A Devon dental hygienist has taken it upon herself to convert an old caravan into a mobile dental surgery, in order to bring services to people and families at home and at less sociable hours.

Tara Pile, a former RAF dental hygienist, bought the caravan in October of 2024 and spent until February of this year making the conversions. The windows were leaking and the floor was rotten, which were replaced before her dental equipment was installed, and she now has a fully-functioning mobile practice.

This move allows her to be “much more mobile”, as she can now bring dentistry to people’s places of residence.

Speaking of her purchase, Tara said:

“I bought her and my husband freaked out when I took it home and told him I was going to convert it into a dental clinic.

“I knew what was needed, it was just trying to geographically pop it in here.

“Because it’s a basic surgery, you’d need a chair and you need a portable dental unit, but also you need sterilisation circuit, so everything has to run from dirty to clean.

“We don’t need a lot of kit, but you do need the specific equipment to have it clinically ready to go.”

Mrs. Pile is registered with the General Dentil Council and her services are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). She acknowledged that mobile dentistry was a small industry, but that it could be beneficial for those who need it to have healthier teeth.

She said:

“We can make it more accessible and less inconvenient.

“Clinics are busy and they’re booking nine to five every day, but sometimes people need to be seen of an evening or weekend – that’s where we can come in.

“We can come to your own home and treat the family in one sitting rather than having to do four or five trips.”

Mrs. Pile dies not offer emergency care, but she does hope that she will be able to emulate her success by fitting out two more caravans capable of providing care in Devon, Cornwall and further field. 

My two-penneth

What an excellent idea! It may only be a niche service in a localised area, but full credit to Mrs. Pile for using her ingenuity to bring a little more local care to her area, and in a way which may benefit families and the elderly or infirm.

Maybe her lead will inspire other entrepreneuring dental care workers to do the same elsewhere in underserved parts of the country? It’s great to see someone taking some form of action to bring more services to people who desperately need it, as the government doesn’t seem to be in any major rush to do so.