Shellharbour-based member dentist Dr Mohit Tolani has been honoured for his exemplary service to his local community at the 2025 Shellharbour Community & Australia Day Awards. The annual awards recognise those who make a positive difference in the community.
Dr Tolani received Citizen of the Year for being an exceptional individual whose dedication and service has had a lasting impact on the local community.
He was nominated by a patient at his dental practice. He first heard he would receive the award just prior to Christmas. Dr Tolani received recognition at a smaller ceremony on 15 January before a larger ceremony on Australia Day took place where speeches were made before a larger crowd.
He has since received flowers, gifts and best wishes from various medical professionals congratulating him.
“I am honoured and I feel truly blessed to receive this award,” Dr Tolani said. “There was a great feeling throughout the day for what I was doing in dentistry, especially in a regional area where there is a dire need to access dental care.”
Dr Tolani and other local heroes embody the spirit of Shellharbour and the awards aim to acknowledge individuals, groups or local businesses who make valuable contributions through volunteering, acts of compassion, generosity or bravery.
The Shellharbour City Council website stated ‘Dr Tolani has been an exceptional professional, community volunteer, and an excellent example of an admirable leader who has selflessly dedicated himself to various dental health initiatives in the local community’.
It added that ‘he has opened the doors to offer free dental treatment for more than 3,000 people in need. Dr Tolani is seen as an encouraging role model for modern day young professionals aiming to bridge the gaps within the community’.
Earlier in his career, Dr Tolani moved from Gold Coast to Shepparton before moving to his current employer now based at Dapto and running his clinic in Shellharbour. He found the dental health literacy levels varied upon moving to his workplace in Illawarra. Dr Tolani has volunteered with the Royal Flying Doctor Service Southern Eastern Section previously, providing a greater insight into issues surfacing the inequities within a rural oral healthcare setting.
The ‘Project Smile’ project was also clinically led by Dr Tolani and he offered free dental care provision to the local regional community that had been impacted by personal adversity. He said the biggest highlight of his career is that he has been able to engage with patients creatively at a one-on-one personal level. This includes working with communities where access to dental care is limited.
At the 2022 ADA NSW Awards ceremony, Dr Tolani received the 2022 Recent Graduate Award.
Dr Tolani is now the Deputy Chair of the ADA NSW Advocacy Committee and passionate about improving access to dentistry in regional and remote areas.
