Ipswich surgery survives second flood

The city of Ipswich west of Brisbane has survived its second major flood in two years, leaving residents and business owners largely unscathed.

One of those breathing a sigh of relief was Dr Ian Lupton, senior partner of Limestone Dental Group, which was completely submerged in the 2011 flood.

Although much of the main business district was devastated by the 2011 event, Limestone was operating again in temporary premises in just 11 days.

Typifying the legendary Queensland grit and determination, Dr Lupton said the practice was well-prepared in the event of the worst and would be ready to move equipment again flooding was imminent.

"The main reason we were out of action in 2011 is because the water was over the roof and the ceilings caved in," he said.

While the structure of the building survived thanks to its solid concrete walls - internal fixtures and fittings and electrical items were lost. Yet miraculously, some of the A-dec dental units that were inundated were salvaged and used in an adjoining building while we rebuilt.

Today Limestone Dental Group shows no evidence of the 2011 floods and has been totally rebuilt to an even higher standard.

The surgeries each have custom-made stainless steel cabinets, benches and drawers that provide an easy to clean hard-wearing surface which even withstood total inundation with no ill effects.

Although some of the practice's A-dec chairs survived the flooding, the refurbished practice was equipped with new A-dec 300 chairs.

"Patients find the new A-dec 300 chairs very comfortable especially with the 'stitched' upholstery, fully adjustable headrest and convenience of a cuspidor," Dr Lupton said.

Despite the enormity of the rebuilding task, Dr Lupton managed the project by himself using local tradespeople.

"The entire staff of Limestone Dental Group (some 38 people) all pulled together and looked for ways to keep the practice running, whether it was throwing out rubbish, pressure-cleaning mud out of the building or scrubbing walls and floors with pool chlorine."

To cope with the backlog of patients, dental staff were initially working double shifts six days a week using old and refurbished A-dec chairs to keep up with dental emergencies.

"We had some very good local support and Dental Depot in Brisbane went the extra mile to help us get back into operation with refurbished and loan equipment and A-dec also assisted by air freighting the new dental chairs from the US at no additional cost," Dr Lupton said.

The practice was also awarded a special certificate from the Governor of Queensland for the way in which the practice pulled out all stops to rebuild and continue providing dental services to the people of Ipswich during the flood disaster.