Dr Trudy Lin - Special Needs Dental Specialist

03/03/2025

I believe in inclusion & every person is born equal. This belief has driven an over decade-long mission to build inclusive oral healthcare that welcomes people regardless of age, gender, or disability (or my preferred term, diverseability). Last year, it was surreal to reach a significant milestone alongside my wonderful team: the launch of Extra Mile Dental - SA's first private Specialist Special Needs Dental Clinic with Home Visiting services. By reimagining oral healthcare delivery, we hope to inspire more inclusion of people with diverseability across Australia. The Extra Mile Dental team & I extend heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us. We are moved by the outpouring of encouragement since the launch & appreciate every kind word more than you may realise. Thank you to our Premier Peter Malinauskas, Emily Bourke - Assistant Minister for Autism, & their team – who were essential in making this new service a reality. We are honoured & humbled by your recognition of the importance of our cause through awarding the grant to supply portable equipment which enables us to deliver the full scope of dental services in flexible environments suiting our patients - in the comfort of their home, in residential facilities, & sedation facilities. Thank you to the incredible Windsor Gardens Day Surgery team, your compassion & empathy is outstanding, with special mentions to Amanda Cranage, Gideon Sinclair & Anne Sciacca, for enabling this new access path for general anaesthetic. Thank you to the healthcare professionals we teamed with for delivering wonderful patient outcomes: skilled anaesthetists, nurses, support workers & special mention to Dr Emilija Jensen for providing her expertise in surgical procedures. Most importantly, thank you to our patients for being the reason behind our mission, & continual source of motivation through  tough days. We are committed to achieve further milestones for you in future, including access to a tertiary hospital to facilitate anaesthetic to patients with an even broader range of conditions. We celebrate this current milestone with you, in creating belonging & a safe space to receive the dental care you always deserved

03/03/2025

I believe in inclusion, and every person is born equal. This belief has driven an over decade-long mission to build inclusive oral healthcare that welcomes people regardless of age, gender, or disability (or my preferred term, diverseability).

Last year, it was surreal to reach a significant milestone alongside my wonderful team: the launch of Extra Mile Dental - South Australia’s first private Specialist Special Needs Dental Clinic with Home Visiting services. Thank you to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for sharing our story - by reimagining oral healthcare delivery, we hope to inspire more inclusion of people with diverseability across Australia.

The Extra Mile Dental team and I extend our heartfelt gratitude to every person who has supported us in our mission of inclusion through oral healthcare. We are incredibly moved by the ongoing outpouring of encouragement we have received since the launch and appreciate every kind word more than you may realise.

An enormous thank you to our Premier, the Honourable Peter Malinauskas, and the Honourable Emily Bourke, Assistant Minister for Autism, and their advisors and team – who were essential in making this new service a reality. We are honoured and humbled by your recognition of the importance of our cause through awarding the grant to supply the portable equipment which enables us to deliver the full scope of dental services in flexible environments which suit our patients – whether that be in the comfort of their own homes, in residential facilities, and sedation facilities. Thank you to the incredible Windsor Gardens Day Surgery team, your compassion and empathy for our patients has been outstanding, with special mentions to Amanda Cranage, Gideon Sinclair and Anne Sciacca, for enabling this new access pathway for people with disability requiring dental treatment under general anaesthetic. Thank you to the healthcare professionals we have teamed with to deliver wonderful outcomes for our patients – including the skilled anaesthetists, nurses, disability support workers and carers, and a special mention to Dr Emilija Jensen for providing her expertise in surgical procedures during our general anaesthetic sessions.

The most important thank you goes to our patients for being the driving reason behind our mission, and our continual source of motivation through the tough days. We are committed to continue achieving further milestones for you in the future, including access to a tertiary hospital setting where we can facilitate dental treatment under general anaesthetic to more patients with an even broader range of conditions and requirements. We are thankful to celebrate this current milestone with you, in creating more belonging and a safe space to receive the dental care you have always deserved, because you matter as much as everybody else.

Going to the dentist isn't something most of us enjoy, but for people with disabilities -- it can be deeply traumatising. That's why a passionate young South Australian dentist is on a mission to create a truly inclusive oral care clinic with autism-friendly services.

20/12/2024

A heartfelt thank you to the Premier and Assistant Minister for Autism for believing in and supporting our mission to provide inclusive access to oral healthcare for people with disabilities.

