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As the pro bono dental aid service Filling the Gap nears its 20th year, the service remains reliant upon a strong supply of volunteer dentists. By Cameron Cooper
Pro bono dental service Filling the Gap has issued a call for more volunteer dentists to help guarantee existing funding and drive regional expansion as it approaches almost two decades of oral health support for under-privileged Australians. The service aims to build on its success by increasing its volunteer base in 2025 to service its annual complement of free dental appointments for vulnerable communities.
“We’re targeting around 750 appointments for the 2025 financial year,” says Dr Jodie Olivier, chair of Filling the Gap and vice-president of the Australian Dental Association NSW Branch. “At the moment we’re on target for 2025, but in order to stay on target we do need a steady supply of volunteers in the pipeline.”
Filling the Gap has a range of programs that prioritise the homeless, asylum-seekers, refugees, victims of domestic violence, people recovering from addiction and those who cannot access mainstream dental services.
But with many dentists battling high practice workloads, making an ongoing commitment to volunteering for the service can be daunting. “Dentists are busy treating their own patient base, as well as ensuring they maintain required CPD quotas, so it can be difficult to take time out of a busy schedule to volunteer,” Dr Olivier says.
“There is also a cost involved—for example, lost earnings as well as overheads associated with providing pro bono care within dental practices.”
Filling the Gap’s focus in 2025 is attracting dentists to work at either the service’s clinic in St Leonards, Sydney, or within their own private clinics performing crucial dental aid work.
A waitlist for services indicates more can be done if additional volunteer dental practitioners and support staff come on board. “What we’re doing is really only the tip of the iceberg for the wider needs in the community,” Dr Olivier says.
A key goal is to ramp up regional pro bono dental services across New South Wales, she adds. “We have a strong focus on service delivery, so we hope to recruit more volunteers, so we can expand our programs to underserved regional communities.”
Rules of engagement
To woo more volunteers, Dr Olivier says her team at ADA NSW will “shout from the rooftops” to promote Filling the Gap and encourages dental workers to follow the dental charity’s achievements through ADA NSW publications and social media channels. “Word of mouth is also powerful,” she says. “We encourage dentists who have enjoyed their experience volunteering for Filling the Gap to spread the word to their colleagues.”
Volunteering for Filling the Gap is extremely rewarding. There’s a sense of fulfilment and purpose, so volunteering can help our own wellbeing too and bring dental teams together.
Dr Jodie Olivier, chair, Filling the Gap
When recruiting, Dr Olivier says there is an emphasis on flexibility so people “can volunteer in a way that suits them”. Dentists could restrict their support to a single dental session in St Leonards, where all necessary equipment and materials are supplied, or offer mid to long-term support. Those who open their own clinics to needy patients can do so as a one-off, or on an ongoing basis.
Some dentists may opt to treat multiple patients with acute needs or take on a single patient and complete a full course of treatment. “All assistance is welcome,” Dr Olivier says.
She concedes there may be a “hesitancy about the unknown” that stops some potential volunteers from helping, especially given that the program facilitates care for patients outside the usual demographic of some practices. To help address this, Dr Olivier says clinic coordinators work closely with the case workers from referring charities to manage patients.
Proud history
From 2006 to 2016, Filling the Gap provided more than 10,000 dental appointments and about 25,000 dental procedures to Indigenous communities in far north Queensland.
Since gaining rights to the brand in 2018, ADA NSW has continued to address dental disadvantage in a broader section of the community. “We’ve facilitated over 4000 dental appointments worth more than $2 million in pro bono dental care since Filling the Gap relaunched,” Dr Olivier says. Filling the Gap also provides oral health education sessions and facilitates ADA Dental Health Foundation (DHF) programs in NSW and the ACT. In addition to dental check-ups, common treatments through the initiative include cleaning teeth, filling cavities, extracting teeth, and fitting dentures. Many patients who receive dental care through the service may not have been to a dentist for years, and they typically experience a range of significant social and health challenges that can result in extensive dental needs.
Dr Olivier cites the case of one Filling the Gap patient who presented with multiple teeth that required extraction, and poorly fitting dentures that had been causing him significant pain and embarrassment.
“Our volunteer dentists were able to restore his oral health through completing the extractions and making new dentures to allow him to eat and smile in comfort, providing him with a renewed sense of self-worth and a path forward toward rebuilding his life.”
Ambitious agenda
The 2025-27 strategic plan for Filling the Gap outlines a program to provide in excess of $1 million for dental charitable services. It also wants to promote a culture of volunteerism, create avenues for community engagement within the dental profession and increase the pool and geographical distribution of volunteers. There are also plans to lift the profile of Filling the Gap and explore opportunities to expand the service to regional areas.
But for now, the aim is promote the benefits of volunteering. “Volunteering for Filling the Gap is extremely rewarding,” Dr Olivier enthuses. “There’s a sense of fulfilment and purpose, so volunteering can help our own wellbeing too and bring dental teams together.”
