to stay in
Darwin that weekend, and I am abig believer of doing things on
your own and I, for the last twoyears, have been forcing myself
.
I mean, I live a veryindependent life as it is, but I
go to concerts by myself and Ilove doing it.
(21:46):
It's just kind of like my thingnow.
And I went to a concert bymyself and I met someone and
that was about three months agoand I'm now moving to Darwin to
be with him.
Sam Miklos (21:58):
Oh, wow.
Karli Grace (22:02):
So that was another trip that I mean, even though I
had a car accident and Ithought everything was just
going crazy in a way, him and Ihad talked and I said I kind of
had that realisation that if Inever had a car accident I
wouldn't have met you.
So, that trip was special forits own reasons.
Kate Coomber (22:18):
And if you just put yourself out there?
Karli Grace (22:19):
And I feel like if I said, if he heard me say this,
if he's listening, what's hisname?
Kate Coomber (22:23):
It will be.
Hi Max Dullin.
I should be reading Darwin, soI was like he kind of has to.
Sam Miklos (22:28):
Even if it's on 1.5 times, speed.
Karli Grace (22:30):
Yeah, yeah yeah, if he heard me say that the
Central Australia trip was myfavourite trip, so is he from
Darwin?
No, he's from Redland Bay, soBrissy, but he's been.
He actually lived out in aremote Aboriginal community for
two years and now he's living inDarwin and he's a pilot.
(22:53):
Actually he flies the littleplanes that we go out in.
Kate Coomber (22:58):
Oh, that's a beautiful story.
What do you think?
Sam Miklos (23:00):
Are you going to miss the remote work?
Kate Coomber (23:02):
Or will you still do remote?
Karli Grace (23:03):
No, I'll still do it, I'll still do it, just not
in a locum capacity.
So I'll still be going.
I don't know how frequently itis, but I dare say it's probably
every three or four weeks.
But rather than doing threeweeks since or four weeks since
or five weeks since, it'll bethree week, I'm sorry, it'll be
one week.
(23:23):
So Monday to Friday much moremanageable.
But there's yeah, there's a lotof blessings that will come
with taking that shift, but Iknow that my career calling is
to continue locuming.
This is just what I have to dofor love.
Kate Coomber (23:34):
There's a moment right now for love, but how
amazing that you can baseyourself somewhere, like Darwin,
and still do the work thatyou're passionate about and the
opportunities Absolutely.
Sam Miklos (23:43):
And also that you can low convince your final love
.
Karli Grace (23:46):
Oh, because that is a big concern for people.
That is how you find love.
I'm young and I don't want tobe out.
Yeah, like, how do you?
Sam Miklos (23:52):
find love and you're like.
Well, I'm going to concerts onmy own.
Karli Grace (23:54):
I had.
Actually I was so notinterested in dating.
I sort of had been on firstdates a bunch last year and I
just I'd gotten to a point whereI thought, no, you know what, I
really just want to focus onmyself and I'm going to just
move to the Torres Strait.
And I was going to do a longerstint, a longer locum stint, in
(24:14):
the Torres Strait and take mydog up there and be based with
my dog, because that's a trickything with locuming having those
responsibilities.
And so I wanted to go up to theTorres Strait and just live
there.
And I remember when I met Max,I just said no, no, no, be gone,
I'm moving Like this can'thappen.
Sam Miklos (24:33):
This isn't going to work.
Karli Grace (24:35):
I got plans, I've got big plans and it's not like
I'm based in Brisbane and sowhat?
It's a four-hour flight.
You can make that work.
It's the tourist route, so it's, you know, a flight from
Brisbane to Cairns, cairns toHorn and then a ferry to
Thursday Island or whicheverother island you're based on.
So I was like, logistically wecan't, this isn't going to be a
(24:58):
thing.
This is.
This isn't going to be a thing.
This will be distant.
Yeah, stand down, max.
Yeah, but it didn't take long.
I actually ended up extendingmy stay on the flight back from
Water to Brisbane yeah, fromWater to Darwin, darwin to
Brisbane.
I ended up extending it tospend more time with him and
just sort of go is thissomething here?
And it is.
Sam Miklos (25:16):
So your dog is?
Kate Coomber (25:18):
it Sailor your dog .
Karli Grace (25:18):
Sailor yeah, so.
Sam Miklos (25:19):
Sailor goes with you on these locusts, because where
is your base?
Karli Grace (25:23):
I'm based in the Sunshine Coast.
My mum is down here in Brisbanebut I have, so you can take
your dog on certain placements,by all means, not so much remote
Northern Territory communities,because it's just logistically
it's impossible.
I wouldn't want to.
I mean Sail.
Sailors are 32-kilogramDobermans.
Kate Coomber (25:42):
Oh my God, she's not going on those tiny planes
On the four-seater there's noroom.
Karli Grace (25:49):
I would love that she's actually crossed with
great dinosaurs, oh wow.
Sam Miklos (25:55):
She's probably bigger than you.
She's pretty big, I love it.
So do you drive around to getto your placements with her?
Karli Grace (26:03):
No, so my mum takes her or I have people come and
house sit so I've had friends,you know, come and mind my house
and mind my dog, but latelyit's been mum.
Yeah, cheers mum, but with thismove to Darwin she's going to
come with me and then when I goout remote, she's now Max's
responsibility for those weeks.
Are you going to drive up?
(26:23):
No, I was going to, butlogistically it made more sense
to just fly, because I'mactually doing another stint up
in the Torres Strait.
I'm going to a little islandcalled Badoo and that's going to
be three weeks, and then I'llactually go directly from Cairns
or Badoo there's one other stopin between there and then,
wherever that is, to Horn Island, horn Island to Cairns, and
(26:44):
then I'll go Cairns to Darwinand mum will put Sailor on the
plane and I'll meet her on theother end, up in Darwin.
She's been up there before.
I've actually taken Sailor allaround the country.
That's amazing.
Kate Coomber (26:58):
This dog has a lot of fun.
It's got a great life With.
That's amazing.
This dog has a lot of life it'sgot a great life with locum.
Sam Miklos (27:01):
Like I think you don't realise, you can take your
dog and then, when you hearabout the logistics, to like
anything's possible to get tosome of these places.
Kate Coomber (27:08):
But you can do that and still have your dog and
funny things tick, tick, tickand it sounds like you build
beautiful friendships and thingsyou mentioned you know nurses
travel with and, I think, a fewguests that we've had on, and
certainly our candidates talkedto us about, um, like the
friendships and almost feelingmore part of a community,
absolutely doing this.
Karli Grace (27:28):
I think, um, so I've.
I've made some really goodfriendships doing remote work,
even back, you know, going allthe way back to when I was 18 or
20 I think it was 2021 when Ifirst started doing remote work
and I mean any industries.
You're going to connect withpeople and you're going to make
friends, but I think when youare doing something so unique,
(27:52):
you have this bond.
The other person gets it.
They know the challenges thatdo come with it because I'm not
going to be naive to the factthere is challenges with remote
work but they get it.
They understand.
You know you get home and youneed a few days to reset and
find yourself again.
So, yeah, there's almost thislike camaraderie with it that I
(28:13):
really appreciate and I thinkit's.
I mean, one of my friends isprobably one of the dearest
friends and I only met her doingthis work and, yeah, it is very
special.
Another friend I met is a womanin her, I want to say, late 60s
, and she's actually a prisonnurse and I was paired up in a
(28:36):
house with her when we werebased in Alice Springs for the
weekends and we still messageand give each other life updates
and I miss, I miss going hometo her every day and just
chatting and hearing all thegoss um so you know you, you
connect with people that youprobably wouldn't otherwise even
have it even cross paths, youwouldn't even really, you know,
(28:57):
I wouldn't think that I wouldconnect so well with a woman
that's my mum's age, but she'sjust someone that I have so much
respect for.
And, yeah, you know, we plannedto meet up in Adelaide.
She's from Adelaide and she'sdoing this in her 60s and she
just got a dog.
She rescued a dog from AliceSprings Pound and she flies.
(29:17):
I don't know if she's doing thedrive.
She was playing around with theidea of doing the drive or
doing the flight.
So I think anything is reallypossible with this sort of work.
You just have to take thechallenges with it and take the
risk.
Yeah, what do you?
Kate Coomber (29:32):
think is important Because, whilst it clearly
really agrees with you and yourwhole philosophy on life, it
won't suit everyone Absolutelynot.
Karli Grace (29:43):
What do you think are the?
Kate Coomber (29:44):
really important things people need to be mindful
of or really have to considerwhether it's for them.
Like you know, that flexibilitypiece obviously.
I assume a bit of resilience orsomething.
Sam Miklos (29:53):
What is it?
What are the challenges?
Kate Coomber (29:54):
Yeah, what is it that people really need to
consider?
Karli Grace (29:57):
I mean, that's hard to say, because I find it all
so fun and amazing.
Sam Miklos (30:01):
Yeah, when you say you're up there a challenge like
what are they?
Because you're so, I love it,everything's great.
Karli Grace (30:08):
I just I'm a big, I say yes to pretty much anything
.
So, um, I think the challengeswould be for my own stuff.
If I'm really did dig deep andreflect on it, it would be that
I'd never been on a plane before, before I moved to Alice
Springs when I was 21.
