At Arthur Street Dental, we see every day just how important education and prevention are in maintaining good oral health. Recently, one of our dental assistants, Caley Little, took that message far beyond the clinic — delivering an oral health education workshop for children and families living within one of Bali's most disadvantaged communities.
For Caley, the experience was especially close to home. Born and raised in Bali, she has a longstanding connection with Bali Life Foundation, an organisation supporting children and families experiencing poverty and disadvantage across Indonesia.
During a recent return to Bali, Caley visited the Suwung Community Centre, where she combined her experience working within the dental industry with her connection to the local community to provide practical oral health education.
A Different Side of Bali
When most people picture Bali, they think of beautiful beaches, resorts and tropical holidays.
However, away from the Bali familiar to tourists is the Suwung landfill, a vast waste site spanning approximately 30 hectares.
For families within the surrounding community, the landfill has historically been more than a place where rubbish is discarded. It has been both a workplace and, for some families, the environment they call home.
Families have relied on collecting and sorting recyclable materials from amongst the waste and selling what they can recover to generate an income. Individual reports from the Suwung waste-picking community have documented earnings of only tens of thousands of Indonesian rupiah per day for some forms of recycling work.
It is difficult to fully appreciate the conditions without experiencing them firsthand. Bali's tropical heat and humidity combine with enormous quantities of waste, dust, smoke and the constant smell of decomposing rubbish. It is an environment most of us would struggle to imagine working in, let alone growing up in.
For children born into families experiencing this level of poverty, opportunities have historically been limited. Some children have worked alongside their parents collecting rubbish, while financial and social barriers have made regular schooling difficult or inaccessible.
The Suwung Community Centre
In the middle of these challenging circumstances sits something very different: the Bali Life Suwung Community Centre.
The centre was created to provide children and families within the waste-picking community with education, support and opportunities for a different future.
For the children, it provides a safe environment where they can learn, play and simply be children.
Educational programs help children access learning and work towards formal schooling, giving them opportunities that may otherwise have been out of reach.
The centre also recognises that creating lasting change means supporting the whole family. Programs for mothers and women within the community focus on developing practical skills and creating pathways towards alternative employment and greater financial independence.
Rather than simply providing short-term assistance, the aim is to empower families with the skills and opportunities that may eventually allow them to move away from relying on the landfill for their livelihood.
Taking Oral Health Education Beyond the Dental Clinic
It was here that Caley delivered an interactive oral health workshop for children and women within the community.
Working as a dental assistant at Arthur Street Dental has given Caley firsthand experience in the importance of prevention. Many dental conditions can become significantly more difficult to manage once they have progressed, making education and good oral hygiene habits particularly valuable from a young age.
The workshop covered the fundamentals of oral health, including why we brush our teeth, how to brush effectively, the importance of cleaning all tooth surfaces, and how everyday habits can contribute to preventing tooth decay and gum disease.
To make the lesson engaging for the children, Caley incorporated visual demonstrations and hands-on activities rather than simply talking about teeth.
One of the favourites was plaque-disclosing gel.
After using the gel, areas of plaque were temporarily stained, leaving plenty of purple smiles around the room. Beyond the laughter, the activity had an important purpose: it allowed the children to actually see the areas they were missing when brushing.
They could then practise their brushing technique and watch those stained areas disappear — turning an oral health lesson into something practical, visual and memorable.
The children were also provided with dental care supplies so they could continue putting what they had learned into practice at home.
When Prevention Isn't Always Accessible
Working in dentistry in Australia, it can be easy to take access to toothbrushes, toothpaste, oral health information and regular dental care for granted.
For families facing significant financial hardship, these things may not always be a priority — or even an accessible option.
During her time within the community, Caley saw people experiencing significant untreated dental concerns. It was a powerful reminder that oral health is closely connected to broader circumstances, including education, income and access to healthcare.
The purpose of the workshop wasn't to provide dental treatment or replace professional dental care. Instead, it focused on something we are equally passionate about at Arthur Street Dental: prevention through education.
Even simple knowledge — understanding why plaque needs to be removed, knowing how to brush effectively and developing those habits early — can give children greater confidence in looking after their own oral health.
From Suwung Back to Arthur Street Dental
For our team, we are incredibly proud to see oral health education extend beyond the walls of our Coffs Harbour practice.
For Caley, the experience brought together two important parts of her life: the community she grew up around in Indonesia and the knowledge she has gained working within dentistry in Australia.
And while the circumstances in Suwung are very different from those we see here at home, the fundamental message remains the same.
Prevention starts with education.
Whether that's showing a child in Suwung where they've missed a spot while brushing or helping one of our patients in Coffs Harbour understand how to better care for their teeth and gums, giving people the knowledge to look after their oral health is an important part of what dentistry is all about.
We are proud of Caley for taking what she has learned as part of the Arthur Street Dental team and using it to give back to a community that means so much to her.
And we're fairly certain there were a few children in Bali who will never look at a purple-stained smile quite the same way again.