Meet your Educators

Dr Helen Fung, BDS, DClinDent (Paed Dent), MRACDS (Paed Dent)

Dr Helen graduated with her Doctorate of Clinical Dentistry (Paediatric Dentistry) in 2010. She was appointed first as a Senior Registrar and later, Staff Specialist at the Westmead Centre for Oral Health, as well as Visiting Staff Specialist for the Hunter New England Oral Health Service.  She has also volunteered her dental expertise to children in orphanages in Vietnam, as well as with the indigenous populations in the Northern Territory.

Following the birth of her first child in 2014, Dr Helen decided to move up to Brisbane with her family. Currently, along with running Tooth Town, she is also working part time as a Staff Specialist at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. In addition, she is involved in the teaching of dental and oral health students and lecturing to medical and dental professionals. Her special interests include dental trauma, dental anomalies, minor oral surgery, and tongue ties.

Becoming a mum has changed my clinical approach and made me a much better paediatric dentist. One of my mentors always said that you aren’t really a paediatric dentist until you’ve had your own kids. Before I had my children, dentistry was so black and white. I knew exactly what to tell parents who struggled to brush their children’s teeth. I knew exactly what to say about breastfeeding cessation, healthy snack options, and how I would fix cavities that undoubtedly would be diagnosed. I had textbook answers to every question.

Since becoming a mum, having struggled to not fall asleep whilst breastfeeding in the middle of the night, battled the toddler when brushing and flossing her teeth, even released my own newborn baby’s tongue tie, I have found myself looking for better alternatives or other ways to manage each individual challenge in a more practical and achievable approach. I think we, as dentists, and subsequently as parents, discover that the dental challenges of our own children teach us valuable lessons and force us to learn and grow as practitioners.

Bridget Ingle RN RM IBCLC OMT

Bridget works in private practice in Brisbane Australia as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) which incorporates her other specialty work as a paediatric orofacial myofunctional therapy practitioner. 

Bridget has a background in paediatric nursing and midwifery which commenced her passion for work with mothers and infants. Her experiences breastfeeding her first child helped her understand the practical side and the importance of being able to teach other mothers about breastfeeding. She gained her formal certification as an IBCLC in 1992 and has worked continually in the field of breastfeeding, lactation support and education since then to be regarded as one of Australia’s most clinically experienced IBCLCs. Bridget has always had a thirst to learn more from furthering education and clinical practice and has developed a love of helping with complex situations of both mother and baby. As a way to follow on care after infancy, Bridget completed training in orofacial myology and now has a paediatric Myofunctional therapy practice also. Bridget’s 30 years of diverse experience facilitates a complete problem solving approach when dealing with complex maternal, infant and young child feeding and oral function issues. 

Bridget is co-founder of The Australasian Society for Tongue and Lip Ties (ASTLIT) and currently holds the position as Chair of Board. She has also completed additional training in Buteyko breathing practitioner training, advanced infant and child feeding, SOS Approach to feeding, Tummy Time Method® and presents regularly at national and international conferences. 

In her not-so spare time, Bridget supervises two online support groups of special interests and is a wife, mother of three adult children and a long distance runner to try to get some balance in her life!

Carla Lejarraga

B App Health Sc (Oral Health), OMT

Carla Lejarraga is Australia’s leading expert in thumb and finger sucking habits of children.

As a Dental Hygienist, she was led by her own daughter’s plight to stop sucking her thumb.

With her subsequent pioneering work and research in the area of digit sucking habits, Carla opened the first clinic of its kind - The Thumb Sucking Clinic - in 2011. The private clinic located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

Carla's passion is helping children grow up healthy right from the start and believes it all starts with education from health care providers.

Carla holds a Bachelor Applied Health Science (Oral Health) from the University of Qld, is a member of the Dental Hygienist Association Australia and is an awarded Life Member the Australia Association of Orofacial Myology for her work in the field.

Her ground-breaking research on non-orthodontic intervention in oral habits was published in  The International Journal of Dentistry in 2015.

Carla has taught Orofacial Myology practice to dental and speech professionals with The Australian Academy of Orofacial Myology for over a decade.

Carla lectures nationally and internationally regarding her work and has been featured in various newspapers, magazines, and on ABC radio.