ROYAL Australian Air Force corporal Diane Beningfield of Toowoomba is on a four-month mission to bring better dental health to the smaller nations of the south-west Pacific.
The St Ursula’s College graduate of 1995 is one of 67 Australians in a joint US Navy and Australian Defence Force operation delivering medical, dental, engineering and veterinary aid in Samoa, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.
Cpl Beningfield is a dental hygienist and is currently working in Tonga. In each of the host Pacific nations, clinics are set up at local hospitals, schools or community centres.
The days are long because Cpl Beningfield and the dental team try to see as many people as possible.
Cpl Beningfield is working closely with dental technicians, dentists and other medical specialists from around the world cleaning teeth, giving dental hygiene instruction to locals, dental assisting and sterilising equipment.
“From a dental perspective, it’s a great opportunity to build on my skills. I am seeing cases that I would only normally only see in text books,” said Cpl Beningfield.
“One of the best parts of this adventure is the children we get to see, which I don’t normally back home in the RAAF.”
Cpl Beningfield joined the Air Force in 2002 and is normally based at RAAF Tindal in Katherine, Northern Territory.
Living in the red dust is very different from Toowoomba.
“I miss the beautiful parks and gardens,” Cpl Beningfield said. “I also really enjoyed my time at St Ursula’s.
“But, I think my parents are pretty proud of me being in the Air Force.”(source)
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