The dentalcorp network is a vibrant community of peers. Our community in Atlantic Canada is closely linked to Dalhousie where many of our Partners studied.
In 2019, dentalcorp was proud to strengthen those connections with a $1 million gift to support Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Dentistry’s simulation lab.
Since 2013, dentalcorp has grown to 48 practices across the Maritime provinces.
Connect with Cory Sears to learn more about partnership. cory.sears@dentalcorp.ca
Editor: Cheryl Bell
Contributing editor: Kathy MacFarlane
Contributors: Danny Abriel
Melanie Bremner
Debbie Bright
Jon Bruhm
Jane Doucet Victoria Hamilton Catherine Lyle Nick Pearce
Dentistry Alumni Committee:
Chair: Lee Erickson, DDS’81
Vice-chair: Denise Zwicker, DDH’04, BDH’12
Secretary: Simone Abbass, DDS’85
Past chair: Peggy Maillet, DDH’74
Members at large:
Mohammad AlAbdoulsalam, DDS’24
Charanpal Ahluwalia, DDS’07
Lindsey Cavanagh, DDH’22
Sarah Davidson, DDS’06
Kristen Gamache, DDH’18, BDH’19
Ahmad Hussein, DDS’13
Amanda Lee, DDH’14, BDH’15
Alumni Anchor is published annually for alumni and friends of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Dentistry. Circulation: 3,700
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Faculty of Dentistry Alumni Relations Dalhousie University
5981 University Avenue, PO Box 15000 Halifax, N.S. B3H 4R2
Phone: 902-266-5610 Fax: 902-494-5101
Email: alumni.dentistry@dal.ca
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4 Dentistry Alumni Committee Reunited!
12 Cover Story: Celebrating convocation 2022
16 Grad profile: Alec Grabinski
17 Grad profile: Geoff Seto
18 Grad profile: Joy Ifesanya
19 Grad profile: Ramlah Mahmood
20 End of an era: Jennifer Wallace retires
21 Dental hygienists refresh their career options
22 Alumni: The Raddalls
24 Alumni: Shauna Hachey
25 Dean’s List
26 Annual Giving Report
28 Sharing the gift of oral health
30 Jenna Upshaw: Committed to health promotion and outreach
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On our cover: The Faculty of Dentistry celebrated its first in-person convocation ceremonies since 2019 for the classes of 2022, 2021, and 2020.
Do you receive more than one Alumni Anchor magazine at your home or office? If you would prefer not to, please contact us at alumni.dentistry@dal.ca. It will help us all to be more environmentally friendly.
As I approach the end of five years as dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, I would like to focus on the positive. Without question, the past two and half years have been difficult for us all, whether we are in practice, teaching, studying, or happily retired. It has not been easy, but we have all learned a lot and I am certainly proud of how our Faculty has risen to the challenge and continued to treat patients and educate students through it all. We have also made progress toward some of our larger goals.
In the autumn of 2021, we launched our strategic plan, which will take us through to 2026. We are currently focused on four key priorities – and you can expect to hear me talk a lot about these over the upcoming months:
• To enrich the student learning experience
• Community engagement and outreach • Research for new knowledge and better health
• Transformation through improving our facilities and technology
Our goals are ambitious, and we believe they will help us tackle systemic issues of access to oral health care and support our diverse community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external partners to work together on big solutions with far-reaching impact.
We are also extremely happy to be holding in-person events again after a two-year gap. Last autumn we were able to hold a hybrid Homecoming weekend. The White Coat ceremony was held in-person for the classes of 2021 and 2022 and we presented an Outstanding Alumni Award to the highly deserving Kelly Mabey Antosh. CE Day was also held in-person, while the JD McLean Lecture with Rick Guidotti was held online.
This spring, we held our first in-person convocation since 2019, complete with graduation dinners for both the DH and DDS classes. Then in July we invited back the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 for a celebration of their graduations. The long gap definitely showed us how much we value our opportunities to get together in person.
Now, we are looking forward to a full – and
The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to create unique challenges for our profession over the last year. As pandemic restrictions eased, the Faculty of Dentistry and the DAC have worked to restore things to our new normal.
In the spring, we sent off the graduating Class of 2022 with an in-person convocation ceremony. After a two-year gap, during which convocations were canceled because of the pandemic, students, faculty, and staff alike were excited to mark the occasion. Although masks were worn during the ceremonies, graduates and their families were thrilled to be able to celebrate the successful completion of their studies.
In July, alumni from the classes of 2020 and 2021 were welcomed back to campus
to walk across the stage in their official convocation ceremony. The Faculty and the DAC hosted a reception to congratulate them for their perseverance and dedication to their education during such difficult years.
After several years of postponing Homecoming activities, the DAC is thrilled to welcome alumni back to campus for Homecoming 2022, September 22-24. Alumni and guests are invited to attend all events inperson, including our White Coat ceremony; the annual JD McLean Lecture, featuring Starr Cunningham, president and CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of NS; a Live@5 reception; milestone class reunions; clinic tours; CE day; and the Homecoming Dinner with the presentation of the Outstanding Alumni Awards. OAAs will be presented to Dr. Aaron Burry (DDS’86), Dr. Theresa P. Chiang
fully in-person – Homecoming weekend, complete with a White Coat ceremony, a JD McLean lecture by Starr Cunningham, president and CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, a Live@5 reception, class reunions, CE Day, and a Homecoming Celebration Dinner with the presentation of five Outstanding Alumni Awards.