So I had only ever.
(30:29):
Well, okay, I lie, I had beenskydiving, so I jumped out of
planes.
Sam Miklos (30:34):
I love being like I've been skydiving.
No, I mean, I feel like I'vekind of worked.
I'd never landed in a plane youknow, you'd just land on your
feet or your backside, so I'dbeen skydiving twice.
Karli Grace (30:46):
But then, yeah, this was, I remember, my first
stint.
I went out to Alice and I wasso excited that I was landing in
a plane.
I was like this is amazing, was?
Kate Coomber (30:57):
it what you expected?
Karli Grace (30:58):
Not at all, yeah, not at all.
How so?
Was it what you expected?
Not at all?
Yeah, not at all.
How so?
From, I think, my lack ofunderstanding.
Being that, young as well andgrowing up in just a coastal
suburb in New South Wales, I wasso far removed from what life
is like in remote locations butin Indigenous cultures, I think
(31:22):
we have this, we're so.
There's so much distancebetween, um, what we see on the
tv, on the media, and the newsthan when you're actually on the
ground and you're you're seeingit firsthand.
Um, you end up.
I felt very, um, I had thissort of appreciation for the
fact that I was experiencing andwitnessing something that, in
(31:45):
some ways, is really hard to seeand to accept that this is
going on in our own country.
Sam Miklos (31:51):
What's going on?
What are you seeing?
Karli Grace (31:53):
In terms of the disparities in healthcare and
education and living likelifestyle, um the sort of the
social issues.
I think we there there canalmost be this label put on um
remote areas that oh, there's somuch trouble and there's so
many issues and and there is um,but there's a lot of people out
(32:16):
there doing good and helping.
I guess how would I say it?
Almost like the intentions arein the right place to actually
see change and to facilitatechange.
But I guess when you are thatyoung and you go out and you
(32:39):
have had this one concept ofwhat working in Indigenous
healthcare is going to be, andthen you see what it really is
about and all the beauty in itas well.
It's something that I really amthankful for because I think I
wouldn't understand it otherwise, obviously, otherwise obviously
(33:02):
.
But I can share that with otherpeople and sort of change, that
lens of the reasons why we haveproblems in remote communities
and with our First Nationspeople is because of
generational trauma and it'sbecause of poverty and it's
because of what happened andit's because of colonisation.
And I think if you put yourselfon the ground and be amongst
that, you start having empathyrather than judgement and I'm
(33:28):
thankful that I feel like I'vehelped shift that lens for other
people that haven't putthemselves in those positions if
that makes sense and comingfrom that real place of
curiosity I imagine when you gothere, of just listening.
Yeah, and just being presentwith it as well.
But I've learnt so much interms of how family can be and
(33:52):
how it's.
You know you've got like largefamilies but there's toddlers
and you know nine-year-olds thatare looking after the babies
and it's so collective.
They're really collectivecommunities rather than this
sort of singular, you know, mum,dad, two kids type of thing,
(34:15):
and they're responsible for it,and you might have the
grandparents, but when youreally understand or when you
get to know that even thingslike explaining dental treatment
or consent to do a treatmentfor a child, there's multiple
people involved in that processthat look out for that child and
(34:36):
care for that child, and I feellike that isn't always shown in
the media.
But it is when you're workingamongst it and you can see how
family, what family, really canbe.
Sam Miklos (34:50):
I think those are little things that I'm really
thankful for no, no, you go nono, I was just gonna say, um,
like you're so passionate aboutthe work that you do and um,
you've talked a bit about likeyou had the privilege of
learning these things peopledon't know.
Do you ever think aboutmentoring students, or like, are
you at that point yet?
Kate Coomber (35:11):
because I would love to do.
They know it exists did youknow?
It existed, or how do weamplify this message?
Karli Grace (35:18):
I think, um, I mean , I was really fortunate when I
went to university, havingalready experienced remote work
and working with Aboriginalpeople and just, you know,
understanding a little bit aboutthe culture that I wouldn't
have otherwise.
When I went to university.
(35:39):
I've a lot of my peers wouldsay I was a big advocate for
Indigenous rights, indigenoushealthcare, working with our
First Nations people, not forthem or at them, and I think
that's really important, as wellas going into situations or
(36:01):
clinics or no matter whichindustry you're in really and
asking people like how can Ihelp or what do you need and
what do you want?
Not, I'm here to do this.
So I think I feel that in mypassion and advocacy for
Indigenous healthcare and theconversations I have with people
(36:23):
, and that even I mean Iprobably annoyed the students so
much because I would, you know,say something in a lecture
where I would say, oh, this ispart of what I've experienced
and what I've witnessed and justmade people look at things from
a different angle.
I ended up actually being astudent mentor at uni.
(36:44):
So when I was in my second year, I mentored the first years and
then I was the academicrepresentative as well.
So I had a role and a positionin just my cohort where I could
have these sorts ofconversations with people, and
luckily I've been asked to speakfor universities doing, I guess
(37:06):
, just sharing my experience.
Sam Miklos (37:07):
Sharing your experience, because do they ever
like talk at uni about thisremote work?
Karli Grace (37:14):
I was lucky at Charles Sturt University that it
is.
There is a strong focus onpublic health and working
rurally and somewhat remotely.
I think there's maybe more of afocus on rural work, sort of
regional New South.
Wales and even regionalVictoria, but remote is kind of
that if you game you can go dothat.
Kate Coomber (37:36):
Yeah, because there's a big difference between
rural farming, communities andthings and what you were talking
about today, because I nevertalked about that when I went
through occupational therapy.
Sam Miklos (37:43):
I never heard about it.
So it feels like it's thisconstant thing where people are
like we don't know this exists.
Karli Grace (37:49):
I don't think it's highlighted as the opportunity
that it really is.
Kate Coomber (37:52):
I think.
That's across a lot ofindustries right.
Like I imagine, teaching andvarious.
Sam Miklos (37:58):
Yes, definitely, and also there's probably that
perception that you need to haveworked for a lot longer to be
able to go out to thesecommunities.
Karli Grace (38:09):
I was in.
I'd been out of uni a year anda half before I moved to East
Arnhem Land and worked as aregional oral health coordinator
.
So I put you know, a big girlhat on and Did you feel
supported Like was it daunting?
It was hard because I think atthat stage of my career I
probably should have beenfocusing more on my clinical
skills and being mentored, so Ithink I bit off more than I
(38:31):
could chew, in a way, but I'm soopen to experiences that scare
the life out of me.
Kate Coomber (38:39):
Because you probably got thrown into a much
larger scope, I'd imagine.
Yeah, definitely.
Karli Grace (38:43):
Well, it was the communities that I was sort of
responsible for facilitatingdental services to was it was
about 9,000 people.
And then you share that rolewith the Northern Territory
Government, and even justworking sort of across
organisations is really tricky,as well been no one in the
position for years, so I didn'treally know where to even start
(39:08):
and I I thought what can I dohere and what can I do?
Well, like, where are my skillsthat I've developed over the
years by doing this work?
And so much of that was oralhealth education.
So a big part of my role thereI mean I was dictating it in a
way was going out to the schoolsand implementing toothbrushing
programs and going to the agedcare facilities.
(39:33):
And there's a funny story withthat one, my partner.
At the time she was an agedcare disability support worker
and she helped me round up thelittle old ladies and I gave
this big session.
I had cutouts because English isnot going to be the first
language by any means it'susually the fourth language and
(39:56):
you learn little bits of thedialect, so you know how to say
teeth or how to say water or howto say sugar.
But I was doing this in a waythat I thought was culturally
appropriate and I had picturesof teeth and I did this whole
session.
It went for about 20 minutesand then I said, okay, I'm going
to do a screening so that I canfacilitate this.
(40:17):
This is an urgent caretreatment.
This needs to be addressed ASAP.
And a lot of the women theydidn't have teeth.
One woman didn't have any teeth, but but the opportunity still
is.
I sort of said to my partner Iwas like I feel like you should
have screened this for me thething is, is that the oral
(40:40):
health therapist in me is thatoral therapy and and dentistry
isn't just teeth?
Kate Coomber (40:46):
it's soft tissue.
Karli Grace (40:48):
So you're looking for oral candida, which is like
an oral thrush, which can beassociated with certain
medications, and when you havepeople that are medically so
compromised, a lot to do withsimply being Indigenous, which
is really really unfortunate andreally you know it's a terrible
thing they have, you know, alot of medical conditions and
(41:10):
chronic diseases, and there areother conditions that we'll see
in the mouth that aren't relatedto teeth specifically, so I
still took the opportunity.
As one, I can do things here.
Sam Miklos (41:21):
We can still do this .
We can still do this.
We've got to get a couple morepictures.
Karli Grace (41:25):
Isn't that just life?
Kate Coomber (41:26):
though, yeah, 100% .
Karli Grace (41:28):
You can plan something and you have your
vision of which way it's goingto go and life is going to go.
No, let's shake it up a littlebit for you and.
I find the beauty in that,because now it's something that
I look back on and I think it'sfunny, and now I've told you
guys.
Kate Coomber (41:40):
I love it and I think everyone in Australia
deserves the right to accesshealthcare, and I think that's
you know.
