Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Feel the fear and do it for daughter
Mum beats dentist terror to set example
An Airdrie mum has conquered her longstanding fear of the dentist and turned it into a new career – and it’s all down to her young daughter.
Louise Cameron, 33, overcame her dread of six-monthly checkups at the dentist as she didn’t want six- year- old daughter Jasmine to feel the same way.
Louise was determined the youngster – a P3 pupil at Tollbrae Primary – wasn’t going to share her anxieties and now mother and daughter star in a series of campaign images for New College Lanarkshire called “Turn a Like into a Living”.
The ads will feature on buses and billboards across Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire.
Louise explained: “When I was younger, I was petrified of the dentist – I was really anxious about it and the thought of fillings and extractions really freaked me out.
“But I wanted to show Jasmine that it’s not something to be scared of.
“After I put a brave face on and went to the dentist more often, I became interested in it.”
Amazingly, as a result, Louise is now enjoying her first year of HND Dental Nursing at the Coatbridge campus of New College Lanarkshire, where she spends two days each week and another two on work placement at Buchanan Dental Care, also in Coatbridge.
The former waitress, who has also worked as a care assistant in nursing homes, spotted the course while considering a return to fulltime study.
She added: “I feel that I’ve made the right choice – I’m really enjoying it.
“Being in class is great, but being out in placement and being more hands- on is really good as well. There’s a lot more background to it than I realised, especially when you think of all the different materials and how every patient is different.”
Dr Alasdair Allan MSP officially opened the state- of- the- art Dental and Science Facilities at the College’s Coatbridge campus a year ago.
Facilities include an intra-oral camera and a “phantom head lab” to allow simulated learning on model heads.
Louise said: “It can be a struggle sometimes trying to combine all the course work with Jasmine’s clubs at night- time, but if you really want it, then you get there.
“My advice to anyone thinking about returning to study as a mature student would definitely be to go for it.
“You might get through a course and decide that it’s not for you, but at least you’ve tried and you’ve given yourself that option to do better or change a career.”
Applications are now open for entry to Dental Nursing courses starting in August at the Coatbridge campus.
To apply, visit www. nclanarkshire.ac.uk or call 0300 555 8080.
I wanted Jasmine to see it’s not nothing to be scared of Louise Cameron