A mask mandate is being reinstated at Dalhousie University for the autumn term. We know that COVID-19 is still with us. The events of the past two and a half years have taught us a lot and shown us how quickly we can adapt to changing circumstances. We know we can do whatever is needed to keep everyone safe. Yours sincerely,
Ben Davis - Dean, Faculty of Dentistry
(DDS’65), Dr. Jason Noel (DDS’00), Dr. Robert S. Roda (DDS’81) and Ms. Wendy Stewart (DDH’01).
As a result of the pandemic, normal changes to the DAC executive have been delayed. In the fall, the DAC will update its executive and board members. A new alumni engagement and donor relations manager, Kathy MacFarlane, was hired in January 2022. Kathy has been getting to know the students and looks forward to getting on the road with the dean and meeting alumni across the country.
If the events of recent years have taught us anything, it is the importance of staying connected even when we cannot physically be together. So, thank you to our alumni community for staying connected to your alma mater!
DANNY ABRIELWhite Coat Ceremony
50th Reunion Luncheon - DDH Class of 1972
JD McLean Lecture – Guest speaker: Ms. Starr Cunningham, President & CEO of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
Live@5 Reception
CE Day – 6.0 CE Credit Hours. A full day of continuing education courses:
• Dentistry’s role in cleft lip/palate management and the evolution of pediatric dentistry in China, Dr. Theresa Chiang
• L essons learned from COVID-19 for dentists, Dr. Aaron Burry
• Cr acked teeth: A modern epidemic, Dr. Robert Roda
• Updates in periodontics, Drs. Eraldo Batista and Aditya Patel
Open House and Clinic Tours
Dentistry Homecoming Dinner and Outstanding Alumni Awards
Follow the registration link for the course. For assistance, contact the CDE office at cde.dentistry@dal.ca.
The ACDE and 31 of its member schools are jointly providing this series of live webinars featuring university-based key opinion leaders.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2022
12:00 TO 2:00PM | 2.0 HOURS
Mandibular advancement devices in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea
Presenter: Dr. Julia Cohen-Levy
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022
9:00 TO 10:00 PM | 1.0 HOUR
Recognizing and managing critical oral pathology
Presenter: Dr. Sarah Glass
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2022
9:00 TO 11:00 PM | 2.0 HOURS Alternative medicine for the dental healthcare provider
Presenter: Dr. Pamela Alberto
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2022
12:00 TO 1:30 PM | 1.5 HOURS
Top 5 prescribed drugs Presenter: Dr. Aviv Ouanounou
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022
9:00 TO 11:00 PM | 2.0 HOURS
Cracked teeth: Diagnosis and management from an endodontic perspective
Presenter: Dr. Feng-Ming Wang
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022
9:00 TO 10:30 PM | 1.5 HOURS
Implant dental malpractice
Presenter: Dr. Art Curley
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2022
9:00 TO 11:00 PM | 2.0 HOURS
Caries management in practice
Presenter: Dr. John Featherstone
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022
9:00 TO 10:30 PM | 1.5 HOURS
The worn dentition: Finding ways to meet & treat the challenges
Presenter: Dr. Marshall Fagi
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2022
9:00 TO 11:00 PM | 2.0 HOURS
Bad to the bone: Dental oncology
Presenter: Dr. Matthew Messina
More courses the CDE dal.ca/dentistry/cde
Courses to watch for:
IN-PERSON:
NOVEMBER 2022 | 16.0 CE LECTURE
AND 13.0 CE HANDS-ON HOURS
Local anesthesia for the dental hygienist – Certification course
Presenters: Drs. James Brady and Jean-Charles Doucet
NOVEMBER 2022 | 3.0 CE LECTURE
AND 3.0 CE HANDS-ON HOURS
Medical emergencies for the dental office
– Certification course
Presenters: Dr. Chris Lee, Dr. Laurel Murphy, and Darryl Chickness
Details to follow soon. Meets PDBNS requirements. If interested in these courses, contact the CDE office to be added to the waitlist.
Hannah MacDonald (DDS’22) was this year’s recipient of the Dr. D.S. Precious University Medal in Dentistry. She also graduated with distinction, the highest academic standing in her class, and four additional awards.
Hannah credits her interest in dentistry to her hobby of horseback riding. “I grew up in the horse barn,” she says, “where I often found myself surrounded by many hard-working professionals from a variety of careers, including Susan Bourque (DDS’07, MSc’13) and Caitlin Fraser (DDS’15). They became my mentors and they strongly influenced my decision to go into Hannahdentistry.”received numerous awards
during her four years of dental school. The university medal is special, though. She says that it has “given me more confidence and the sense that I have earned my place in this demanding profession”. She joined Caitlin Fraser’s practice in the summer and will work at both the Westmount dental office and a new, second office on the Eskasoni Indigenous reserve.
Dr. Tanya Cook has had a big year. She has accepted the role of chair of the Dental Clinical Sciences Department for a five-year renewable term. She was also this year’s deserving recipient of the W.W. Wood Award for Excellence in Dental Education.
In addition, Dr. Cook is the division head of comprehensive care and the chair of the EDIA and Dentistry Academic Policy committees. She is an NDEB examiner, serves as the Dalhousie representative on the ADEA Council of Faculties, and works in private practice as a prosthodontist.
During her time with our Faculty, Dr. Cook has won numerous awards and accolades, served on many committees, and gained the admiration of both her colleagues and her students for her leadership, work ethic, kindness, professionalism and knowledge, willingness to help, and her great dedication to student learning and patient care.