You're doing such a wonderfuljob out there and I think the
promotion piece of health is soimportant and the funding if it
can go there, then you have lessthereafter.
Karli Grace (42:03):
Yeah, I think there are.
We're so focused at the momenton um and and we have to be is
is fixing the issues, likefixing the abscesses and the
dental, which is the reactivestuff.
Right, it's really reactive um,and I I don't know if it's just
the way my brain works, but Ilike taking a step back and
(42:25):
going bigger picture, biggerpicture.
Why are we here?
And if it's just the way mybrain works, but I like taking a
step back and going biggerpicture, bigger picture, bigger
picture.
Kate Coomber (42:28):
Why are we here?
Karli Grace (42:29):
And maybe that's just been ingrained in me from
being a therapist, becausethat's the way that we're
designed to look at the body.
Sam Miklos (42:35):
You're a why person.
Why are we doing this?
Why are we doing this?
Karli Grace (42:38):
Yeah, so I feel like, if you look at the bigger
picture, though, you can directthat funding or that change into
a way that you can thenactually achieve your goal on a
broader scale.
And it will take more time andit will take more understanding
(43:05):
and more.
You know planning and whatnot,but when I was at uni, my
research was in this is going tobe an awful thing to rattle off
, but maternal hypovitaminosis D.
So, essentially, vitamin Ddeficiency in pregnancy of the
pregnant mother.
So specifically, the second andthird trimester is really
important for the development ofthe baby's enamel or the teeth.
(43:27):
So, at a cellular level, um anduh, we were looking at well, I
was looking, I did the projectby myself and I was looking at
all the literature aroundvitamin d deficiency and, um how
that that interplays into thechild's oral health in the
future, because if you have poorenamel quality, you're going to
have high risk of dental decay.
(43:48):
So what?
What I was looking at was howis vitamin d?
How do we end up being vitamind deficient?
And you know this diet and weall know sun, so sunlight is a
huge thing and it's like okay,well, you're out in remote
northern territory there's a lotof sun, yeah but the thing is
is that um, vitamin d issynthesized in the skin.
(44:09):
So our first nations, people,especially out in remote
communities, very, very dark andso they're not absorbing or
they're not synthesizing thevitamin d the way that you would
want to, so they're oftenvitamin d deficient.
So when I was working up inthat um in that coordinator role
, I worked with a dear friend,um, who was the director of
medical services and she wasreally fascinated by this
(44:32):
research and she ended up doingvitamin D screenings for the
pregnant mothers and in that waythey can then supplement those
women that were vitamin Ddeficient and in some
long-standing effect, thatenamel is going to be stronger.
So we should stop seeing insome small capacity.
Obviously there's so many waysthat you can end up with dental
(44:53):
decay, um, but poor.
You need multiple factors.
You don't just have sugar onits own and you don't have, you
know, lack of fluoride on itsown.
You need poor enamel quality.
So if we have strong enamel,then we have that one.
Sam Miklos (45:08):
You're off to the right starting point.
It's a better.
Karli Grace (45:10):
And that is literally how far back in terms
of prevention can you really go,you know we can supplement with
fluoride in the water, which wedon't do in remote communities
because the logistics of it istoo difficult.
It's maintaining water.
Fluoridation plants is very.
It's a huge, huge job andfluoridation plants is very it's
a huge, huge job, and I meansome communities have 300 people
(45:31):
in them.
So, um, if you look at, how canwe tackle oral health care from
a true preventative point?
Well, let's go back as far aswe possibly can and just check
the vitamin d of the pregnantmother.
So that was something that um,that that research at uni.
Then I I used it out in thereal world, not in just you know
, learn how to do a filling, orlearn how to take your tooth out
(45:53):
, or learn how to, and even justnot studying it there in the
classroom, to actually see itfirsthand like that.
Yeah, yeah, and we do and you dosee, you see really poor enamel
quality.
Um so, a lot more.
There's a condition calledmolar incisor
hypermineralisation and I'venever seen it to the scale that
I do when I'm working out remotewith our First Nations kids and
(46:13):
adults.
Kate Coomber (46:14):
I should say yeah look, I feel like we could talk
for hours we always say thatit's really hard so CMR are
going to be making a donation toa charity of your choice.
Karli Grace (46:29):
Okay, Thank you for doing that.
What charity?
So I don't actually know how tosay it.
Sam Miklos (46:34):
We'll work that out later.
This can be awkward.
Karli Grace (46:37):
It's D-A-I-W-S and it's Darwin, Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Women'sShel shelter.
So it's for domestic violencepeople that are experiencing
domestic violence in remotecommunities.
So that would be where I wouldwant you guys to donate.
Sam Miklos (46:55):
Thank you, Carly.
You're just such a beautifulperson too.
Just hearing you talk.
Kate Coomber (47:03):
So nice to hear someone who's really doing the
work that they're literallymeant to do.
Sam Miklos (47:08):
Like.
I still don't think you'vefound a single challenge.
Kate Coomber (47:10):
I know there's still no challenges there.
You know we talk about theright people in health care.
Karli Grace (47:14):
The challenge would be.
The biggest challenge for meand it's such a personal one is
being away from my dog.
But even in that there's a wayaround that, because it just
depends on where you go.
I mean, there was theopportunity to go to the Torres
Strait and I would be living onHorn Island with my dog and I
would just catch the ferry overevery day, which the kids do for
school anyway.
So even that's not even achallenge.
Sam Miklos (47:36):
It's a way around it .
It's always a way, it's alwaysa solution.
I think every challenge for youis an opportunity and I love
that and just thank you for allthese communities Even to think,
to take your research and thenthe impact that's having, like
you're so passionate about whatyou do and it's it's amazing,
it's inspiring to hear.
I'm sure there'll be, someonewho'll listen to this and go, oh
(47:56):
gosh, I could do that.
I could do that, yeah.
Karli Grace (47:58):
I want to go and experience it, anyone can, if
you, uh, if there's somethingthat scares you, if there's
something that scares you, ifthere's something that scares me
, my immediate reaction is I'vegot to do it, even skydiving,
you know it's one of thosethings you skydive before you go
into play.
You know, I just think that lifeis so full of beautiful
(48:20):
opportunities and there's somany.
It's that typical thing of like.
You know, if one door closes,another will open.
I just think there's so manydoors, but if you don't start
going through them, even theones that you don't know what's
on the other side, um, you know,stop planning your life and
stop trying to put all thepuzzle pieces together.
Just take a risk where you don'tknow the unknown, because I
think there's so much beauty intrusting the unknown and it's
(48:45):
it's allowed me to live a reallyamazing life.
So thank you guys for sendingme out to communities.
Sam Miklos (48:53):
Yeah, no, well, hopefully we can get you back
out there.
Kate Coomber (48:55):
Yeah, you will Enjoy Darwin, I'll enjoy Darwin,
but like you know, sorry, max,but there might need to be a
little bit of a swing back, andit sounds like there's still a
lot of areas that you haven'texplored.
Karli Grace (49:04):
Oh, there's so many oh that you need to go back to
so many.
Yeah, I'm excited for the nextchapter and then I'll be a locum
again.
Max can fly you around, yeahwell, he will be my pilot at
some point.
He actually flew a friend, adental nurse friend, the other
day and he was late to theflight.
Sam Miklos (49:24):
Good match Is that your plan Exactly.
Thank to the flight.
Good match Is that your planExactly.
Thank you, two together.
Maybe we should be recruitingpilots so that we just think
about it.
They're taking you all around.
It's not remote.
Karli Grace (49:34):
Yeah, he ended up flying in and he said, oh hi,
sorry I'm late, my name's Max,I'll be flying into whichever
community it was.
And Rachel said Max.
And apparently he said, oh,that's Rachel, because he'd met
her.
And he said, oh, I'm in lovewith your friend.
Oh, so that was the first timethe L word got used and I was
(49:54):
like that's a bit special.
Sam Miklos (49:55):
And you weren't there to hear it Wasn't there to
hear it.
But yeah, it is pretty special.
It's been a great journey.
It's been great to have youhere today.
Kate Coomber (50:15):
Thank you been a great journey.
It's been great to have youhere today, thank you, thanks,
guys.
We acknowledge the traditionalcustodians of the land of which
we meet who for centuries haveshared ancient methods of
healing and cared for theircommunities.
We pay our respects to elders,past and present.
This episode is a reminder that when we take risks
, say yes to adventure andfollow the path that feels right
.
Big things can happen.
Karli Grace (00:06):
I actually was quite emotional when I was there
.
I went on a helicopter ridearound and it was a sunset
helicopter ride.
It was really, really specialand while I was up there I
remember thinking I am soblessed, I am living a life that
is so full.
I am living a life that is sofull and having those little
(00:27):
moments where you just go.
I'm so thankful to all thepeople that encouraged me along
the way and kind of got me outhere.
Sam Miklos (00:30):
If you want to hear more great stories from our
healthcare community, be sure toclick, follow and subscribe,
and don't forget to check us outon our Instagram page.
It Takes Heart for all thebehind the scenes fun, fun.
(00:53):
Today we are joined by KarliGrace, an oral health therapist
who swapped private practice forlocum life.
