Our History

In Summary:

Started in Malibu Road, Safety Bay in mid 1980’s.

Purchased by Adrian Longworth in 1986 and renamed Safety Bay Dental Care Centre by Adrian.

Moved to Grange Medical Centre in 1991.

Moved to 90 Parkin St, Rockingham in 2017 into our purposed internally rebuilt and designed premises.

Richard Grayson sold his ownership interest back to Adrian in July 2021 making Adrian the sole controller of the practice direction.

In Detail:

Safety Bay Dental Care Centre has humble beginnings. It began as a small branch surgery in Malibu road owned by a consortium of local dentists in the early 1980s. Adrian Longworth purchased this practice in 1986. At the start, Adrian worked in the practice with his wife Maureen acting as the sole dental nurse/receptionist. The practice was only open for only two afternoons a week initially. The rest of the week Adrian was operating a country dental practice in the South West town of Wagin.

The practice was named “Safety Bay Dental Care Centre” deliberately, with the emphasis on “care”. The practice grew quickly and in 1987 Adrian conducted interviews and employed their first employee, a dedicated young dental assistant called Julie. The practice continued to flourish so Adrian employed another dentist to help the workload between the Rockingham practice and the country practice. Richard Grayson was employed in 1987 due to the continued growth of the Safety Bay Dental Care Centre. Adrian eventually decided the Wheatbelt life wasn’t for him so he resigned his interests in the Wagin practice and focused on the Rockingham practice called Safety Bay Dental Care Centre.

As Safety Bay Dental Care Centre became more popular, Adrian was able to invest  more substantial equipment. Our first computer (an XT IBM compatible, the best in 1988) was integrated to the practice coinciding with the employment a dedicated Receptionist/computer operator.

It reached a point where the premises, on Malibu Rd, were never going to be big enough and Richard was keen to become a full and equal partner of the practice, if they could find new premises.

About that time a land developer built Grange Medical Centre as part of their development of Woodbridge Estate and were looking for tenants to this impressive, new building. Richard and Adrian had to redesign the floor space to make it acceptable for use as a dental clinic. In 1992 Safety Bay Dental Care Centre was moved to its new location in the Grange Medical Centre.

In 2016, with some difficulties with the Grange location, new premises were envisioned at 90 Parkin Street, Rockingham. The site was purchased, much was demolished and a new building and grounds were completed. We moved in to this location in May 2017. We decided it best to completely decommission the Cooloongup premises. So Safety Bay Dental has now absolutely no connection to Grange Medical Centre. Julie, the original first employed dental assistant back in the late 1980s, returned to work for us some years ago and remains Adrian’s principal dental assistant to this day.

Clinic Hours

Monday – Thursday 8:30 – 5:00
Friday 8:30 – 4:00
Saturday (By Appointment) 9:00 – Midday

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