Ellie Wedlake PHOTO DANNY ABRIEL Ellie Wedlake (DDS4) received the Dr. Eric Hatfield Active Participation Award from the NSDA in June.The Impact Award recognizes students for their academic excellence and their achievements outside the classroom. For Heba Al-Ameri, this year’s Faculty of Dentistry Impact Award winner, life inside and outside the classroom are closely linked, with her volunteer activities revolving around dentistry and health care, particularly for underserved populations.
Her concern for these populations is partly shaped by her own early life. Heba’s family is from Yemen, a country that has been in the throes of civil war for several years. They moved to Bedford when Heba was 17.
On Monday evenings during term time, Heba can be found in the Faculty’s Government Assisted Populations (GAP) Clinic where she works as the volunteer coordinator, scheduling students with patients and trying to match them according to language. She also steps in to translate when needed.
“I know how hard it is to go somewhere and not understand what is happening,” she says. “Nothing is familiar. So I try to build a connection, even if it’s just saying ‘hi’ at each clinic.”
Outside the Dentistry Building, Heba has spent a lot of time volunteering with an NSHA outreach program to provide door-to-door COVID-19 testing, visiting public housing apartments, shelters, hotels, and drop-in spaces to carry out testing.
Heba is looking forward to taking the public health elective in her fourth year of studies, which will give her hands-on experience with the populations she wants to help.
Dr. Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons at the annual conference in July.
In his recorded message to the conference, which he could not attend in person, he acknowledged the guidance and support of many people.
“I’ve worked with some of the giants in Canadian maxillofacial surgery,” he said, “including my mentor David Precious and colleagues Reg Goodday and Archie Morrison. They took a chance on me and opened a door that allowed me to begin a career at Dalhousie.”
Dr. Vahid Adibnia is the successful candidate for the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Functional Polymeric Biomaterials. He joined the Department of Applied Oral Sciences in July and will submit an application to the CRC Secretariat this fall.
Dr. Adibnia plans to establish a program of research focused on biosourcing and bioinspired materials design aimed at addressing several important clinical areas, such as lubrication in managing osteoarthritis; wound healing challenges, such as hemorrhaging and the need for better tissue adhesives; and antifouling strategies to prevent microbial infections.
He holds a PhD from McGill University, with postdoctoral research experience in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, and biomedical engineering at the University of Montreal and the University of Toronto. Welcome, Dr. Adibnia!
PHOTO DANNY ABRIEL PHOTO NICK PEARCE
Dr. Sachin Seth, the Faculty of Dentistry’s associate dean of academics, is the 2022 recipient of the Association of Canadian Faculties of Dentistry National Teaching Award for 2022. He was presented with the award on June 17 at the ACFD conference dinner in Edmonton.
Nominees for the ACFD National Teaching Award are assessed on their knowledge of the theory of teaching and learning, their involvement of students in the learning process, their ability to stimulate students to reach set performance standards for the course, an ability to communicate effectively, the rapport they develop with students, and the use of evaluation methods that assess higher levels of learning.
The ACFD National Teaching Award is a tribute to Dr. Seth’s many contributions to teaching, leadership, and dental education in our Faculty and in the wider dental profession.
Chantel Haslam (DDH’22) and Kurtis Moult (DDH’22) received Hu-Friedy Golden Scaler awards for proficiency in clinical dental hygiene at the dental hygiene graduation banquet in May. PHOTO NICK PEARCE SETHISHAPHOTO PHOTO NICK PEARCE
Members of the DDS’72 class toured the Dr. William Murphy Dental Clinic and joined the dean, Dr. Davis, for a 50th reunion luncheon in June.
Front row - L to r: Eric Parsons, Bruce Hunt, Ishmael Bruce, Bruce Roberts, Richard Lohnes, Barrie Sandham. Back rowL to r: Robert MacLean, Rob Murray, Dan Green, Richard Sandelli, Keith MacMullin, David Moore, Barry MacLeod
Congratulations to all those who celebrated graduation milestones this year. Here are a few photos of reunions hosted at the Faculty of RememberDentistry.thatwe can help you to arrange a reunion for your class. Contact Kathy at alumni.dentistry@dal.ca to find out how we can help.
The DDH’92 class toured the Dentistry Building with Dr. Leigha Rock during their 30th reunion.
Front row - L to r: Tracy Ernst, Joan Wilson, Nicole Leger-McGraw, Jennifer Durling, Ann MacArthur, Judith Orr, Darcie Reidpath. Back row - L to r: Jennifer Singleton, Patti Munroe-Shea, Jackie White, Michelle Moore, Kelly Hurlburt, Maria McKenna, Monica Simpson 1992
PHOTO DANNY ABRIEL
PHOTO NICK PEARCE
L to r: Pat Redmond, Marco Chiarot, Kelly Manning, Joanne Green, Christine Holmes, Neil Power, Bob Hatheway, Dave Campbell, Drew Smith, Scott Green, Alan Robinson, Derrick Batten
T HURSDAY, SEP T EMBER 22
5:30PM to 7:30PM
White Coat Ceremony
FRIDAY, SEP T EMBER 23
11:00AM to 1:00PM
50th Reunion Luncheon
DDH Clas s of 1972
5:30PM to 6:30PM
JD McLean Lec ture
Guest speaker : Ms St arr Cunningham, President & CEO, Ment al Health Foundation of Nova Scotia
5:30PM to 7:30PM
Live@5 Reception
S AT URDAY, SEP T EMBER 24
8:30AM to 3:30PM | 6.0 CE hour s
CE Day - A full day of continuing education cour ses
10:00AM & 2:00PM
Open house and clinic tour s
6:00 to 10:00PM
Dentistr y Homecoming Dinner
Out st anding Alumni Awar ds
REGISTER dal.ca/dentistry/cde
The DDS’01 class gathered in Halifax to celebrate their 21st anniversary. row - L to r: Sandy Pirie, Kim MacKenzie, Anna Brison. Back row - Shannon Barker, Jean Provo, Ian Cunningham, Rob Furlong, Andrew Kim PHOTO DANNY ABRIELSpirits were high for Convocation 2022 as 43 DDS, 29 DDH, five BDH, two masters of periodontics, and one MSc in oral and maxillofacial science graduates walked across the stage in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on May 31.
