Old School Bus Converted in Mobile Dentistry?

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Dr. Peter Walford made the Dental Bus on Hornby Island, which is around 110 miles away from Vancouver, Canada. And has been going for the past 35 years.

Back in the early 70’s he used to work in a mobile clinic the province had put together in order to go to outlying towns with no dental services. All of Peter's fun patients, however, were from the gulf islands, Denman and Hornby Island. Everybody from there who had to drive to Courtenay, where he was working, had to do a minimum of a 1h40 minutes' drive, which eventually was reason enough for Peter to build his clinic mobile. One of his passions has always been sailing and by the time he had the idea of the dental bus, he had already built three and a half boats. He gradually built his bus in the hours after work, which took him four years and about 4000 hours. Altogether, bus included, the project cost him 60K dollars.

The Bus, a 1974 Bluebird, cost only 2K dollars and works on propane. In front, Peter installed a bicycle rack, so that he can bike home after work and keep his fitness. "You can't say ‘Oh I don't feel like it today’, because the next day you'll feel even less like it and pretty soon you got 10 pounds on you!", that's his device. The two storage bays under the bus hold his generator and along the bus's side are all kind of different inlets for electricity and water. Suction was one of the hardest things for Peter to create for his mobile clinic and he still needs a vacuum to operate. What he managed to install is a machinery for the suction underneath the bus, which is quite improvised but has been running for now 16 years without any trouble.

The standard school bus steps were originally designed for children's feet, which was too small for adults. This is why Peter cut away the original stairway and built in a 12-foot step out of aluminum. There are posts to hang on to in every step of the entrance as a lot of his patients are seniors. The grab-handle actually has another purpose: it is a slim closet. Right beside the entrance is another, bigger closet to leave winter coats in and where they can dry during damp winters. The cushions of the waiting area got salvaged from a boat that was sunk without the cushions getting wet and three more seats are from a local theater from the 50's.

The receptionist area looks just the same as in a regular dentistry, made out of a teak roll top desk that got repurposed. All the wood inside is from Hornby Island, mainly yellow cedar trim and birch plywood, carpentered by Peter himself. He also kept all the windows of the bus to keep the place bright. For the rest, there is a pretty standard 45 years old dental cabinetry that works just fine. Peter installed water channels in the floor so that even if it is freezing outside, the feet stay warm and one stays comfortable.

Additionally, there are a small five-gallon water tank, a little pump and a thermostat on the wall. To make it safe for everybody, there are four layers of drywall in between the wooden faces and the doors have a lead sheet in behind them in order to be X-ray proof. In the back of the bus is another room that is the hygiene area, with a second patient's seat and more facilities, including a second X-ray. On the ceiling throughout the whole bus, Peter set up a cute button magnets collection. Peter mentions that it's been a great career working on this bus, but that at this point in his mid 70's, he's looking for a buyer to take over.

"What I learned from doing this bus – taking on the challenge of it and who I became as a result – this made me who I am and it made me a better dentist by far. When I get stuck with a complex problem in dentistry, I know that if you ask the right questions, it will open up. We're all complex individuals and eventually you have to get to terms with all of those things that hold you back. But you can't learn much if you're in the basement playing video games, you have to interact with life. Take something on that you care about! Don't be afraid, because fear holds back.”.