Meet The Dental Hygienists / Therapists

Avenue Dental is a group of Sunshine Coast Dental practices with dental hygienists / therapists in Caloundra, Kawana and Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.

Our hygienists / therapists at each of Avenue Dental’s Sunshine Coast locations are highly skilled and experienced in helping care for your teeth. Avenue Dental has 8 dental hygienists / therapists over the 3 practices on the Sunshine Coast.

Please click on the appropriate link below for more information.
Alicia Veizer – Caloundra
Julie Carranza – Caloundra & Kawana
Natarsha Ferrington – Caloundra
Deb Kerridge – Caloundra & Maroochydore
Amelia Seselja – Caloundra
Anita Pettinato – Maroochydore
Ingrid Blomberg – Caloundra
Leah Hobbs – Caloundra

Alicia Veizer – Dental Hygienist Caloundra

Alicia was educated and trained in Toronto Canada in 1997. She then joined two practices, one with a periodontist, and one with the president of the Dental Association of Ontario. Both were affiliated with the University of Toronto. We were fortunate to have Alicia join our family in 2008 as she brings extensive dental knowledge and a wealth of clinical experience. 

Her professional demeanour, exceptional clinical skills and a caring nature has already established a great reputation and strong rapport with her clients. She specialises in Oral Hygiene education and periodontal gum disease treatment. She takes immense pride in helping people maintain healthy mouths, creating beautiful smiles and especially keeping their teeth for life. In her spare time, Alicia is passionate about international travel, is the mother of 2 young boisterous boys, Rhys and Erik, and with her partner Andrew, tries to spend as much time at the beach as possible.

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Julie Carranza – Dental Hygienist Caloundra and Kawana

Graduating as a Dental Hygienist in 1991, Julie brings to Avenue Dental a variety of professional experiences. Julie has worked with specialists, general dentists, provided nursing home staff training and facilitated local study groups. Her additional involvements include volunteering for the Dental Hygienist Association of Australia (Queensland Branch) Inc and owning a business doing training workshops and dental office coaching.

Julie, her husband and teenage daughter have recently completed their Australian citizenship and entertain themselves frequently with traveling new and interesting Aussie adventures. “Even after these handful of years exploring Oz land, my favorite trip so far is a toss up between the Great Ocean Road and Uluru/Ayerʼs Rock”.

Julie prides herself on the high quality of care she provides to each and every patient. “This is a fun office to work at and I look forward to meeting you, your friends and your family!”

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Natarsha Ferrington – Dental Hygienist / Therapist Caloundra


A Queensland Graduate of Dental Therapy and dental Hygiene, Natarsha has been with Avenue dental since 2001. She is a mother of two daughters – one teen and one nearly there, and lives in a quaint country town on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. She is inspired by the bush and loves hiking in our beautiful National Parks. Her hiking claim to fame is recently “doing the Overland Track,” a wilderness walk in Tasmania in the Cradle mountain region – the climb up Mt Ossa being the highlight. Her other passions include practicing yoga and enjoying her garden.

“My satisfaction from working life comes from the interaction with people – the work I do is very rewarding in being a part of people’s healing process and their experience of returning their mouth to a state of health.” 

“I love the friendly atmosphere we have created at Avenue dental, with our supportive, willing staff members and the emphasis on achieving and maintaining high standards of health care; and having fun whilst doing so.”

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Deb Kerridge – Dental Hygienist / Therapist Caloundra and Maroochydore

Deb graduated as a Dental Therapist in 1979 and was responsible for introducing the School Dental Service in Mt Isa.  After a couple of years enduring the heat, she went overseas.  Whilst on this little adventure (10 years) she dabbled in a variety of professions travelling Canada, USA and Europe before ending up in Iceland filleting fish.

After a couple of years becoming quite proficient at this and speaking Icelandic, she ended up with an Icelandic husband and returned to Australia. Upon her return, she resumed working as a Dental Therapist to discover that the world of dentistry had changed dramatically with the emphasis on prevention and holistic dentistry.  This prompted her to return to university to gain a Bachelor of Health Promotion.  After a few years working with public health units to increase the profile of dentistry in health programs, she returned again to university to gain qualifications as a dental hygienist.

She has been working at Avenue Dental since 2005 and loves it.  Asked why she does what she does, the answer is “I was very frightened of dentists as a child and I know how this fear builds up over the years.  I want to be able to prevent anxiety through prevention.” Deb is happily married to her Icelandic husband and has one little girl and two dogs.

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Amelia Seselja – Dental Hygienist / Therapist Caloundra

I graduated from the University of Queensland and started at Avenue Dental Caloundra in 2011.  I love being part of such a friendly and professional environment. I have studied oral health and nutrition and find that both fields complement each other very well. As a therapist I take personal satisfaction in ensuring kids have a positive start with their dental lives and as a hygienist I am very passionate about improving my patients’ oral health and quality of life.  Being an Oral Health Therapist is very fulfilling and I look forward to coming to work every day.

I enjoy being around people and on my weekends I like to surround myself with friends and family. I Come from a big family and I enjoy seeing my sisters and brother as much as I can. Whenever I get the chance I love traveling the world and experiencing different cultures. In my spare time I love nothing more than reading a good book, listening to music and heading to the beach.

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Anita Pettinato – Dental Hygienist / Therapist Maroochydore

Anita is originally from Sydney and now lives on the Sunshine Coast with her family. She wears many hats. Apart from being a stable part of the Avenue team, she also has a career in the art world, and is a mother of 3.

Anita’s experience within the dental field spans an era of 20 years in a variety of roles. She graduated as an Oral Health Therapist in 2004 at the University of QLD, and has been with Avenue Dental since 2009. She prides herself on quality care and is passionate about building long lasting relationships with her patients. Her attention to detail as an Oral Health Therapist is part of the reason she is also a fantastic visual artist.

‘I love being a part of the avenue team. They are a positive lot and always deliver service with a smile. Building relationships with my patients is one of the most enjoyable parts of my role. I am very passionate about helping produce positive results with their overall dental health, and love seeing their happy faces when this is achieved’
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Ingrid Blomberg – Dental Hygienist / Therapist Caloundra

Ingrid graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy and has been with Avenue Dental since 2008. Possibly inspired by a family background in the dental field, Ingrid moved from Townsville, North Queensland, to study and obtain her degree in Brisbane. 

After working with the School Dental service in Brisbane, she was attracted to the lifestyle of the Sunshine Coast and the reputation of Avenue Dental’s fantastic hygiene team. Ingrid loves working at a practice so focused on prevention and maintenance.
In 2011, Ingrid gained enrollment in a dentistry degree in Cairns. Well done Ingrid! Sadly, we do not get to see her as often as we would like as she now only works at the practice to help out during university holidays. We look forward to when “Dr Blomberg” finishes her studies and hopefully relocates back to the Sunshine Coast.
Other than dentistry, Ingrid enjoys sport (playing and watching), socialising, reading, traveling, and brunch.

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Leah Hobbs – Dental Hygienist/ Therapist Caloundra

Leah leads a busy life.  She is a lecturer at the University of Queensland, is a speaker at dental continuing education meetings and thankfully also finds the time to work with us at Avenue Dental Caloundra.  Leah has a vast dental knowledge and is adding to this all the time.  She is currently completing further studies and research at the University of Queensland.  Leah loves treating children.top