By Cheryl Bell
After a two-year gap, during which convocations were cancelled because of the pandemic, students, faculty, and staff alike were excited to mark theDr.occasion.RobertLoney, professor emeritus from the Faculty of Dentistry, delivered the convocation address, captured the mood in his convocation address. “Look at us here today,” he said. “We are joyous just to be physically together in the same room with masks on. Three years ago, who amongst us would have thought that that was a thing to be thankful for – being together in the same room!”
PHOTO NICK PEARCE Dr. Robert Loney delivers the convocation address. DDH class of 2022A - –
C
The Level 1 waiting area in the Dentistry Building gently hummed with the sound of graduates from the classes of 2020 and 2021 reconnecting with each other and faculty and staff at a post-convocation celebration on July
Between6.
15 and 20 alumni from the two classes attended the convocation ceremony and the reception afterwards, bringing their children, parents, and other family members with them. Dr. Ravneet Othee (DDS’21) was accompanied by her father, who had travelled all the way from India. Dr. Amber White (DDS’20) made the journey from Bermuda with her family. Several others, including Eunice Liu (DDH’21), Dr. Paige Conrad (DDS’21), Dr. Cassandra Lee (DDS’21), Dr. Naveena Raj Kumar (DDS’21), and
Dr. Jin Ren Ng (DDS’21), travelled to the event from within the Maritimes.
Dr. Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, welcomed everyone to the event.
“Every convocation is special and represents the culmination of years of hard work and perseverance,” he said.
This long-awaited convocation “represented all that and more”, he said, with their classes needing to add online learning, regularly changing public health requirements, and higher than usual levels of PPE and infection control measures to an already challenging program.
“To say that I am proud of you and what you accomplished during two years of COVID is an understatement. Your academic experience was like no other,” he added.
Chair of the Dentistry Alumni Committee, Dr. Lee Erickson, also spoke to the grads and their“Weguests.areso jazzed to have you with us today,” he said. “If the events of recent years have taught us anything, it is the importance of staying connected even when we cannot physically be together.
He encouraged alumni to stay in touch with each other and with the Faculty. “We’re here for you in all sorts of ways,” he said.
Dr. Erickson proposed a toast to the grads of 2020 and 2021 for their “perseverance and dedication to your education during these difficult years” and wished them the very best of luck in their future endeavours.
“It was wonderful to finally be able to celebrate,” said Ravneet.
Prof. Lindsay MacDonald, Katelyn Charlton (DDH’21), Dr. Leigha Rock PHOTO NICK PEARCE Dr. Lee Erickson shares a toast with Christiana Dagher, Naljah Salehi-Gheshmi, and Bridgette Green, all class of 2021.PHOTO NICK PEARCE the classes of 2020 and 2021
For Alec Grabinski (DDS’22), the decision to become a dentist started out as an inside joke with his mother. Growing up in northern New Jersey with his parents and three siblings, when his mom took her kids to the dentist, she’d say, “I wish someone in our family was a dentist.” Young Alec would reply, “Maybe I’ll do it!”
Fast forward a few years, to when Alec was in high school. “I was trying to choose a career path, and I thought, maybe I actually will be a dentist,” he says. His mom and one sister are nurses, so he was interested in the health-care professions, but he didn’t think medicine was the right fit. After shadowing his own dentist, who served as an informal mentor, he decided onArmeddentistry.with a biology degree from Montclair State University in his home state, Alec applied to 10 dental schools in the United States. “Getting into dental school in the U.S. is very competitive, and when I didn’t get any interviews, I started working for an endodontist to get more experience,” he says.
Alec’s second round of applications went out to 20 dental schools, 19 of them American. Noticing a lone Canadian institution at the bottom of the list, he googled Dalhousie and saw that he could get his licence accredited in the U.S. Although he had visited parts of his northern neighbour, he’d never been to Atlantic Canada or even heard of Halifax.
After flying up for an interview in early 2018, he knew immediately that he’d like the small class sizes, as well as the city itself.
Alec found the transition from undergrad studies to dental school challenging, as was leaving his close-knit family and country (throw a global pandemic and online learning into the mix, and that’s a whole other story). While he knew the entire experience was
going to be hard, he also knew he could do it. He quickly became close with his classmates, some of whom he now considers bonus brothers and sisters (he was one of 10 American students in his graduating class).
“You hang out with each other every day, Monday to Friday, and sometimes on the weekends,” he says. “All of these friendships are going to last forever.”
While at dental school, Alec immersed himself not only in his classes but also in extracurricular activities – playing intramural soccer on the Dentistry team, and getting involved with the Dalhousie Dentistry Student Society. “Growing up, I always volunteered,” he says. “During my undergrad, I volunteered with the Red Cross. It’s just who I am.”
Although Alec enjoyed all of his outreach clinic experiences, his favourite was the paediatric dental clinics at the IWK Health Centre and Harbour View Elementary School in Dartmouth. “Any appointment with a patient is rewarding, but it’s extra rewarding to treat patients from marginalized communities, and also kids. I appreciate every patient who let me work on them as a student. It takes a lot of trust. I want all of them to feel healthy, comfortable, and confident.”