From Alice Springs to theTorres Strait, carly has worked
hard to improve oral healthoutcomes in some of Australia's
most remote communities.
Welcome Carly to.
It Takes Heart, thank you.
Karli Grace (01:03):
It's a pleasure to be here.
I feel really honored.
Sam Miklos (01:06):
It's exciting to have you can we just talk about
oral health?
Therapist, that is a mouthful.
Karli Grace (01:12):
It's a lot like.
This is why we shorten it toOHT.
But if you say, if someone says, oh, what do you do for work?
No one knows what an OHT is,and no one knows what an oral
health therapist is either.
Sam Miklos (01:20):
So yeah, I need you to help.
What is an OHT, an overheadprojector.
Karli Grace (01:32):
So an oral health therapist a lot of people are
familiar with dental hygienist,so you go to your regular dental
clinic and you get your teethcleaned and then back in the day
dental therapy was a huge thing, especially in the school
dental service.
So an oral health therapist isalmost an amalgamation of those
two roles in the dental world,but then it also has a little
bit more around it.
(01:53):
So it's a lot of it's a heavyfocus on prevention.
So if you have a patient cometo you that is going through
cancer treatment, you diagnosethe different conditions that
they might suffer from becauseof their cancer treatment and
then help them, I guess, keeptheir mouth as healthy as
(02:13):
possible.
So you're giving them the tools.
But then I mean there's so manyother areas in the oral health
therapy world, but a lot of itis paediatric dentistry and
prevention.
And then it has a strong focuson periodontics as well, which
is gum health or gum disease.
So we diagnose, treat, manageand maintain gum disease.
Um, and it's I guess we're areal supporter in the dental um
(02:39):
little family or the dental teamto make sure that patients that
are going through, say, fullmouth rehabs are getting the
best treatment that they can get, if that makes sense yeah, I'm
just gonna say like with thepediatrics.
Sam Miklos (02:50):
Sorry, can I just ask you about?
The pediatric bed so you coulddo the pediatric dentistry is
that what you mean?
Karli Grace (02:56):
so where like?
Kate Coomber (02:57):
I take the three kids in and line them up and we
have a little look around, yeah,and so when we do take them to
the dentist, are we seeing thedentist, dentist or are we just?
It depends on the dental clinic.
Yeah, does everybody have one.
Karli Grace (03:09):
It's becoming very popular so some clinics will
have multiple.
The last private practice thatI worked in we had four across
three clinics.
So usually on a day by daybasis there would be one working
and they do see usually all theall the children.
And so you're doing, you'redoing restorative treatment,
you're doing extractions, you'redoing essentially people know
(03:31):
are familiar with root canaltherapy.
We don't do root canal therapyon children's teeth but it's a
nerve treatment to be able toprolong the life of the tooth in
the mouth rather thanextracting it.
So it is all this sort of thetherapy base or the restorative
dental treatment that wouldhappen to a child is usually
going to happen from an oralhealth therapist.
But then you also do yourgeneral checks and cleans so
(03:54):
we'd see adults of all ages.
I've extended my scope so Ihave full scope and I can do
fillings on all ages.
And I've done a compositeveneers course so I can do
people's veneers.
Sam Miklos (04:04):
So you can add on.
Karli Grace (04:04):
Yeah, so you can really add on, but I mean you're
not even confined to justworking in a dental clinic doing
clinical treatment.
You can go and do education andyou can go and do I mean you
can work in academics andresearch.
Sam Miklos (04:18):
How far off being a dentist are you then, like when
you're?
Kate Coomber (04:21):
going.
I can add on this.
I can add on that.
Do you want to be Like, what'sthe?
Yeah?
Karli Grace (04:24):
where's the gap?
So I get asked that questionall the time.
I am so happy being an oralhealth therapist because I love
the role that I have in workingwith children and working in
preventative health healthcare,whereas I see the dentists.
Sometimes you look at dentistryas they're kind of like the
mechanics that fix the problemonce it's already occurred,
(04:47):
whereas from an oral healththerapy perspective, you're
giving people the tools to beable to prevent getting to that
yeah prevent bad oral healthoutcomes.
so you're you kind of enforcinggood oral hygiene habits at any
stage of life, not necessarilyjust children.
So I love that because I loveworking with people and I love
(05:08):
communicating and I love sharingmy knowledge, whereas if I was
a dentist, you still do havethat capacity by all means, but
I think you would end upfocusing more on just the you
know, bread and butter, fillingsand crowns and root canals,
yeah, whereas I get thatopportunity to really meet and
greet, will meet with mypatients and then end up um.
(05:31):
You get to know them and it's alittle bit more personal, um.
Sam Miklos (05:35):
But if you wanted to be a dentist, say you have to
go back to go do the whole thing, yeah, and can I ask if were?
Karli Grace (05:42):
so did you start a dental hygienist no so I started
straight out of high school,straight out of my first job at
Sumo Salad Sumo.
Sam Miklos (05:52):
Salad.
You're like this is not mycareer here now.
This is not where I'm going.
I've got better things.
Karli Grace (05:57):
I actually trialled a few different things.
I wanted to go down the legalpathway, so I worked for a
criminal lawyer first.
Oh, the legal pathway, so Iworked for a criminal lawyer
first, and then I did like apre-enlistment prep course for
the Defence Force.
I thought I wanted to be indefence and I very much fell
into the dental world.
I worked as a junior dentalassistant this is going back
(06:18):
many years and you do, you knowI did a Certificate III in
Dental Assisting and then I sortof went on and explored more
opportunities in that role andthen added on a Certificate IV
in Oral Health Education.
All this information abouttheir oral health or about their
(06:42):
health in general and what thatcan mean for their oral health,
because it's so intertwinedespecially chronic diseases and
systemic health issues arereally related to dental health
as well, and so I really startedenjoying that.
And then I was encouraged by alot of people to go and study
and people suggested studyingoral health therapy more so than
(07:04):
dentistry, because as atherapist I think you I think it
was maybe obvious mypersonality would be better
suited to working with peoplethat little bit more and having
that more preventative approachrather than that mechanic
approach, if that makes sense.
Kate Coomber (07:17):
The clue is actually in the title, isn't it?
Well, yeah, exactly.
So you mentioned they'reworking in private practice.
Yes, but you've been workingremotely, sort of locuming,
around the country.
What?
What took you down that path?
Karli Grace (07:32):
so I I mean that it's a long journey that got me
there eventually.
You know there's a lot oflittle pathways that eventually
led to the work I'm doing rightnow.
But I actually started workingas a locum so fly and-in,
fly-out worker, more on acontract basis rather than
taking permanent positions inremote communities.
I started that when I was 21 asa dental assistant.
(07:56):
And then that's when I fell intooral health education and I
ended up going over to Indonesiaand setting up an oral health
program on a remote community.
Wow, and that was really fun,and it was, I mean, the power of
Google Translate.
I wouldn't have been able to doit because I was probably the
only Like you were the team.
Sam Miklos (08:14):
No, it was just.
Karli Grace (08:15):
Well there was a team in the volunteer
organisation I was working for,but we were doing turtle
conservation, so it wascompletely different.
We were using toothbrushes toclean the turtles.
But I just sort of I saw anopportunity and I thought these
kids are out of school, becauseit was school holidays, let's
set up this little oral healthpromotion program.
And so we kind of got the kidsall brushing and made posters
(08:38):
and tried to make it fun.
So that then again, I guess,highlighted that interest for me
, that I want to do more.
I want to like, you can only dothat for so long, I want to
take this that step further.
So I ended up going touniversity and while I was
studying in the uni holidays Iwould always go back and work
(09:00):
remote because I was a poor unistudent.
I needed the money, and this wasyou know it's hard to take a
permanent position if you're atuni, so this was perfect for me
it's very flexible.
That's a really great ideaactually when you're at uni like
to go and be doing those localroles yeah yeah, I tell a lot of
my dental nursing friends thatif you want to do it, you can
make it.
You can make it happen.
So, yeah, so that ended uptaking me to university and then
(09:24):
I always knew that the maingoal was to get back out to
remote Aboriginal communitiesand work, because I always had
this drive to work for, I guess,underprivileged people and
communities that havedisadvantages and disparities,
and so it was really importantfor me to sort of come full
circle with that and go back outas a therapist I mean, the
(09:46):
dental assistants they have ahuge role when we go out remote
as well, but I think, being thatone that's doing the treatment
and making the clinicaldecisions and giving feedback to
the clients, as well to theorganisations that I work for,
on how you can approach acertain issue or obstacle and
(10:06):
how you can work with thecommunities to be able to get
the best oral health outcomes,so it feels nice to be out there
doing what I always dreamed of.
Sam Miklos (10:16):
Where are some of the places you've been?
Karli Grace (10:18):
Oh my goodness, Okay, a community that I go to
fairly regularly is WAD Air.
So up in remote top endNorthern Territory it's a
community that unfortunately ithas a sort of a bad reputation.
It's had a lot of, I guess,social issues and political
issues there, but it's actuallyone of my favourite communities
(10:39):
to go to and whenever I go thereI feel somewhat welcome in the
community, particularly thehealth clinic.
You know, I know the, the staffthere now, and I think there's
this appreciation that the, thatone person, is returning.
