Our Dental Support Staff

Agnes Abag was a registered nurse (RN) and registered radiology technologist (RRT) in the Philippines before moving to Australia.  She completed her Certificate III in Dental Assisting at MYTOOTHDOCTOR, and is very happy to be back in the work force - having opted to be a stay-at-home mum to look after her only daughter's crucial early development years.  Eli now enjoys school with her dad, Eric, a Landrover speciaist mechanic, sharing the school pick up runs.  Agnes is Ms Karen Wards primary dental chairside dental assistant, and also maintains credentialling with the Townsville Mater Private Hospital as one of Dr Garret Robles' surgical assistants.

Tahnee Massaro hopes to complete her Cert III in Dental Assisting with MYTOOTHDOCTOR at the soonest time so that she could finally be, as she puts it, "on a big girl's wage". In just a few months into her role, Tahnee, has demonstrated that she is a keen fast learner - able to to handle front office phone calls, do sterilisation, and asssit with dental procedures and work from our the dental van. During clinic downtime, you will see Tahnee happily folding bibs or bring out her Mac to complete and send away some of her completed Cert III module assessments. Otherwise she would be sitting at our reception office enjoying her sour cream and onion chips in between patients. Tahnee is Dr Crystal John's trusted dental asistant for the MYTOOTHDOCT and POD's dental van, seeing kids in the dental van at St Teresa's College in Abergowrie and the Townsville NRL Cowboys House.

Ruby Jolicoeur was born in the Seychelles and moved to Townsville in 2009 with her husband and dentist Dr Craig Jolicoeur.  Ruby has been a dental assistant for 16 years, having worked as clinical coordinator for 1300SMILES. Ruby completed an overseas Advanced Certificate in Oral Health and Social Studies and an Australian Certificate III and IV in Dental Assisting and Radiography. Ruby joined MYTOOTHDOCTOR to learn more about practice administration and hospital based dental patient care.  Ruby's main strength is surgical assisting, but is a natural leader - inspiring our younger the support staff team.  When not at work, Ruby loves spending time with her husband, Dr Craig, and their only child Esha, and meeting up with her friends. Ruby used to worry about Esha doing gymnastics, but now takes her to soccer practices. Ruby maintains that her best holiday destination will always be her home country, the Seychelles.  Hope we can all enjoy a holiday there with Ruby. 

Manuel Rojas is Dr Garret's surgical assistant at the Townsville Mater Hospital Hyde Park Day Surgery, and chairside dental assistant at MYTOOTHDOCTOR in Bushland Beach.  Having graduated overseas as a general dentist, Manuel looks forward to completing the final part of his Australian Dental Association skills assessment to allow him to register as a dentist in Australia. He hopes to get into a prosthodontics program later on. His background as a dentist enables him to triage patients needing urgent care when on reception, and looks forward to contributing to MYTOOTHDOCTOR's newest denture clinic - making mouthguards for kids, and same day hybrid ceramic crowns using our in house milling machine. However, all dentistry may soon be put on hold as our Manuel will soon get married this September to Ms Jess who loves kids! Ms Jess is a school teacher with a senior administrative role at Calvary Christian College. We all look forward to Manuel's wedding day.

Dr Mary Ann Palma-Robles, is a policy analyst specialising in international fisheries law and ocean policy. She holds a Ph.D. in International Fisheries Law and serves as a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong. Her research interests encompass international fisheries law and policy, ocean policy and management, maritime security, and regional marine governance.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Dr. Palma-Robles co-owns and manages MYTOOTHDOCTOR. In this role, she ensures compliance with dental regulatory policies and procedures, particularly focusing on sterilisation, infection control, radiation hygiene, staff employment, and career development. To better support her team, she has completed a Certificate IV in Dental Assisting and Oral Health Promotion with the Australian Dental Association Queensland (ADAQ).

Dr. Palma-Robles has also contributed to scholarly discussions on maritime safety and welfare. She recently co-authored an article titled "Tides of change: Steering towards improved mariner safety and welfare in the Indo-Pacific," published in the Melbourne Asia Review. This work examines the challenges and opportunities within the maritime supply chains of the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing the importance of seafarers' safety and well-being.

Her multifaceted career bridges the fields of maritime policy and healthcare management, reflecting her diverse expertise and commitment to both global maritime issues and local community health services. 

Sofia Margaret Robles is Mary Ann and Garret's only child in addition to their rescue fur babies Luna (9, a deaf wolfhound cross), Lucian (6 months, a bull arab cross), Rango (17 - a silky terrier who wouldnt die!), TK and Boo (3 year old tabby cats) (and Bear and Kiesha, that sadly the family misses so much). Sofia regularly re-supplies Dr Garret's dental toy chest for visiting kids. Outside of dentistry, Sofia loves her classes at Glen Buchanan's swim school, Momentum Gymnastics, and TAPA.  She is now in Prep at the Townsville Grammar. Sofia will likely pursue a university degree, or a business or arts career of her choosing - but lots of exploring for now - having recently won her first trophies at the Burdekin Junior Eisteddfod for violin and piano.