In fact, Alec enjoyed treating children so much that he has been accepted to a one-year general practice residency (GPR) at the IWK, where he’ll have an opportunity to enhance his clinical skills and training in paediatric dentistry. During the GPR, he’ll explore whether he’d like to focus exclusively on
treating children. “I always leave clinic with a smile on my face when I’ve treated kids,” he says. “I’ll either continue specializing in paediatrics or use what I’ve learned in general practice.”
While at dental school, Alec was able to tap into his lifelong passion for art. For one paediatric patient-education project about caries control, he drew illustrations for the presentations in PowerPoint, and he designed a poster for an instructor.
“Dentistry is a mix of art and science. You see paediatric dentists using cartoons to reach out to the paediatric population,” he says. “Drawings are more approachable for kids. I’d love to illustrate a children’s book on brushing your teeth, something extra for parents to take home. It’d be a labour of love and a passionEventually,project.”heplans to return to the U.S. to work and live. “I’d like to be closer to my family, and it would be nice to go home,” he says. “But Halifax will always be my second home, and Dal Dentistry is my second family.”
The story of his journey to become a dentist still makes Alec chuckle. “It started as an inside joke with my mom, and now here I am, and I love it,” he says. “I love restoring teeth that are more noticeable, like a broken front tooth, and restoring a patient’s confidence and self-esteem. They’ll leave my chair in happy tears because I brought them back to where they want to be. That’s the best part.”
PHOTO DANNY ABRIELAs a child growing up in Halifax, Geoff Seto (DDH’22) didn’t visit the dentist very often –just for emergencies. His parents, who earned a modest living, had limited access to dental care while growing up so they never learned the importance of regular checkups. But a few years ago, his mother’s bout with cancer changed the family’s outlook on oral health.
At one point in her cancer journey, Geoff’s mother needed a liver transplant. Following surgery, the mix of anti-rejection medications she was taking caused her to develop oral thrush, a yeast infection on her tongue and throat that made swallowing extremely painful.
“Mom said it was excruciating and 100 times worse than surgery,” says Geoff. “That experience gave her a whole new perspective on oral health, and how it can greatly impact quality of life. And it opened my eyes to the importance of preventative dental care and hygiene.”
After earning a degree in microbiology from Dalhousie in 2010, Geoff knew he wanted to pursue some sort of health-care
profession, but as an undergraduate he never considered dental hygiene. Undecided about further schooling, he spent 10 years working as a science interpreter at Halifax’s Discovery Centre, where he discovered that he loved working with kids, teaching science, and travelling around the province doing community outreach.
It’s no surprise, then, that when Geoff started the dental hygiene program as a mature student, he discovered that his favourite patients are children. “At Harbour View Elementary, we saw many kids with decayed teeth and cavities who may not fully understand the importance of brushing and going to the dentist,” he says. “I enjoy telling stories and jokes so they feel comfortable being in the dental chair.”
A prime example of a funny story that made the Discovery Centre kids hoot is this: when someone challenged him to eat a hamburger with 10 patties on it, he accepted – and succeeded! Although the order startled the server at Wendy’s, he got his hefty burger and ate it in one sitting.
“It was not enjoyable, but I did it,” says Geoff, chuckling. The nickname he earned –Ten Patty Fatty – stuck. “Every year after that, I’d meet brothers and sisters of summer-camp kids from the year before, and they’d call me Ten Patty Fatty.”
Although Geoff enjoyed working at the Discovery Centre, he wanted to explore new opportunities. After the science centre was shut down at the start of the pandemic, he returned to university to pursue a new career path.
One of only two male students in his graduating class of 29, Geoff chose Dal for dental hygiene because it has a good reputation both at home and internationally. Initially, he was challenged by the volume of the course content – and by COVID-19’s shutdowns and the move to online learning.
Geoff’s comfort level with his peers and professors helped overcome any jitters. “What I enjoyed the most about my time here was getting to know my classmates and instructors,” he says. “We’ll likely stay in touch after we graduate.”
Geoff also enjoyed the program’s variety. In 2021, he worked as a summer research student on a project investigating how xerostomia (dry mouth) affects speech, chewing, swallowing and quality of life. He asked people to eat crackers, measured their salivary flow and collected spit samples for analysis. “It was a neat experience, for sure,” he says.
Although he found that project interesting, Geoff doesn’t see himself pursuing a career in research. Instead, he hopes one day to combine clinical practice with community outreach and teaching – ideally, somewhere in Halifax, where he’ll be close to home so he can care for his parents as they get older.
Reflecting on his experience in dental hygiene school, Geoff says the program is challenging, but also very rewarding. “We have fantastic instructors who go above and beyond, providing encouragement and helping us get to where we are today.”
If you ask Joy Ifesanya (DDS’22) why she chose Dalhousie’s Faculty of Dentistry’s Qualifying Program for internationally trained dentists, she doesn’t hesitate to answer, “Dal choseJoy’sme.”journey to working toward certifying as a dentist in Nova Scotia began at home in Nigeria, where she earned a BDS in dentistry at the University of Ibadan in 2001. Eight years later, she added a Master of Public Health in Community Health and Preventive Medicine from the same university.