So that's a community that Ireally love.
And then I've been to oh mygoodness, maningrida,
(11:01):
millingimbi, ramanginning,gapuyak, the Torres Strait.
I just came back.
How many days ago now, a fewdays, a few days Can you paint a
picture?
Kate Coomber (11:13):
You mentioned there that sometimes some
communities might have a bad repor what have you, but you
really enjoy the work there.
Can you paint a picture formaybe someone who's thinking you
know what is remote work?
What is a remote community?
What are you talking about?
Karli Grace (11:25):
I mean so remote communities are?
Well, they're just that,they're remote.
They're far, far away.
You have to Do you fly to them?
Sam Miklos (11:34):
Do you drive to them ?
Karli Grace (11:34):
Well, it depends.
So if you're in CentralAustralia doing in Northern
Territory, we drive to all thecommunities.
So I did a trip at the start ofthis year, in February I
believe it was, and I think wecalculated it was about 3,800
kilometres in four weeks, fourand a half weeks maybe, and
that's sort of going from AliceSprings to Alicarong and then
(11:59):
back, and then to Tennant Creekand then back, and then to
Elliott and then to.
We went, actually we drove allthe way over to the WA border
and worked in a beautifulcommunity called Docker River
which is just surrounded by themost incredible mountain ranges.
But it's so different, you know, if you're from the east coast
of Australia I mean, I haven'tdone west coast but east coast
(12:20):
of Australia we see, you knowbeautiful, green, lush mountain
ranges and and the ocean andeverything, but it genuinely
feels like you're in a differentcountry.
It is so um the the just theterrain is different.
It's red, like be expected tosee a lot of red dirt and it
will stain your shoes yeahum, actually I drove at one
(12:44):
point.
I drove up up to Nullumboy totake a job up in East Arnhem
Land and I worked there for sixmonths.
This was as an oral healththerapist, but in a more
coordinator role and I took mycar up there and I was just in
the mechanic yesterday and theyhad to replace my fan.
I left there in 2019 and it'snow 2025.
He said I had to just take thefan out because it was busted up
(13:06):
a bit and he goes it was fullof dust and I said what colour
was the dust?
Sam Miklos (13:09):
And he's like it was real red.
Karli Grace (13:12):
And I said oh, yeah that's from working in East
Arnhem Land.
So you know, visually it's verydifferent.
I guess socially it's reallyunique because you don't I don't
think people get theopportunity to really tap into
what it's like living andworking in remote communities
(13:32):
unless you put yourself in it.
So from a cultural perspective,I feel really blessed that I've
been able to experience certainthings firsthand and sit down
and get to know people and getto know their families.
It's not just, you know, you gointo a dental clinic and you do
a couple of fillings or youtake a few sick teeth out.
You really get this opportunityto connect with people and
(13:56):
learn little bits about culturethat you don't really see in
textbooks or you weren't taughtat school.
So I feel really thankful forthat, that I have been able to
connect with people in thatsense.
Sam Miklos (14:07):
How was the?
You know that first time youwent to a remote community, was
it daunting?
And for someone who's about todo that.
What advice do we give them?
Karli Grace (14:18):
So my first community back when I was a
dental assistant I went to Water, which I kind of love because
it's a place that it was almostwhere I started doing remote
work, and I now still continuegoing to that community and the
people I work for the clientsthey do know that I love going
to Water.
And this is up top end.
Kate Coomber (14:37):
This is up top end , yeah.
Karli Grace (14:39):
So you know you're taking out a little four-seater
plane.
Maybe might have six seats,depends on, I guess it depends
on which, um which, aviationcompany you go through, but
they're, they're little planesand they uh, I I mean, I think
they're fun I guess you'relimited on what you can take.
Kate Coomber (14:58):
That's the way you're gonna get out there um,
so it's.
Karli Grace (15:03):
I mean that's, that's a challenge in itself for
some people.
Kate Coomber (15:06):
I was going to say people need to be aware of that
right, because some peoplewon't feel comfortable doing
that?
Karli Grace (15:09):
Yeah, 100% yeah.
Sam Miklos (15:11):
It's the same as if you're not into long drives.
Kate Coomber (15:13):
Well, yeah, like that's a lot of driving.
I love it, but if you're notcomfortable or confident, I
would have to say I'm a goodflyer.
Karli Grace (15:25):
I I'm a good flyer.
I mean I have to be.
I've been flying for work forthe last 20 years, but I love
the drives, and the reason Ilove the drive is because I get
to just rock out and listen tomusic the whole time.
Are you driving on your own?
It's really vast distances.
So in Central Australia when wedrive out, you take a nurse with
you.
Sometimes you will be yourconvoy, depending on if you're
(15:45):
taking out a dental van becausewe'll set up the large dental
vans at a health clinic or at aschool and then the driver of
the van needs to get back to thecentral hub, which will be our
springs.
Kate Coomber (15:58):
It's sort of like mobile dentistry coming in.
Karli Grace (16:00):
Yeah, so we end up sort of taking two cars out and
he takes one back and then hemeets us back there to take the
van back.
So it's a lot of logisticaloperations that get done behind
the scenes that we don't have toworry about.
They just sort of go.
There's the keys and here's your.
You know we have to do carchecks.
I mean, my first trip toCentral Australia, on my
orientation, it was like, allright, get out the back, we're
(16:30):
going to show you how to changea tyre.
That was my next question.
How handy are you with a car?
I like to say I'm great, but mymechanic will say otherwise.
Kate Coomber (16:36):
Just to give people scope of the distances
you're talking about.
You know how long is that drive?
Yeah, if you, you know you'regoing to Tennant Creek, you're
going to these communities.
Karli Grace (16:41):
So the longest drive I've done was over to the
WA border, which from AliceSprings was I mean I remember
putting it in Google Maps and itwas, it said 10 hours, and I
was thinking, oh, this is a day,and I mean we stopped at Yulara
on the way, so where?
Uluru is.
So I mean, that was cool.
Sam Miklos (17:00):
I was just going to say that, no problem.
Karli Grace (17:03):
Stunning.
But then you keep going and,yeah, I think all up it was, it
ended up being maybe like anine-hour day driving and then
you get in.
You know you feel prettyexhausted after that, but I just
live on such a high of the workthat I do.
Sam Miklos (17:15):
And you're travelling, yeah, you're seeing
the countryside, it's beautifulBecause you're right, lara, like
so many people wouldn't get tosee it.
No, I've been waiting for atrip to get out there.
Karli Grace (17:25):
So that particular trip, I have to say, out of all
of the trips I've done, there isone other trip that is
sentimental, that is special,but that trip was very much.
It was really profound for mebecause I ended up getting to go
to Uluru and just witnessingsuch a magnificent landmark and
(17:48):
even Katajuta, which isn't evenit's close by but I guess it's
nowhere near as popular.
There's something spiritualabout it and it was.
I actually was quite emotional.
When I was there I went on ahelicopter ride.
Yeah, it's true, it was a sunsethelicopter ride and it was
really, really special and whileI was up there I remember
(18:11):
thinking I am so blessed thatthis is what I do for a job,
that I have the opportunity andthe privilege to be able to see
these things, and I know it'staken a lot of hard work to get
to it and a lot of sacrificetaken a lot of hard work to get
to it and a lot of sacrifice anda lot of risk.
But I am living a life that isso full and right and the path
(18:32):
that I wanted to go, like thedirection I wanted for my, for
my life, and having those littlemoments where you just go I'm
so thankful to all the peoplethat encouraged me along the way
and kind of got me out here andmade it happen and just those
little parts of fate where youthink, if that never happened,
that never would have happened.
I'm a big believer in thebutterfly effect and chaos
(18:54):
theory, and I think everythinghappens for a reason and
wherever you are in a moment iswhere you're meant to be, and I
genuinely feel that every singletrip I go on which is really
cool when was that?
I've got to ask where the otherone was.
I was going to say the samething.
Because, I was at Allure lastyear and I'm like you're right.
Sam Miklos (19:12):
It's so spiritual like you can feel it.
And then there was this otherone and I'm like what's that?
Karli Grace (19:18):
So the other one is more of a it's not like a
pretty landmark, I, but it's notlike a pretty landmark.
I actually had a car crash.
I was going to water and I hada car crash, which was really
unfortunate.
It was really, you know,frightening.
It was handled incredibly.
I was really well supported byall the management team and I
(19:40):
was silly enough that the nurseand I, we, were asked do you
want to go out to the remotecommunity or do you want to stay
here and just take a day?
You don't need to go out, we'llchange your flights around,
we'll change things around, getyou accommodation.
And I sort of looked at thenurse and I thought, if you're
happy to go, I'm happy to go,because I just look at it as the
community needs the service.
Kate Coomber (20:00):
And you felt.
Karli Grace (20:01):
okay, I felt totally fine.
I mean I was a bit like myneck's, a little sore.
It was fine.
I ended up walking on thetreadmill that night type of
thing.
I was fine.
It was more just the shake upof having a car accident.
But she said, no, yeah, let'sget out there.
And I think because when you'reworking on the ground, you do
(20:23):
unfortunately see howunderserviced these places are,
and it's not because peoplearen't trying, it's because we
do have lack of funding andresources to get out there.
