Principal Dentist · Doctor of Dental Medicine (UWA) · ADA Victoria member
Dr Meg Takiguchi
Dr Meg grew up on the outskirts of Tokyo, studied Biochemistry in Canada and completed a PhD in Medical Oncology at Oxford before moving to Melbourne as a cancer researcher. She decided she would rather be closer to people, with the chance to fix something in front of her, and graduated with a Doctor of Dental Medicine from the University of Western Australia in 2016.
Since then she has worked a year in the public system and close to nine years in private practice across regional Western Australia. Regional practice broadens a dentist — in towns where the nearest specialist is a long drive away, work a city practice would refer out has to be handled in-house. She built up implant placement and restoration, molar root canal treatment, difficult surgical extractions, denture work and laser treatment, and has brought that range to Warrnambool.
She takes particular care with injections and works at a pace anxious patients can manage, explaining each step before it happens and stopping when asked. Everyone is different, and no dentist can promise a completely pain-free appointment.
Continuity is the reason she is opening her own practice. She would rather be the one dentist a family sees over the long term than another name on a file.
Areas of particular interest
- Dental implants
- Root canal treatment including molars
- Surgical and complicated extractions
- Crowns, bridges and full-mouth rehabilitation
- Diode laser for selected gum procedures
- Partial dentures
Dr Meg is a general dentist and is not registered as a specialist in any of these areas. Her PhD in Medical Oncology is a research qualification, not a dental one. Suitability for any treatment is determined after a clinical assessment.
Away from the practice, weekends usually involve the two kelpies and a stretch of beach.
Two questions she is asked most
Nobody can promise you a completely pain-free appointment, and I would rather be honest about that than make a claim I cannot keep. I take my time with anaesthetic and check in with you throughout. If something is uncomfortable, tell me and we stop.
No. Plenty of people come in after a long gap. We work out where things stand, sort out anything urgent, and build a plan from there at a pace that suits you.