> During a break from construction of the Gunbarrel Highway in June 1957, Beadell convinced a visiting dental surgeon at Woomera, Dr Bruce Dunstan, to give him a crash course on tooth extraction.[2] Beadell had prior experience of the trouble that teeth could cause himself and his crew when days or weeks away from city facilities. This instruction and further assistance from an Alice Springs dentist, Ray Meldrum, equipped him with dental supplies and local anaesthetics sufficient for bush work. Beadell carried out his first extraction in March 1958 on Cyril Koch, a cook, during construction of the Gunbarrel Highway. By the time road building was completed in 1963, Len had pulled 29 teeth, joking that he had 29 notches on his forceps.[2]