Yeah, but when I sort of lookat it and I go, this is three
weeks that they're relying on noone's been here.
(20:43):
Well, I was actually the lastperson that was there, and that
was four months before, and Iknow that each child needs on
average, three to four teethextracted or filled, and there's
X amount of kids in thecommunity.
These people need this service.
So taking one day away is just anon-negotiable for me.
I'm like, if I can work, if I'mokay, I'm getting out there.
(21:04):
And so we went and I woke upthe next morning and I couldn't
get out of bed, so I was verystiff.
Anyway, long story short, gotthe health clinic doctors to
check me over.
They said we need to actuallysend you back to Darwin for a CT
scan.
My management team wanted aphysio to clear me to be able to
(21:25):
go back, because dentistry isso heavy on your neck.
So I did that and anyway, Iended up having to stay in
Darwin that weekend, and I am abig believer of doing things on
your own and I, for the last twoyears, have been forcing myself
.
I mean, I live a veryindependent life as it is, but I
go to concerts by myself and Ilove doing it.
(21:46):
It's just kind of like my thingnow.
And I went to a concert bymyself and I met someone and
that was about three months agoand I'm now moving to Darwin to
be with him.
Sam Miklos (21:58):
Oh, wow.
Karli Grace (22:02):
So that was another trip that I mean, even though I
had a car accident and Ithought everything was just
going crazy in a way, him and Ihad talked and I said I kind of
had that realisation that if Inever had a car accident I
wouldn't have met you.
So, that trip was special forits own reasons.
Kate Coomber (22:18):
And if you just put yourself out there?
Karli Grace (22:19):
And I feel like if I said, if he heard me say this,
if he's listening, what's hisname?
Kate Coomber (22:23):
It will be.
Hi Max Dullin.
I should be reading Darwin, soI was like he kind of has to.
Sam Miklos (22:28):
Even if it's on 1.5 times, speed.
Karli Grace (22:30):
Yeah, yeah yeah, if he heard me say that the
Central Australia trip was myfavourite trip, so is he from
Darwin?
No, he's from Redland Bay, soBrissy, but he's been.
He actually lived out in aremote Aboriginal community for
two years and now he's living inDarwin and he's a pilot.
(22:53):
Actually he flies the littleplanes that we go out in.
Kate Coomber (22:58):
Oh, that's a beautiful story.
What do you think?
Sam Miklos (23:00):
Are you going to miss the remote work?
Kate Coomber (23:02):
Or will you still do remote?
Karli Grace (23:03):
No, I'll still do it, I'll still do it, just not
in a locum capacity.
So I'll still be going.
I don't know how frequently itis, but I dare say it's probably
every three or four weeks.
But rather than doing threeweeks since or four weeks since
or five weeks since, it'll bethree week, I'm sorry, it'll be
one week.
(23:23):
So Monday to Friday much moremanageable.
But there's yeah, there's a lotof blessings that will come
with taking that shift, but Iknow that my career calling is
to continue locuming.
This is just what I have to dofor love.
Kate Coomber (23:34):
There's a moment right now for love, but how
amazing that you can baseyourself somewhere, like Darwin,
and still do the work thatyou're passionate about and the
opportunities Absolutely.
Sam Miklos (23:43):
And also that you can low convince your final love
.
Karli Grace (23:46):
Oh, because that is a big concern for people.
That is how you find love.
I'm young and I don't want tobe out.
Yeah, like, how do you?
Sam Miklos (23:52):
find love and you're like.
Well, I'm going to concerts onmy own.
Karli Grace (23:54):
I had.
Actually I was so notinterested in dating.
I sort of had been on firstdates a bunch last year and I
just I'd gotten to a point whereI thought, no, you know what, I
really just want to focus onmyself and I'm going to just
move to the Torres Strait.
And I was going to do a longerstint, a longer locum stint, in
(24:14):
the Torres Strait and take mydog up there and be based with
my dog, because that's a trickything with locuming having those
responsibilities.
And so I wanted to go up to theTorres Strait and just live
there.
And I remember when I met Max,I just said no, no, no, be gone,
I'm moving Like this can'thappen.
Sam Miklos (24:33):
This isn't going to work.
Karli Grace (24:35):
I got plans, I've got big plans and it's not like
I'm based in Brisbane and sowhat?
It's a four-hour flight.
You can make that work.
It's the tourist route, so it's, you know, a flight from
Brisbane to Cairns, cairns toHorn and then a ferry to
Thursday Island or whicheverother island you're based on.
So I was like, logistically wecan't, this isn't going to be a
(24:58):
thing.
This is.
This isn't going to be a thing.
This will be distant.
Yeah, stand down, max.
Yeah, but it didn't take long.
I actually ended up extendingmy stay on the flight back from
Water to Brisbane yeah, fromWater to Darwin, darwin to
Brisbane.
I ended up extending it tospend more time with him and
just sort of go is thissomething here?
And it is.
Sam Miklos (25:16):
So your dog is?
Kate Coomber (25:18):
it Sailor your dog .
Karli Grace (25:18):
Sailor yeah, so.
Sam Miklos (25:19):
Sailor goes with you on these locusts, because where
is your base?
Karli Grace (25:23):
I'm based in the Sunshine Coast.
My mum is down here in Brisbanebut I have, so you can take
your dog on certain placements,by all means, not so much remote
Northern Territory communities,because it's just logistically
it's impossible.
I wouldn't want to.
I mean Sail.
Sailors are 32-kilogramDobermans.
Kate Coomber (25:42):
Oh my God, she's not going on those tiny planes
On the four-seater there's noroom.
Karli Grace (25:49):
I would love that she's actually crossed with
great dinosaurs, oh wow.
Sam Miklos (25:55):
She's probably bigger than you.
She's pretty big, I love it.
So do you drive around to getto your placements with her?
Karli Grace (26:03):
No, so my mum takes her or I have people come and
house sit so I've had friends,you know, come and mind my house
and mind my dog, but latelyit's been mum.
Yeah, cheers mum, but with thismove to Darwin she's going to
come with me and then when I goout remote, she's now Max's
responsibility for those weeks.
Are you going to drive up?
(26:23):
No, I was going to, butlogistically it made more sense
to just fly, because I'mactually doing another stint up
in the Torres Strait.
I'm going to a little islandcalled Badoo and that's going to
be three weeks, and then I'llactually go directly from Cairns
or Badoo there's one other stopin between there and then,
wherever that is, to Horn Island, horn Island to Cairns, and
(26:44):
then I'll go Cairns to Darwinand mum will put Sailor on the
plane and I'll meet her on theother end, up in Darwin.
She's been up there before.
I've actually taken Sailor allaround the country.
That's amazing.
Kate Coomber (26:58):
This dog has a lot of fun.
It's got a great life With.
That's amazing.
This dog has a lot of life it'sgot a great life with locum.
Sam Miklos (27:01):
Like I think you don't realise, you can take your
dog and then, when you hearabout the logistics, to like
anything's possible to get tosome of these places.
Kate Coomber (27:08):
But you can do that and still have your dog and
funny things tick, tick, tickand it sounds like you build
beautiful friendships and thingsyou mentioned you know nurses
travel with and, I think, a fewguests that we've had on, and
certainly our candidates talkedto us about, um, like the
friendships and almost feelingmore part of a community,
absolutely doing this.
Karli Grace (27:28):
I think, um, so I've.
I've made some really goodfriendships doing remote work,
even back, you know, going allthe way back to when I was 18 or
20 I think it was 2021 when Ifirst started doing remote work
and I mean any industries.
You're going to connect withpeople and you're going to make
friends, but I think when youare doing something so unique,
(27:52):
you have this bond.
The other person gets it.
They know the challenges thatdo come with it because I'm not
going to be naive to the factthere is challenges with remote
work but they get it.
They understand.
You know you get home and youneed a few days to reset and
find yourself again.
So, yeah, there's almost thislike camaraderie with it that I
(28:13):
really appreciate and I thinkit's.
I mean, one of my friends isprobably one of the dearest
friends and I only met her doingthis work and, yeah, it is very
special.
Another friend I met is a womanin her, I want to say, late 60s
, and she's actually a prisonnurse and I was paired up in a
(28:36):
house with her when we werebased in Alice Springs for the
weekends and we still messageand give each other life updates
and I miss, I miss going hometo her every day and just
chatting and hearing all thegoss um so you know you, you
connect with people that youprobably wouldn't otherwise even
have it even cross paths, youwouldn't even really, you know,
(28:57):
I wouldn't think that I wouldconnect so well with a woman
that's my mum's age, but she'sjust someone that I have so much
respect for.
And, yeah, you know, we plannedto meet up in Adelaide.
She's from Adelaide and she'sdoing this in her 60s and she
just got a dog.
She rescued a dog from AliceSprings Pound and she flies.
(29:17):
I don't know if she's doing thedrive.
She was playing around with theidea of doing the drive or
doing the flight.
So I think anything is reallypossible with this sort of work.
You just have to take thechallenges with it and take the
risk.
Yeah, what do you?
Kate Coomber (29:32):
think is important Because, whilst it clearly
really agrees with you and yourwhole philosophy on life, it
won't suit everyone Absolutelynot.
