Smiles as dental services return to Katanning

Katanning finally has access to dental care again with the opening of Heart of Gold Dental.

The town had been without a dental practice since last year before Heart of Gold opened this month.

The centre is owned by Dr Syed Faisal, who will travel to the clinic from Perth to bring the service to the community.

Dr Faisal will be working alongside Dr Hugh Sharpe and an in-house prosthetist.

Practice manager Kimberley Twight said Heart of Gold was opening three days a week, with hopes to increase that to six days in the near future.

“We decided to start up in Katanning as the people of Katanning did not have dental treatment readily available to them,” she said.

“The people of the town have had to travel for treatment to surrounding areas — and these dental practices are sometimes only open on limited days.

“We wanted dentistry to be just as available to a country town as anyone in the city.

“Dental health is important and should be available to everyone.

Ms Twight said they want the dentists to be “the dentist for the people”.

“We want it to be warm, welcoming, full of familiar faces and to help make the dentist slightly more enjoyable for everyone,” she said.

“The Heart of Gold comes from Dr Faisal’s want of care and respect for human beings.

“We service the whole region; we have quite a few people already travelling to see us and would even help tourists as well.”