Joy and her husband, a family physician, decided to immigrate to Canada in 2017 because they felt there were better opportunities for their three daughters here. They first landed in Regina, where her family had friends
who could support them while they got settled. “I was aware when I left home that my dentistry degree wasn’t certifiable in Canada,” she says. “Of all the Canadian schools I applied to, Dal was the one I least expected to be successful, primarily due to the distance from my family, who were in Saskatchewan, but Dal was the only one that even put me on a wait list! So yes, Dalhousie chose me.”
Joy joined the Faculty of Dentistry’s graduating class in 2019, in the second year of the program. She liked what she had read about Halifax on the internet – the city was coastal, multicultural and friendly, and it had a beautiful fall. While the family makes Halifax their home, Joy’s husband commutes to his family practice in Shelburne (their daughters are 19, 14 and six).
Although Joy initially suffered from “technology shock” in the classroom – “I’m more of a pen-and-paper person,” she quips –she quickly took to her instructors, whom she will“Theymiss.are so open, and they made me feel comfortable and challenged me to want to know and do better,” she says. “They always wanted to know how they could help me make my experience here better. I tend to overthink things because I want things to be perfect, but they helped me extend grace to myself and accept that 100 per cent is not always possible, that 99 or 98 per cent is fine.”
At 46, Joy was the oldest in her class of 44 students, but her age was never an issue. “They didn’t believe me when I told them!” she says, laughing. She made fast friends during the program; two classmates, a husband and wife, encouraged her to take breaks to play ping pong and pool, and someone else is planning to teach her to ride a bike. “It’s the interaction with my classmates, instructors and patients that I’ll miss the most after I graduate,” she says.
Joy has devoted her career to dentistry, so it’s hard to believe that growing up in Nigeria, she never went to a dentist – and that she had never even heard of the profession until she was 18. In fact, she wanted to be a medical doctor, but her application wasn’t successful. When she was considering her options –reapplying to medical school, veterinary medicine, or nursing – a family friend offered
dentistry to her as another option to consider.
“At home, you didn’t go to the dentist unless you had a serious dental problem, and I was lucky that I never did,” says Joy. “My friend said that dentists were doctors who only treat teeth. I decided to try dental school for a year to see if I liked it, and the rest is history!”
At Dalhousie, Joy didn’t encounter any surprises in the program. “Knowledge wise, it’s basically the same as at home,” she says. “The difference was in the processes. Here, there’s a protocol for everything, which wasn’t the case in Nigeria. Also, where most things are manual back home, here we have computers and technology for competencies and practical exams. The knowledge is the same, but the exposure to clinical practice is different.”
GIVING IT EVERYTHING SHE CAN Throughout the program, Joy enjoyed the time she spent working at outreach clinics at the IWK Health Centre, Harbour View Elementary School in Dartmouth, and community clinics in North Preston and Halifax’s north end. “That was a high point for me,” she says. “I have a passion for reaching the underserved in medical care.”
Less enjoyable was studying virtually during the pandemic, but she took it in stride. “It was good to be able to adapt to remote learning, but of course we need in-person exposure for clinical practice,” she says, “and the clinics had to be shut down for certain periods of time, which was Althoughchallenging.”Joywillsoon be saying farewell to Dalhousie, she and her family have no plans to leave Nova Scotia. “We are staying here, definitely,” she says. “We like the environment, the weather, and the people. Our oldest daughter is studying at Saint Mary’s University. And someday I’d like to be an instructor in the Faculty of Dentistry.”
For now, she’s busy in her job search, hoping to land a position in Halifax Regional Municipality. When asked what advice she’d give to someone considering Dalhousie’s Qualifying Program for internationally trained dentists, she says this: “First realize it’s a privilege to be a dentist. You should strive to give it everything you can. Set goals and reach for them. Everything is possible, even though there are no easy roads in life. I have no regrets about choosing Dal. Life is smiling at me.”
PHOTO DANNY ABRIELRamlah Mahmood (DDH’22) credits her decision to become a dental hygienist to a “collection of experiences”. First and foremost was the inspiration of her father, a geriatric psychiatrist practising in St. John’s, where she grew up. “My dad was a big role model in terms of my choosing a career,” she says. “I saw how satisfied he was working in a health profession, so I knew I wanted to work in health care, but I wasn’t sure which field.”
While earning an honours cell biology degree at Memorial University, Ramlah worked in a lab studying aging and degeneration in fruit flies in relation to Parkinson’s disease. The work was interesting, but she quickly ruled out research as a career path. “I’m a social person, and I found the lab work very isolating,” she says.
During her third year at Memorial, Ramlah’s dentist offered to show her around his clinic. Every two weeks, she spent a couple of hours in the evening shadowing him and the dental hygienists. “I saw so many cool procedures, and a lot of patient interaction, whether it was comforting a fearful patient or talking about cost,” she says. “Many patients see their hygienists more than their dentists, and you develop a rapport. I also appreciated the dental hygienist’s role in educating patients about disease prevention. I thought, I can see myself working in this environment.”
Ramlah was pleased when she was accepted to the dental hygiene program at Dal. The biggest surprise when she started first year? The sheer volume of the course load. Oh, yes—and a global pandemic.
“I went from five courses in one semester in undergrad to 10,” she says. “It was quite the leap! Our first year of learning was entirely online because of COVID-19, which was challenging. It took away from what could have been, especially when it came to trying
to get to know my classmates. But we made the best of our time, and I don’t think it affected our learning.”
Her favourite experience was working in the school’s outreach dental clinic on Monday evenings, where her patients were newcomers to Canada in the Government Assisted Populations (GAP) program. Most didn’t speak English, and she enjoyed interacting with the translators, and especially speaking Urdu when an opportunity arose.
