Our Story

How it all started

Dr.A.K ( now retired) started Pilbara Dental Centre in 2008.  Here’s the story…………

A.K graduated in Dentistry from the University of W.A in 1979. As a fully qualified Dental Surgeon he was given a government post in Port Hedland with Dental Health Services in 1979 . He travelled to Goldsworthy, Shay Gap, Marble Bar, Telfer, Nullagine, Yandi Yarra and Strelley providing much needed dental services after which he was transferred to Wyndham and Kununurra where is served for another 3 years

In 1985, Dr.A.K commenced his private practice in Kelmscott. This small humble practice on Albany Highway grew slowly and steadily over the next 23 years to become AKMD (AK Medical and Dental Centre) Kelmscott’s biggest 7 chair Dental practice where more than 100,000 patients were treated.

AKMD was sold in 2008 and Dr.A.K  was approached by Rio Tinto (through their G.P Dr.Sheryl Thrussel) to be the Dentist for Tom Price and Paraburdoo. 

Upon accepting this offer  Pilbara Dental Centre was born in October 2008 serving the RIO TINTO community till today.  In 2017 the Newman community lost their dentist  leaving a big void. Pilbara Dental Centre then by default expanded to  Newman to take care of the BHP community which we serve till today.

With a growth in demand for our services patients began driving to Tom Price from Port Hedland seeking our expertise in Dental Implants,wisdom teeth surgeries and other specialised disciplines. In October 2019 Pilbara Dental Centre expanded to South Hedland which has quickly become the talk of the town as it is bright, cheerful and modern practice

Dentistry has always been a feared profession. Sadly this is true in both invasion of a personal space and invasion of the pocket. Dr.A.K worked tirelessly over 40 years of practice to change this perception by implementing twilight sleep and painless injection techniques coupled with warmth, rapport and friendliness.

Our dentists, nurses and reception staff alike try to  uphold  the ethos of   “Serve, Love ,Give”   where service to the community is the primary goal and not profit. This is a beautiful approach to follow in any profession or walk of life and is well worth adopting by all as it may be the answer to a happy and healthy community.

Although Dr.A.K has fully retired from Dentistry, he has taken up the role of CEO of the PDC Group of practices . He ensures that our highly skilled and caring Dental Surgeons provide the Pilbara Community with all aspects of General Dentistry as well as some more specialised disciplines like Oral Surgery for wisdom teeth, Orthodontics for children and adults using Invisible aligner Technology like Invisalign and Dolphin Aligners and of course the very popular smile makeovers with Porcelain veneers ,Crowns and Bridges and Dental Implants