The Extra Mile Dental Team and I are immensely grateful for all your lovely messages of support and encouragement. Pioneering this service has been a long and challenging journey, and every bit of support means the world to us. On those tough days, your messages inspire us to keep pushing forward for our patients.

Please spread the word about our service to anyone who could benefit: www.extramiledental.com.au.

31/10/2024

I had the privilege of presenting a Masterclass on Juggling the Priorities at the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (RACDS) 2024 Fine Edge of Dentistry Conference. It's been incredibly rewarding to see the value people attain from continuing professional development on non-clinical topics like this one.

I've been hearing from so many of you, even a month on, about the positive impacts the mindset coaching strategies are having - not just professionally, but personally too. I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your messages, and to thank my coaching clients for allowing me to support your journey - it is an absolute joy to witness your transformations. You all inspire me to keep prioritising and carving out time for this passion of making an impact not only through patient care but also through supporting fellow dental clinicians

 

16/07/2024

Over the course of my oral health advocacy journey, I have come across many people who are initially shocked upon learning the impacts poor oral health can have on general health. This includes cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and lung conditions such as aspiration pneumonia - a leading cause of premature death of people with disability in Australia. After processing this information, their next reaction is that it makes a lot of sense given that our mouth serves as the gateway to the rest of our body. Let's continue spreading awareness about the importance of oral health, as healthy smiles lead to healthy lives 

01/07/2024

With only 26 registered Specialists in Special Needs Dentistry in Australia, it can often lead to specialists being placed in leadership roles early in their careers – this was the case for me and it resulted strong feelings of imposter syndrome. I am humbled to be presenting a webinar on leadership and imposter syndrome for members of the Australian New Zealand Academy of Special Needs Dentistry next week. I am fortunate to have received support, mentorship, and inspiration from many specialists in the academy. I hope to honour the generosity of my predecessors and support our current generation of specialists in their own leadership journey. In last year's webinar series I presented on Motivational Interviewing – a coaching technique to support patients with long-term behaviour change. This time, I am excited to use coaching techniques to support my fellow clinicians, as patient-centered care requires supporting the care-givers. 

.

24/06/2024

Last month I had the privilege of visiting Melbourne to deliver a half day mindset coaching workshop on instrinsic movitation to Cohealth's entire oral healthcare team. It was wonderful to delve deep into growth mindset, leadership, imposter syndrome, strengths, and purpose with such a dedicated group of people. 

Thank you to Kate Sieh and the leadership team for the opportunity to support your team with the important contributions Cohealth has on improving access to oral healthcare for people facing marginalisation in the Victorian community - I look forward to seeing the positive impact these explorations will have on their professional and personal lives. 

26/05/2024

Had an amazing time speaking at the Inspiring Australian Students Summit! Thank you to the team at the Australia Day Council of South Australia and the Department of Education, South Australia, for curating such an impactful day. My favourite part of these events is meeting the students afterward, it is heart-warming to hear how sharing my story and passion for inclusion is inspiring them to take action. But truth be told, every time a student shares their story with me, I walk away feeling inspired too. Grateful to be a catalyst for these conversations and witness young people's determination and optimism to strive for a more inclusive future

22/05/2024

As clinicians, I believe it is valuable to not only excel in our technical skills, but also to develop our leadership capacity. By honing our leadership skills, we can broaden our impact and make a difference to our patients and the wider healthcare system through advocacy, education, and inspiring others. I'm thrilled to be invited back to deliver a coaching workshop at the 2024 Ceremony of Achievement and Alumni event for the SA Health Leading Clinicians program. Thank you to SA Health for continuing to invest in and support leadership building and I look forward to empowering fellow clinicians to step into their full leadership potential and drive positive change in healthcare. 

29/04/2024

It was a privilege to deliver a coaching workshop for the South Australian Ambulance Service focusing on Leadership and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome. In each leadership workshop I've conducted, I've found that imposter syndrome is a common experience among participants. It's reassuring for them to see they are not alone in sometimes feeling like a fraud, lacking confidence, or battling self-doubt. Supporting leaders to navigate and overcome these feelings has been incredibly fulfilling - thank you to Tessa Judd for recognising its importance and offering this workshop opportunity to your team. To anyone out there who is feeling like an imposter and questioning your abilities, remember that you're not alone and these feelings don't have to limit your potential.