“It’s rewarding to speak to patients in their own language,” says Ramlah. “I felt I was doing a lot more for them than just treating their teeth. It makes me happy to help make patients feel comfortable however I can.”
The Dental Hygiene Class of 2022 is leading an initiative to add a bookcase with children’s books about oral health on the first floor of the dental clinic for pediatric patients. Many children start their dental journey at Dal, and the students want to make it a positive and welcoming experience.
The book initiative was Ramlah’s idea. “I thought it’d be nice to have something in the clinic for the kids while they’re waiting, maybe a book to read about oral health before going in for their own appointments,” she says.
With Prof. Shauna Hachey’s support, Ramlah reached out to faculty members and students to donate books in different languages for diverse populations, as well as financial donations (the response for the initiative has been positive).
Faculty support has been a constant throughout the two-year program. And in spite of the challenging first year of online learning, Ramlah and her classmates forged strong bonds. “I’ve made some really good friends— likely lifelong friends—and good memories, and there have been lots of laughs,” she says. “It’s a very short program, but jam packed, and such a good learning environment.”
The last time Ramlah walked across the stage at a convocation ceremony was in 2019, at Memorial. This time, convocation will be memorable not only because it’s the first inperson ceremony for the program since 2019, but for another reason. “This one is special because it feels like I’m starting a new chapter in my life,” she says.
Ramlah is looking forward to returning home to Newfoundland, where she’ll start working at Paradise Dental Care in St. John’s, owned by Dr. Omer Mallhi (DDS’16). “I’m excited and nervous,” she admits. “But I’m also looking forward to getting better at my skills.”
Ramlah hopes to one day provide free dental care in the community, and a master’s degree in dental public health is on her bucket list.
“I liked the opportunities we had at Dal to do rotations and to treat a wide variety of people, including kids and low-income and government-assisted patients,” she says. “Those experiences have made me consider going into public health and giving back to the community in some way.”
PHOTO NICK PEARCEJennifer Wallace retired from the Faculty of Dentistry on June 21, 2022, 40 years to the day after she started working there as a dental assistant at the age of 19.
It was a career that began with a fear of the dentist. “My parents had to bribe me to go,” Jennifer says. “I thought becoming a dental assistant would be good way to face myAtfear.”that time, the program also offered the benefit of being just one year long with no tuition. “We only had to pay for our books,” she explains.
Things were different in other ways back in 1982 when Jennifer first arrived in the Faculty. For one thing, there were no summer clinics. Those didn’t start until the 1990s.There were also no computers in the clinic. Students had chit books in which faculty members would sign off their procedures in triplicate. Gloves were not worn apart from during surgical procedures until HIV and hepatitis made universal precautions a necessity.
Growing class sizes brought other changes. When Jennifer first started working, there was one dental assistant for four students. Now it’s one DA for nine students.
“We used to do so much for the students,” she says. “We fetched and set up the instrument trays and scrubbed impression trays, surgery kits, and burrs.”
Now the students do all the setting up and MDR cleans all the instruments, which means the DAs are more hands-on and involved with the patients at each appointment. “We’re really using our skills,” she says.
Jennifer has moved around a lot in her 40 years with Dal, gaining new skills along the way. She spent time in the undergraduate clinic, oral surgery, radiology, and graduate periodontics. “It was the variety that helped me to stay there so long,” she says. That, and being able to make the switch to sessional hours when her daughter was born.
Jennifer has seen the numbers of women –both the student and faculty populations – grow, as well as more accommodation for working mothers.
Over the years she has enjoyed the company of her colleagues and the fun they had at work: dressing up at Halloween, playing good music (especially her favourite, Rod Stewart) during perio clinics, and marking other special occasions, like Christmas. There was also a lot of good-natured joshing at work.
“We used to joke that you had to drop a crown before cementing it in because that’s what the students always seemed to do. They were so nervous.”
Jennifer would normally be on leave over the summer, so the impact of her retirement hasn’t really hit her yet. But when the autumn arrives, she says it will be the first time since 1967 that she has not been in school or at the university for work.
She loves to swim, so she will be joining a pool in September and plans to be more active generally. Reading is high on her list for retirement, spending time with her mother in Truro, and taking the opportunity to downsize a bit at home. She has no plans to take up knitting or bingo, she says.
One thing is for certain: she won’t be afraid to visit her dentist on a regular basis.
Jennifer celebrates her retirement with her colleagues. Graduating as a dental assistant in 1982. Jennifer with Leanne Paddock.
By Cheryl Bell
If you are a dental hygienist who has taken a few years out to raise a family or explore another career but now want to qualify to return to clinical practice, what are your options? Until recently, if you didn’t meet the practice hours requirements to return to practice, the only College of Dental Hygienists of Nova Scotia (CDHNS)-approved refresher programs were in western Canada.
That changed in April 2022, when the Dalhousie University Faculty of Dentistry delivered its own refresher program. Combining the three-month didactic component of the University of Alberta (U of A) program with its own one- or two-week clinical component, the inaugural run of the course attracted participants from across Canada and led to the recertification of eight participants, most of whom are now back caring for patients.
Plans for the refresher course at the Faculty of Dentistry began to take shape in 2018, as the CDHNS prepared to implement a requirement that registrants obtain a minimum of 600 practice hours over three consecutive years to obtain or renew their practising licence. This requirement, explains Stacy Bryan, registrar of the CDHNS, was implemented to ensure that the public receives competent, safe, dental hygiene care. The tracking of hours began in 2017 and the new 600 hours requirement took effect in late 2020.
