JIKO Yasa liked the challenge of dentistry and that is why she pursued it as a career, becoming the first Fijian woman dentist in Fiji. Dr Jiko (Luveni) would later become the first woman in Fiji to be the Speaker in Parliament – from 2014 to 2018. She passed away in 2018 after a short illness.
The Fiji Times report said that in 1964, during her final year at Adi Cakobau School, Dr Jiko attended a ‘Careers Talk’ by Dr Allerton, then chief dental officer at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) in Suva.
“He mentioned that there were no woman dentists in Fiji,” she said.
“I always wanted to work in the medical field and took it up as a challenge.”
After a three-year course at the Central Medical School, she graduated in 1967.
A two-year internship followed at the CWMH’s dental clinic. And three years later she married civil servant Mikaele Yasa.
Life as a dentist
A story on the challenges she faced while in charge of the Nausori Dental Health Clinic way back in the 1970s was published by The Fiji Times on December 4, 1976.
“The only dental problem most people recognise and seem to do something about is toothache and this the only time they come and see a dentist,” she said.
“They fail to realise that apart from dental decay, rural people suffer more diseases of the gums because of poor oral hygiene that could be easily cured if treatment was sought early. In her first year at Nausori, Dr Yasa and a hygienist worked two days a week at the clinic.
“The rest of the week I drive the dental mobile to Korovou and Lodoni health centres attending to all dental patients and visit schools as well,” she said, Later, with the introduction of three new therapists and a dental assistant, the clinic expanded.
“We formed two teams, one to take charge of the mobile clinic to visit all schools in the area.”
Big area of work
The team accompanying Dr Yasa managed the main clinic in Nausori two days a week and Saturday mornings. “The rest of the week was divided for the need of rural people and schools,” she said, Dr Yasa and her assistant therapist visited Korovou, Lodoni and Wainibokasi health centres besides other settlements and villages.
“Frankly, it is a very big area.
“On clinic days I treat up to 140 patients on Tuesdays and about 100 patients on Fridays.” Sometimes Dr Yasa found herself overworked.
“But the more people I educate in oral health, the happier I feel.” She treated emergency cases at the Nausori Dental Health Centre on Tuesdays and Fridays. Patients seeking restorative treatment – filling and cleaning – were given appointments for Saturday mornings.
“The trouble with most people is that they come to the clinic when they have severe toothache and the disease has gone so far that it is only relieved through extraction.”
Dr Yasa maintained that if people went for examination and sought preventative measures, they would save their teeth and much trouble at a later date, She usually visited women’s clubs to talk about oral health.
“Mothers play a major role in influencing their children to form the habit of brushing their teeth.”