Karli Grace (29:43):
What do you think are the?
Kate Coomber (29:44):
really important things people need to be mindful
of or really have to considerwhether it's for them.
Like you know, that flexibilitypiece obviously.
I assume a bit of resilience orsomething.
Sam Miklos (29:53):
What is it?
What are the challenges?
Kate Coomber (29:54):
Yeah, what is it that people really need to
consider?
Karli Grace (29:57):
I mean, that's hard to say, because I find it all
so fun and amazing.
Sam Miklos (30:01):
Yeah, when you say you're up there a challenge like
what are they?
Because you're so, I love it,everything's great.
Karli Grace (30:08):
I just I'm a big, I say yes to pretty much anything
.
So, um, I think the challengeswould be for my own stuff.
If I'm really did dig deep andreflect on it, it would be that
I'd never been on a plane before, before I moved to Alice
Springs when I was 21.
So I had only ever.
(30:29):
Well, okay, I lie, I had beenskydiving, so I jumped out of
planes.
Sam Miklos (30:34):
I love being like I've been skydiving.
No, I mean, I feel like I'vekind of worked.
I'd never landed in a plane youknow, you'd just land on your
feet or your backside, so I'dbeen skydiving twice.
Karli Grace (30:46):
But then, yeah, this was, I remember, my first
stint.
I went out to Alice and I wasso excited that I was landing in
a plane.
I was like this is amazing, was?
Kate Coomber (30:57):
it what you expected?
Karli Grace (30:58):
Not at all, yeah, not at all.
How so?
Was it what you expected?
Not at all?
Yeah, not at all.
How so?
From, I think, my lack ofunderstanding.
Being that, young as well andgrowing up in just a coastal
suburb in New South Wales, I wasso far removed from what life
is like in remote locations butin Indigenous cultures, I think
(31:22):
we have this, we're so.
There's so much distancebetween, um, what we see on the
tv, on the media, and the newsthan when you're actually on the
ground and you're you're seeingit firsthand.
Um, you end up.
I felt very, um, I had thissort of appreciation for the
fact that I was experiencing andwitnessing something that, in
(31:45):
some ways, is really hard to seeand to accept that this is
going on in our own country.
Sam Miklos (31:51):
What's going on?
What are you seeing?
Karli Grace (31:53):
In terms of the disparities in healthcare and
education and living likelifestyle, um the sort of the
social issues.
I think we there there canalmost be this label put on um
remote areas that oh, there's somuch trouble and there's so
many issues and and there is um,but there's a lot of people out
(32:16):
there doing good and helping.
I guess how would I say it?
Almost like the intentions arein the right place to actually
see change and to facilitatechange.
But I guess when you are thatyoung and you go out and you
(32:39):
have had this one concept ofwhat working in Indigenous
healthcare is going to be, andthen you see what it really is
about and all the beauty in itas well.
It's something that I really amthankful for because I think I
wouldn't understand it otherwise, obviously, otherwise obviously
(33:02):
.
But I can share that with otherpeople and sort of change, that
lens of the reasons why we haveproblems in remote communities
and with our First Nationspeople is because of
generational trauma and it'sbecause of poverty and it's
because of what happened andit's because of colonisation.
And I think if you put yourselfon the ground and be amongst
that, you start having empathyrather than judgement and I'm
(33:28):
thankful that I feel like I'vehelped shift that lens for other
people that haven't putthemselves in those positions if
that makes sense and comingfrom that real place of
curiosity I imagine when you gothere, of just listening.
Yeah, and just being presentwith it as well.
But I've learnt so much interms of how family can be and
(33:52):
how it's.
You know you've got like largefamilies but there's toddlers
and you know nine-year-olds thatare looking after the babies
and it's so collective.
They're really collectivecommunities rather than this
sort of singular, you know, mum,dad, two kids type of thing,
(34:15):
and they're responsible for it,and you might have the
grandparents, but when youreally understand or when you
get to know that even thingslike explaining dental treatment
or consent to do a treatmentfor a child, there's multiple
people involved in that processthat look out for that child and
(34:36):
care for that child, and I feellike that isn't always shown in
the media.
But it is when you're workingamongst it and you can see how
family, what family, really canbe.
Sam Miklos (34:50):
I think those are little things that I'm really
thankful for no, no, you go nono, I was just gonna say, um,
like you're so passionate aboutthe work that you do and um,
you've talked a bit about likeyou had the privilege of
learning these things peopledon't know.
Do you ever think aboutmentoring students, or like, are
you at that point yet?
Kate Coomber (35:11):
because I would love to do.
They know it exists did youknow?
It existed, or how do weamplify this message?
Karli Grace (35:18):
I think, um, I mean , I was really fortunate when I
went to university, havingalready experienced remote work
and working with Aboriginalpeople and just, you know,
understanding a little bit aboutthe culture that I wouldn't
have otherwise.
When I went to university.
(35:39):
I've a lot of my peers wouldsay I was a big advocate for
Indigenous rights, indigenoushealthcare, working with our
First Nations people, not forthem or at them, and I think
that's really important, as wellas going into situations or
(36:01):
clinics or no matter whichindustry you're in really and
asking people like how can Ihelp or what do you need and
what do you want?
Not, I'm here to do this.
So I think I feel that in mypassion and advocacy for
Indigenous healthcare and theconversations I have with people
(36:23):
, and that even I mean Iprobably annoyed the students so
much because I would, you know,say something in a lecture
where I would say, oh, this ispart of what I've experienced
and what I've witnessed and justmade people look at things from
a different angle.
I ended up actually being astudent mentor at uni.
(36:44):
So when I was in my second year, I mentored the first years and
then I was the academicrepresentative as well.
So I had a role and a positionin just my cohort where I could
have these sorts ofconversations with people, and
luckily I've been asked to speakfor universities doing, I guess
(37:06):
, just sharing my experience.
Sam Miklos (37:07):
Sharing your experience, because do they ever
like talk at uni about thisremote work?
Karli Grace (37:14):
I was lucky at Charles Sturt University that it
is.
There is a strong focus onpublic health and working
rurally and somewhat remotely.
I think there's maybe more of afocus on rural work, sort of
regional New South.
Wales and even regionalVictoria, but remote is kind of
that if you game you can go dothat.
Kate Coomber (37:36):
Yeah, because there's a big difference between
rural farming, communities andthings and what you were talking
about today, because I nevertalked about that when I went
through occupational therapy.
Sam Miklos (37:43):
I never heard about it.
So it feels like it's thisconstant thing where people are
like we don't know this exists.
Karli Grace (37:49):
I don't think it's highlighted as the opportunity
that it really is.
Kate Coomber (37:52):
I think.
That's across a lot ofindustries right.
Like I imagine, teaching andvarious.
Sam Miklos (37:58):
Yes, definitely, and also there's probably that
perception that you need to haveworked for a lot longer to be
able to go out to thesecommunities.
Karli Grace (38:09):
I was in.
I'd been out of uni a year anda half before I moved to East
Arnhem Land and worked as aregional oral health coordinator
.
So I put you know, a big girlhat on and Did you feel
supported Like was it daunting?
It was hard because I think atthat stage of my career I
probably should have beenfocusing more on my clinical
skills and being mentored, so Ithink I bit off more than I
(38:31):
could chew, in a way, but I'm soopen to experiences that scare
the life out of me.
Kate Coomber (38:39):
Because you probably got thrown into a much
larger scope, I'd imagine.
Yeah, definitely.
Karli Grace (38:43):
Well, it was the communities that I was sort of
responsible for facilitatingdental services to was it was
about 9,000 people.
And then you share that rolewith the Northern Territory
Government, and even justworking sort of across
organisations is really tricky,as well been no one in the
position for years, so I didn'treally know where to even start
(39:08):
and I I thought what can I dohere and what can I do?
Well, like, where are my skillsthat I've developed over the
years by doing this work?
And so much of that was oralhealth education.
So a big part of my role thereI mean I was dictating it in a
way was going out to the schoolsand implementing toothbrushing
programs and going to the agedcare facilities.
(39:33):
And there's a funny story withthat one, my partner.
At the time she was an agedcare disability support worker
and she helped me round up thelittle old ladies and I gave
this big session.
I had cutouts because English isnot going to be the first
language by any means it'susually the fourth language and
(39:56):
you learn little bits of thedialect, so you know how to say
teeth or how to say water or howto say sugar.
But I was doing this in a waythat I thought was culturally
appropriate and I had picturesof teeth and I did this whole
session.
It went for about 20 minutesand then I said, okay, I'm going
to do a screening so that I canfacilitate this.
(40:17):
This is an urgent caretreatment.
This needs to be addressed ASAP.
And a lot of the women theydidn't have teeth.
One woman didn't have any teeth, but but the opportunity still
is.
I sort of said to my partner Iwas like I feel like you should
have screened this for me thething is, is that the oral
(40:40):
health therapist in me is thatoral therapy and and dentistry
isn't just teeth?
Kate Coomber (40:46):
it's soft tissue.
