Brownlie’s shining legacy
• The Denture Centre’s outgoing senior dental prosthetist Russell Brownlie and his wife and practice manager Meg Oliver, who are both retiring.
By Daisy Baker
July 15, 2020
When a young Russell Brownlie first encountered dental mechanics, he wasn’t quite sure what it entailed but it wasn’t long before he became fascinated by the profession.
He was handed some plaster and few tools to have a go at sculpting, a craft that he has honed over the 53 years since.
After spending four and half years in Hobart doing an apprenticeship, Mr Brownlie ventured to Launceston in search of a job.
“I arrived from Hobart one day at 11.30am and by 12.30pm I had a job,” he recalls.
“That was in 1972 and I got a job with John Hollingsworth in Brisbane Street. I worked with him for another four and a half years then went out on my own.”
The senior dental prosthetist of the Denture Clinic has been working in private practice for 44 years, creating full and partial dentures for people across the state.
Many locals would know Mr Brownlie from his regular visits to the area for more than 40 years.
He started out in the Lyric Theatre in June 1978, and after a few weeks he approached Dr McGinity about using a room at his surgery, where he continued to see patients until last year, when he relocated to the NESM Hospital.
Mr Brownlie said the industry has come a long way since he started out.
The profession that was once ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is now among the mainstream health providers, governed by the board of Australian Health Practitioner’s Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
“The transition from what we started out as has been a guiding light for me to improve the profession,” he said.
“The profession of dental mechanic or dental prosthetist was created in Tasmania in 1957. It was the first jurisdiction in the world to have dental mechanics treat patients directly without a referral from a dentist.
“I’ve been lucky to have known some of the fellows who created it and even now I feel responsible to them, even though most of them have gone. Everything I’ve done is because they’ve encouraged me to do it.”
Mr Brownlie has been actively involved in the state and national association for many years, serving as state president for 15 years and a member of the national board for 33 years, while also being an Australian representative on the International Federation of Denturists to foster the other states and countries to upskill.
While the process of making dentures is quite similar to when he started out, Mr Brownlie said the hygiene practices and the materials used have changed markedly.
“The teeth themselves used to be porcelain, they were very hard and would never wear out but they would transmit the shock into the gums,” he said.
“Now we use composite resin teeth and the quality of those is very life-like.
“I’ve often said it’s a mixture of art and science.”
The teeth are bought in a card from Germany, coming in a range of colours, shapes and sizes and the exact combination is tailored to suit the individual.
It’s a multi-step process involving an oral examination, impression, plaster models, recording the relationship between top and bottom jaws, selecting teeth, putting them in wax, boiling it, and polishing the finished product.
Mr Brownlie works with patients over five or six weeks until both parties are happy, putting in an average of 14 hours for a full set of dentures.
Despite the hard, physical nature of the work and the long hours, Mr Brownlie said he would do it all again.
He said the past two years have been particularly rewarding, working with the Royal Flying Doctors Service visiting the remote townships of Smithton and Swansea.
Alongside his wife Meg Oliver who is the practice manager at the Denture Centre, he has been able help restore people’s dental functionality and self-confidence.
With his 70th birthday on the horizon, Mr Brownlie has decided it’s time to retire from the career that’s brought him so much joy, and enter the next phase of his life.
“It’s been a wonderful journey. I will miss it but I think I am ready now,” he said.
Mr Brownlie has just taken on the role of Launceston Rotary Club president for the second time and he continues to sit on the national board of dental prosthetists.
In their retirement Mr Brownlie and Ms Oliver plans to spend more time with their children and grandchildren and doing some home projects.
The Denture Centre’s new owners Nikki Sabok and Amir Salehi have now taken over and they will continue to visit the North-East.
Mr Brownlie and Ms Oliver will work alongside them over the next three months.