BUNDABERG
Location
Bundaberg is 350km north from the Queensland capital, Brisbane and 1300km south of Cairns.
The Region
Bundaberg is a major provincial city located on the fertile Burnett River on Queensland’s central coast. The commercial centre of the Wide Bay region, Bundaberg supports many thriving industries including sugar, beef, timber, tomatoes, avocados, melons, macadamia nuts and the famous Bundaberg Rum. Popular with tourists, Bundaberg is nestled in a sub-tropical haven of national parks, unspoilt beaches, islands and The Great Barrier Reef. It offers residents an easy going lifestyle with all the modern facilities of a major city in one of Australia’s reputably best climates.
Bargara is a resort township on the coast with a population of about 7000 where many of our assistant dentists and locums have stayed. There they obtain holiday style accommodation which is fully self-contained at very reasonable rates, which is ideal if you do not have furniture etc. There are ample unit/flats/houses furnished and unfurnished, available in Bundaberg and Bargara. Bundaberg has several excellent B&Bs, where some of our locums have also stayed.
There are three private high schools in Bundaberg. The Anglican Grammar school and the Bundaberg Christian College are prep to year 12. The Catholic high school is year 8 to 12. There are several primary catholic schools plus many state primary and high schools. Also there is a campus of Central Queensland University in Bundaberg offering degree course in Arts, Science, Business, Nursing and Education plus others.
Bundaberg has almost every conceivable sporting and cultural activity, with the exception of snow sports. Of particular interest are the diving activities. There are several dive schools in the area with easy access to off shore reefs near the coast and Bundaberg is the southern gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and nearby Fraser Island.
Whale watching is a popular pastime between August and November. Mon Repos and the beaches near Bargara are the only turtle hatcheries on the East coast of mainland Australia, with thousands of visitors coming between November and March, to see the turtles laying and the hatchlings emerging.
There are two private hospitals in the city both with dental units in their operating theatres, where we have accreditation with seven full time anaesthetists. There are two orthodontists, and a visiting oral surgeonand a periodontist plus a full range of resident or visiting medical specialists. A coronary care unit and sleep studies unit has recently been opened at one of the private hospitals. A cardiac catheter lab is in the process of being installed. There is also a large (200 bed) public hospital in the town.
Transport
The regional airport offers four return Qantas Dash 8 flights a day to Brisbane. The runway has recently been upgraded to accommodate 737 type jet aircraft and the authorities are hopeful of attracting direct jet flights to Sydney and Melbourne. The city is also serviced by high speed electric trains twice daily as well as several bus services. Hervey Bay airport about an hour away has daily direct jet flights to Sydney.
Population and Climate
Bundaberg is the largest city in the Wide Bay region with a population about 60,000 and 100,000 in the district and is located on latitude 25 south and about 12 kms from the sea. Bundaberg like all communities on latitude 25 and on the east of a continent enjoys one of the most equitable climates in the world. We have one of the smallest variations between mean summer and winter temperatures. Bundaberg has one of the "five best climates in the world!!" according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Click for Climate info
Practice Information
The 1300SMILES practice in Bundber is BURNETT DENTAL CENTRE and has two branches.
Burnett Dental Chambers, 11 Barolin Street, Bundaberg, QLD
Post Office Building, 155A Bourbong Street, Bundaberg, QLD
The Bundaberg Practice is in a charming old Queensland building, named "DENTAL CHAMBERS." It was built in 1911 as a dental surgery, and has operated continuously as a dental surgery ever since. It was extensively modernised internally in the late 70's and upgraded to 6, and eventually 7 surgeries. At present we have "downsized" to 5 fully equipped surgeries. Our practice name BURNETT DENTAL CENTRE has been used for almost 30 years.
It has been converted from a double surgery to a single unit, as it would have been originally. It would have been used for mainly extractions and prosthetic work being next to what was the dental lab.
The original operative surgery still maintains its Old World charm, with pressed metal walls and ceiling and featuring a magnificent stained glass skylight. This room is divided into two identical surgery units.
The room which was the originally the dental lab has been refurbished in typical Queensland décor with tongue and groove walls, pressed metal ceiling and a stained glass skylight and is now a dental surgery.
We use the Oasis practice management software for both front office and patient records. The practice has three X-ray machines, all the latest Sirona DC models, one fixed in the front surgery and two fixed and one mobile machines, which allows complete flexibility in the case of the inevitable breakdown.
We have digital X-rays with both CCD and phosphor plate sensors, an O.P.G. machine with digital sensor, R.A. sedation, as well most things you would expect in a modern dental facility. There is a Mark3 Cerec machine, which assistant dentists can learn to use. We have several rotary endo units as well as implant placing facilities.
We have in an adjacent building our staff lunch and rest facilities, and a fully operational dental laboratory. We have a part time lab. technician five days a week to pour models, make bite trays, and mouth guards etc. This building also houses our practice office, store rooms, and a telephone call centre to handle all incoming calls and bookings so that the reception staff can devote their full attention to patient management.
About three years ago Burnett Dental Centre was acquired by 1300SMILES Ltd. The Principal Dentists operate our own practices within the 1300SMILES umbrella, and continue to manage Burnett Dental Centre in a semi-autonomous manner for the company. Burnett Dental Centre has outgrown its present five surgery capacity and the company has opened an additional new six surgery facility to cope with the demand. This exciting new venture is in the main Heritage Post Office annex, and is literally less than two minutes walk from our existing facility, allowing both branches to be linked by a high speed voice and data radio link allowing seamless sharing of records, X-rays and our stand alone call centre.
Useful Links
Bundaberg City Council - http://bundaberg.qld.gov.au