From Makati to Queanbeyan: Filipina dentist shares how she overcame credentialing hurdles to open Q1 Dental Care

A Filipina dentist who migrated to Australia in 2002 told SBS Filipino how she worked as a dental hygienist and dental assistant while getting her Philippine licence recognised, before opening Q1 Dental Care in Queanbeyan in 2012.

Subscribe to newsletter

A Filipina dentist who heads Q1 Dental Care in Queanbeyan, in regional New South Wales, has shared how she overcame rigorous credentialing hurdles to run her own practice, in an SBS Filipino interview published on 5 October.

After migrating to Australia in 2002, Dr Susan worked as a dental hygienist at a local practice and as a dental assistant at NSW Health, SBS Filipino reported. She completed the required examinations and training to have her Philippine dental licence recognised in Australia, and in 2012 she opened Q1 Dental Care to provide oral healthcare in the region.

According to the practice, she earned her dental degree in the Philippines in 1997, completed a postgraduate degree in orthodontics and basic TMJ in 2001, and later a postgraduate degree in oral health from La Trobe University in Bendigo in 2009. The practice says she was part of the NSW Oral Health team in the Greater Southern Area Health Services for eight years.

Q1 Dental Care says it has full accreditation against the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards, and that she was one of the women featured in the Philippine Embassy's e-book Today's Filipino Australian Women, launched in 2022.

"If you're not ready to fail, you're not going to win at this," she told SBS Filipino. "So you have to make sure that you're ready to fail, and when you fail, you go up again and try your very best again."