“I was carrying out dentistry halfway up a mountain!” – Elaine Tilling – Passion Beyond the Practice
NewsPosted by: Dental Design 24th November 2018
ELAINE TILLING, Head of Clinical Education at TePe UK talks to Libby Stonell about her life-changing experiences in the Royal Air Force and why they‘ve never left her…
I joined the Royal Air Force when I was 17 and a half. I wanted to get away from home, after failing my O levels spectacularly and my father, who was a naval officer, was so angry with me he sent me to business school for a year. I achieved my certificate for Business Administration and resat all my O levels and just to really upset my dad, I thought I’d join the ranks! I didn’t have a clue what a dental nurse did really, apart from seeing them in practices. I knew I would probably go for the medical services as I’d been a St John’s cadet since I was 11. Both my father and I were St John’s Officers, so it was inevitable that that’s what I would do.
I joined as a dental nurse originally in 1978 and spent 25 years in the Royal Air Force (RAF). My final post was the Officer’s Commander of Tri Service School of Hygienist and Therapy training. That was my pathway into dentistry.
Elaine in her RAF days (Front, centre)
As a dental nurse, I met the Officers Commander of hygiene training and I thought: “Actually I don’t know what you do, but I want your job” and that is a strong memory that I have. Once I started dental nursing, I worked alongside the hygienists and it made me want to do more. In the military, the dentists were commissioned and it’s scary enough going to the dentist when you’re a junior rank, with poor oral hygiene or a dental problem, but being seen by a dentist and a very senior officer was quite difficult in terms of conversation. I had quite an early interest in putting it in the simplest terms for people because I believe that everyone has autonomy over their health and to have that autonomy, they have to understand. Messages have to be given to people in different ways and hygienists are the people that give those messages, so for me, I knew that’s where I wanted to go. I applied and trained to become a hygienist. I love empowering patients and getting people to understand and buy in to the fact that they can do something about their oral health, big time and very simply, and that was what really pressed all my buttons.
Being a hygienist on the ground for 15 years at home and abroad, and working with people that speak different languages like Chinese and Nepalese was really awesome. It’s so rewarding carrying out dentistry halfway up a mountain, on people that really need to be put out of pain. And equally, encouraging the Gurkha families (who were living abroad for three years while serving), to live healthier lifestyles. They wanted to give their children everything the Europeans had, like Coca Cola, and sweets, as well as tooth decay. The decay rate amongst very young children became frightening, and that’s my bag. So, the job was very rewarding, quite upsetting at times but a great experience.
I don’t think the experiences I had in the RAF will ever leave me. I carry a ‘get on with it’ attitude and a strong emphasis on teamwork to this day. I was giving a lecture recently and was introduced to someone as the “formidable Elaine Tilling” – I thought: ‘Formidable? I’m five foot.’ I’m not sure if formidable is a good thing, but there you are. n
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