From Sydney to Shetland, via North Yorkshire, dental nurse and retained firefighter Apryl Carrol has come a long way. Her personal journey continues as she develops new skills, connections, and confidence thanks to living in Shetland's North Mainland.
Apryl Carroll didn't know where Shetland was when her sister-in-law took a job as a pharmacist here. "I had no idea, to be honest," she admits.
Three years on, she and her husband are building their own house on a plot of land near Hillswick, in Shetland's North Mainland, beside her in-laws, and she can't imagine living anywhere else.
Apryl grew up in Sydney and trained as a dental nurse there in 2008, after missing out on a place in veterinary nursing. It turned out to be the right kind of accident.
"I like the fact that every day is a bit different. The thing I really love is seeing someone who hasn't had the best confidence in their teeth get treatment, and then watching them be happy with their smile. That's amazing to see."
She met her husband while on holiday in the UK in 2018, married in 2019, and spent five years in North Yorkshire before her in-laws decided to follow their daughter north to Shetland.
Apryl and her husband visited once. They bought land on the spot. "We loved it, and then we bought some land and built a couple of houses on it," she says, matter-of-factly, as though this is a normal thing to do after a single visit.
We loved it, and then we bought some land and built a couple of houses on it.
They moved in March, straight into two weeks of solid snow. "I got told it didn't snow in Shetland, and if it did, it doesn't lay. It does lay. I know that now."
Three years later, she and her husband are still living in a caravan on the plot while their house is finished.
"That's how committed to Shetland I am," she laughs. "We're living in the caravan."
Day to day, Apryl's work is a mix of check-ups, x-rays and treatment plans, with most patients needing some form of work, whether that's fillings, root canals or dentures. She's recently been getting back into crowns and bridges. Root canals are not her favourite. "I hate root canals," she says cheerfully. "I like doing extractions and surgicals. That's more in my field."
What she enjoys most is the human side of the job: helping someone manage fear, or simply getting them out of pain.
"We've got people who come in absolutely petrified because they had a bad experience when they were six or seven, and they're now in their sixties. To help them get through that fear, we can make jokes, have a laugh, put them at ease. That's really nice too."
Patients, she says, are overwhelmingly grateful for the dental team's presence in Shetland, although not without the odd grumble familiar to any healthcare worker.
"Most people are really, really grateful, which is nice. But you do get the few that expect it, and then get frustrated if there's a wait. That's just people, isn't it?"
Outside the surgery, Apryl is a retained firefighter at Hillswick station, a commitment that runs alongside dentistry.
"If it's not dental, it's fire," she says. The rota is more flexible than people might assume: she can log herself off if she wants a weekend free, and her crew has never made that difficult.
It's not the only place she's found unexpected confidence since moving to Shetland.
"I think living here has made me a lot more independent and made me grow as a person. I don't feel as afraid to make decisions here. I don't feel like I'm going to get criticised or put down as much as I would back home, especially in Australia.
"So yeah, I feel like I've definitely grown as a person, especially being able to make the choice to go and join the Fireys, which has been hard, but I've always been supported."
Her crew at the fire station, she says, has backed her every step of the way, as has her husband. "I think if I was at home, there'd be more negatives around doing things like that."
I think living here has made me a lot more independent and made me grow as a person. I don't feel as afraid to make decisions here.
She's candid about the practicalities of working closely with patients in a small place, including bumping into people outside work. It doesn't faze her in the slightest.
"I'm a pretty easy-going person; I don't get ruffled. If I see someone out, I'll say hello."
What does catch her out is the reverse: strangers who know exactly who she is and what she's building. "People know where I live and I've no idea who they are. They're like, 'you're the one building the black house.' I'm like, 'how do you know that?'."
Her advice to anyone in dentistry considering a move is unequivocal, although she recognises that finding accommodation can be challenging.
"Definitely give it a go. Even if it's just for six months, it's a beautiful island with lovely people, and I don't think they'd regret it. I'd rather have come and seen what it was like than regret not coming, for sure."
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