Start - Dental Head Start

Dental Student Graduate Extraordinaire Therapist
Head Start

Helping Dental Students Become Great Dentists

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Our Most Recent Content

Feature #102 -Your First Dental Job Can Make or Break You with Dr Michael Filosi

Christina PotestasJuly 29, 2026

Your first job in dentistry can shape your confidence, clinical growth, and even whether you stay in the profession. In...

David spent over 10 years dental assisting before graduating from The University of Sydney in 2016. The idea of Dental Head Start was born from the hopes of sharing the lessons he’s been lucky to learn along the way and helping others gain a head start too.

Having spent many summer breaks in the Mid North coast, and even marrying his beautiful wife there, David is proud to now call Port Macquarie home. When he’s not busy with one of his endless side projects (which is a rare!), you’ll find David adventuring the great outdoors. But even at home, David has his cheeky toddler and two mini dachshunds who always keep him on his toes!

Dr David Keir

Founder & Director

Graeme was born and raised in the cold land of Ottawa, Canada and is continuing to defrost as he begins he first year out in Taree, NSW. He manages the editing for the podcasts and works to ensure the audience has a great listening experience.

Outside of school, you’ll find Graeme busy playing soccer, rock climbing, and going for hikes. With the abundance of great restaurants in Sydney, you’ll find him tagging along with his foodie friends who know all the best spots in town.

Dr Graeme Pearson

Editor & Co-Host

Erica is a final year dental student at The University of Sydney. From scheduling to content creation, she is the nagging mum that’s constantly chasing everyone around.

Having grown up in a family of storytellers, Erica has always been fascinated by other peoples’ journeys. Now, she gets to sit behind the mic to hear the stories of her favourite role models in the industry.

Outside of student clinics, you’ll find her elbows deep in her crafts, hunting for new desserts with friends or marathoning yet another gruesome TV show!

Erica Hwin

General Manager & Co-Host

Haydyn Bathurst comes from Jervis Bay in the South Coast of NSW and is a fourth year student at Charles Sturt’s Dental school in Orange NSW. Haydyn’s role is to edit the podcasts and provide a bit of social media content as well. He’s a part of Colgate’s Advocates for Oral Health and has always found the media production involved as a hobby of his.

For the drives in-between Orange to Jervis Bay Haydyn listens to anything from audiobooks, podcasts, and music from Jimmy Barnes to K-PoP and everything in between, whatever the vibe calls for.

Haydyn Bathurst

Editor

Cigdem is a general dentist with an annoyingly difficult Turkish name (pronounced Chi-dem).
Graduating in 2009 from Griffith University, she was known as ‘The Girl Who Asked a Lot Of Questions’, which definitely wouldn’t be the title of a best-seller. But now she’s the co-host of WIWIK, where she uses her curiosity to ask the questions we all want to know.

A proper dental nerd, Cigdem spends most of her time immersed in the industry. She lectures in various topics, runs a large Sydney practice and is the co-founder of Principle Cloud Practice Management Software and Level Up Systems and Training Software. Despite all this, her golden retriever Poppy is still more well known than her!

Dr Cigdem Kipel

Co-Host

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Dental Student Graduate Extraordinaire Therapist Head Start