Karli Grace (40:48):
So you're looking for oral candida, which is like
an oral thrush, which can beassociated with certain
medications, and when you havepeople that are medically so
compromised, a lot to do withsimply being Indigenous, which
is really really unfortunate andreally you know it's a terrible
thing they have, you know, alot of medical conditions and
(41:10):
chronic diseases, and there areother conditions that we'll see
in the mouth that aren't relatedto teeth specifically, so I
still took the opportunity.
As one, I can do things here.
Sam Miklos (41:21):
We can still do this .
We can still do this.
We've got to get a couple morepictures.
Karli Grace (41:25):
Isn't that just life?
Kate Coomber (41:26):
though, yeah, 100% .
Karli Grace (41:28):
You can plan something and you have your
vision of which way it's goingto go and life is going to go.
No, let's shake it up a littlebit for you and.
I find the beauty in that,because now it's something that
I look back on and I think it'sfunny, and now I've told you
guys.
Kate Coomber (41:40):
I love it and I think everyone in Australia
deserves the right to accesshealthcare, and I think that's
you know.
You're doing such a wonderfuljob out there and I think the
promotion piece of health is soimportant and the funding if it
can go there, then you have lessthereafter.
Karli Grace (42:03):
Yeah, I think there are.
We're so focused at the momenton um and and we have to be is
is fixing the issues, likefixing the abscesses and the
dental, which is the reactivestuff.
Right, it's really reactive um,and I I don't know if it's just
the way my brain works, but Ilike taking a step back and
(42:25):
going bigger picture, biggerpicture.
Why are we here?
And if it's just the way mybrain works, but I like taking a
step back and going biggerpicture, bigger picture, bigger
picture.
Kate Coomber (42:28):
Why are we here?
Karli Grace (42:29):
And maybe that's just been ingrained in me from
being a therapist, becausethat's the way that we're
designed to look at the body.
Sam Miklos (42:35):
You're a why person.
Why are we doing this?
Why are we doing this?
Karli Grace (42:38):
Yeah, so I feel like, if you look at the bigger
picture, though, you can directthat funding or that change into
a way that you can thenactually achieve your goal on a
broader scale.
And it will take more time andit will take more understanding
(43:05):
and more.
You know planning and whatnot,but when I was at uni, my
research was in this is going tobe an awful thing to rattle off
, but maternal hypovitaminosis D.
So, essentially, vitamin Ddeficiency in pregnancy of the
pregnant mother.
So specifically, the second andthird trimester is really
important for the development ofthe baby's enamel or the teeth.
(43:27):
So, at a cellular level, um anduh, we were looking at well, I
was looking, I did the projectby myself and I was looking at
all the literature aroundvitamin d deficiency and, um how
that that interplays into thechild's oral health in the
future, because if you have poorenamel quality, you're going to
have high risk of dental decay.
(43:48):
So what?
What I was looking at was howis vitamin d?
How do we end up being vitamind deficient?
And you know this diet and weall know sun, so sunlight is a
huge thing and it's like okay,well, you're out in remote
northern territory there's a lotof sun, yeah but the thing is
is that um, vitamin d issynthesized in the skin.
(44:09):
So our first nations, people,especially out in remote
communities, very, very dark andso they're not absorbing or
they're not synthesizing thevitamin d the way that you would
want to, so they're oftenvitamin d deficient.
So when I was working up inthat um in that coordinator role
, I worked with a dear friend,um, who was the director of
medical services and she wasreally fascinated by this
(44:32):
research and she ended up doingvitamin D screenings for the
pregnant mothers and in that waythey can then supplement those
women that were vitamin Ddeficient and in some
long-standing effect, thatenamel is going to be stronger.
So we should stop seeing insome small capacity.
Obviously there's so many waysthat you can end up with dental
(44:53):
decay, um, but poor.
You need multiple factors.
You don't just have sugar onits own and you don't have, you
know, lack of fluoride on itsown.
You need poor enamel quality.
So if we have strong enamel,then we have that one.
Sam Miklos (45:08):
You're off to the right starting point.
It's a better.
Karli Grace (45:10):
And that is literally how far back in terms
of prevention can you really go,you know we can supplement with
fluoride in the water, which wedon't do in remote communities
because the logistics of it istoo difficult.
It's maintaining water.
Fluoridation plants is very.
It's a huge, huge job andfluoridation plants is very it's
a huge, huge job, and I meansome communities have 300 people
(45:31):
in them.
So, um, if you look at, how canwe tackle oral health care from
a true preventative point?
Well, let's go back as far aswe possibly can and just check
the vitamin d of the pregnantmother.
So that was something that um,that that research at uni.
Then I I used it out in thereal world, not in just you know
, learn how to do a filling, orlearn how to take your tooth out
(45:53):
, or learn how to, and even justnot studying it there in the
classroom, to actually see itfirsthand like that.
Yeah, yeah, and we do and you dosee, you see really poor enamel
quality.
Um so, a lot more.
There's a condition calledmolar incisor
hypermineralisation and I'venever seen it to the scale that
I do when I'm working out remotewith our First Nations kids and
(46:13):
adults.
Kate Coomber (46:14):
I should say yeah look, I feel like we could talk
for hours we always say thatit's really hard so CMR are
going to be making a donation toa charity of your choice.
Karli Grace (46:29):
Okay, Thank you for doing that.
What charity?
So I don't actually know how tosay it.
Sam Miklos (46:34):
We'll work that out later.
This can be awkward.
Karli Grace (46:37):
It's D-A-I-W-S and it's Darwin, Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Women'sShel shelter.
So it's for domestic violencepeople that are experiencing
domestic violence in remotecommunities.
So that would be where I wouldwant you guys to donate.
Sam Miklos (46:55):
Thank you, Carly.
You're just such a beautifulperson too.
Just hearing you talk.
Kate Coomber (47:03):
So nice to hear someone who's really doing the
work that they're literallymeant to do.
Sam Miklos (47:08):
Like.
I still don't think you'vefound a single challenge.
Kate Coomber (47:10):
I know there's still no challenges there.
You know we talk about theright people in health care.
Karli Grace (47:14):
The challenge would be.
The biggest challenge for meand it's such a personal one is
being away from my dog.
But even in that there's a wayaround that, because it just
depends on where you go.
I mean, there was theopportunity to go to the Torres
Strait and I would be living onHorn Island with my dog and I
would just catch the ferry overevery day, which the kids do for
school anyway.
So even that's not even achallenge.
Sam Miklos (47:36):
It's a way around it .
It's always a way, it's alwaysa solution.
I think every challenge for youis an opportunity and I love
that and just thank you for allthese communities Even to think,
to take your research and thenthe impact that's having, like
you're so passionate about whatyou do and it's it's amazing,
it's inspiring to hear.
I'm sure there'll be, someonewho'll listen to this and go, oh
(47:56):
gosh, I could do that.
I could do that, yeah.
Karli Grace (47:58):
I want to go and experience it, anyone can, if
you, uh, if there's somethingthat scares you, if there's
something that scares you, ifthere's something that scares me
, my immediate reaction is I'vegot to do it, even skydiving,
you know it's one of thosethings you skydive before you go
into play.
You know, I just think that lifeis so full of beautiful
(48:20):
opportunities and there's somany.
It's that typical thing of like.
You know, if one door closes,another will open.
I just think there's so manydoors, but if you don't start
going through them, even theones that you don't know what's
on the other side, um, you know,stop planning your life and
stop trying to put all thepuzzle pieces together.
Just take a risk where you don'tknow the unknown, because I
think there's so much beauty intrusting the unknown and it's
(48:45):
it's allowed me to live a reallyamazing life.
So thank you guys for sendingme out to communities.
Sam Miklos (48:53):
Yeah, no, well, hopefully we can get you back
out there.
Kate Coomber (48:55):
Yeah, you will Enjoy Darwin, I'll enjoy Darwin,
but like you know, sorry, max,but there might need to be a
little bit of a swing back, andit sounds like there's still a
lot of areas that you haven'texplored.
Karli Grace (49:04):
Oh, there's so many oh that you need to go back to
so many.
Yeah, I'm excited for the nextchapter and then I'll be a locum
again.
Max can fly you around, yeahwell, he will be my pilot at
some point.
He actually flew a friend, adental nurse friend, the other
day and he was late to theflight.
Sam Miklos (49:24):
Good match Is that your plan Exactly.
Thank to the flight.
Good match Is that your planExactly.
Thank you, two together.
Maybe we should be recruitingpilots so that we just think
about it.
They're taking you all around.
It's not remote.
Karli Grace (49:34):
Yeah, he ended up flying in and he said, oh hi,
sorry I'm late, my name's Max,I'll be flying into whichever
community it was.
And Rachel said Max.
And apparently he said, oh,that's Rachel, because he'd met
her.
And he said, oh, I'm in lovewith your friend.
Oh, so that was the first timethe L word got used and I was
(49:54):
like that's a bit special.
Sam Miklos (49:55):
And you weren't there to hear it Wasn't there to
hear it.
But yeah, it is pretty special.
It's been a great journey.
It's been great to have youhere today.
Kate Coomber (50:15):
Thank you been a great journey.
It's been great to have youhere today, thank you, thanks,
guys.
We acknowledge the traditionalcustodians of the land of which
we meet who for centuries haveshared ancient methods of
healing and cared for theircommunities.
We pay our respects to elders,past and present.
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