Dr Michele Tjeuw

Building upon years of extensive clinical and hospital-based experience across major public institutions—including the Westmead Centre of Oral Health, the Children's Hospital at Westmead, and the Sydney Dental Hospital—alongside my role as Practice Director at North Shore Dental Specialists, I am excited to expand my practice northward. At the heart of my practice is a commitment to providing inclusive, specialist-level care for all children, with a dedicated focus on supporting neurodivergent children and those with complex medical and special health care needs. Every child deserves a safe, compassionate, and tailored dental experience, and my career has been dedicated to bridging the gaps in access for young patients who require specialized environments to thrive.

Through a monthly fly-in, fly-out arrangement, I provide specialised paediatric dental care by operating at both the Cairns Dental Anaesthetic Centre and the Ramsay Surgical Centre Cairns.

To ensure a seamless continuum of treatment, our visiting service operates hand-in-hand with the broader regional clinical network.

Referral for treatment under general anaesthesia may be appropriate for extensive dental disease in very young or pre-cooperative children, severe dental anxiety or phobia that precludes cooperative treatment in the chair, and patients with complex medical histories, physical disabilities, or significant neurodivergence where in-office management is unsafe or impractical.

Through this collaborative model, we harness the power of interdisciplinary care—coordinating closely with medical, dental, and surgical colleagues to formulate comprehensive treatment plans. This ensures a cohesive journey for pre-cooperative children and pre-schoolers requiring comprehensive rehabilitation, children with neurodiversity and complex medical, physical, or developmental needs, and young patients with severe dental anxiety or specialised behavioural requirements.

Family and community sit at the core of everything I do. Dentistry is a shared passion in our household, with my husband working as a prosthodontist who travels to James Cook University on a FIFO basis to teach. Our older daughter is currently studying dentistry at James Cook University, and our younger daughter plans to study here in Far North Queensland as well, making this monthly FIFO structure an ideal way for our family to integrate into and embrace the Far North Queensland community.

My commitment to children's oral health extends far beyond private practice. Throughout my career, I have balanced clinical work with academic instruction—teaching at the University of Sydney, holding an academic position at the University of Puthisastra, Phnom Pehn and volunteering at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Dental Clinic. Driven by a passion for humanitarian outreach, I also regularly lead teams of dental professionals on annual volunteer missions to Cambodia via NGO programs, delivering essential care to vulnerable populations.

I look forward to collaborating with families and dental colleagues across Far North Queensland to ensure every child has access to safe, specialised, and inclusive oral health care.