“We knew when we introduced this requirement,” says Bryan, “that we would need to provide an option to enable people who didn’t have 600 practice hours to return to practice.”
Discussions between the CDHNS, Dr. Blaine Cleghorn, then assistant dean of clinics, Prof. Cara Tax, then director of the School of Dental Hygiene, and Catherine Lyle, manager of continuing education, took place and it was decided that, rather than reinvent the wheel, dental hygiene instructor Alma Wade would work with the U of A’s Continuing Dental Education Department
to adapt its didactic program for Nova Scotia and the Dalhousie Faculty of Dentistry would provide the clinical component.
But then COVID-19 put the brakes on, and the program could not be offered in either 2020 or COVID-192021.also prompted many dental hygienists across Canada to re-examine their careers. Some, says Bryan, moved between provinces for better wages or more relaxed lifestyles and some who had previously left the profession decided that it was a good time toProf.return.Andrea Hare, the director of the refresher program, says that the opportunity to reassess their lives created significant opportunities for dental hygienists who decided to return to the profession. “Dental hygienists can now earn higher salaries, get better benefits, and have more jobs to choose from,” she says.
Even though she was nervous at first, Veronique found that her hand skills came back to her “like riding a bike” and she loved the positive interaction with patients. She says the course gave her the confidence to work as a dental hygienist again and she had a job offer before even finishing the refresher course.
“It was a huge change, but I love it,” she says.
Tammy Hodge-Orovec (DDS’) practised for three years after graduating and then returned to university to study for a master of divinity degree. After working as an Anglican priest for 16 years, and with changes taking place in the ministry, she decided that a part-time return to dental hygiene was a good next step.
She found that dental hygiene had not changed that much while she was away from it, but the practice had changed tremendously. “Everything is digital now and that was more challenging for me.”
Like Veronique, Tammy enjoyed being hands-on with patients and in the lab. “I even found it satisfying to hear the snap of fake tartar breaking off a plastic tooth,” she says.
Tammy now splits her time between the ministry and dental hygiene. “I see them both as caring ministries,” she says.
The refresher program attracted six students from the Maritimes and two from western Canada. Aged between 30 and 55, they all had different reasons for letting their licences lapse – and for wanting them back.
Veronique LeBlanc from Shediac, NB, graduated from Oulton College in Moncton in 2015, practised for two years, and then left to become an RCMP officer for five years. But having children changed things for her, and with her husband also in the RCMP, Veronique decided that she wanted a more stable life with regular hours.
The didactic portion of the refresher program ran from January to March, delivered by U of A. The students then came to Dalhousie for the clinical program, reviewing pre-clinical activities, radiology, and process of care before practising their oral health skills on each other and then treating patients in the clinic.
Hare and Lyle initially wondered whether two weeks would be enough time to cover the material, but because the students already had the knowledge, “it was a matter of sparking what they already knew from before,” says Hare.
For more information on future refresher programs, please email cde.dentistry@dal.ca
His two sons, Tom III and Blair, also became dentists, as did Tom III’s two sons, Tom IV and Gavin. Gavin graduated on May 31, 2022, three days before his grandfather died on June 3 at the age of 87. It’s a connection that has left its mark on the Raddall family, the Faculty of Dentistry, and the community of Liverpool, NS, where the Raddall dental practice still thrives.
Thomas H. Raddall II was the son of Thomas H. Raddall, the well-known Nova Scotian author who, even though he was unable to finish school or go to university himself, passed on to his children his great belief in the value of a university education.
Tom II was the first in his family to go to university. He started in engineering at Acadia, but then switched to sciences and he and his roommate Harold Brogan (DDS’61) applied to dental school at the same time. After graduating as a dentist, Tom II returned to his hometown of Liverpool to set up a new practice.
Tom III (DDS’87) says that he never felt “pushed” to go into dentistry. Through his father’s work, he saw first-hand what the job involved and the impact it had on the community. In his third year of dentistry school, he made the decision to return to Liverpool to practise alongside his father.
“My father worked as a stand-up dentist with spit bowls and no auxiliary staff,” Tom III says. “I wanted to do dentistry sitting down, with TVs in the ceiling. My father knew it was time to update and extend his practice when I said I would join him.”
The decision was not so clear-cut for Blair (DDS’93) four years later. “I saw what my father and brother were doing, but I didn’t want to be a follower. I wanted to blaze a trail,” he says.
During his life sciences degree at Acadia, he contemplated other health professions.
But with his teenage enthusiasm for modelmaking and an eye for fine detail, he knew that studying dentistry made sense for him. “Once I got over wanting to be a trail blazer, I applied to dentistry,” he says.
When he graduated in 1993, his father was partially retired, and Blair saw it as a “golden opportunity” to return to Liverpool to join an established practice and take over some of his father’s patients.
Like his father before him, Tom III didn’t try to push his children into dentistry. “I tried to lead by example, and I think my sons could see that I enjoyed what I did for a living,” he says.
Tom IV (DDS’19) says he was drawn to health care as a kid. He liked the interaction with people and the ability to help patients in a hands-on way. He also saw his family members as integral and respected members of their community. It was an “easy decision” to want to emulate them, he says.
An early exposure to the profession occurred when he was able to hold the suction one Saturday in 2003 as his father treated an NHL hockey player who accidentally had some teeth knocked out at a stag party in Liverpool. “I realized dentistry could be pretty cool when you get to deal with hockey superstars,” he says.
Tom IV’s path took a different direction, however. As an undergrad at Acadia University, he spent his summers working in group homes with mentally and physically challenged adults and adolescents. He says he liked the “small victories” of being able to encourage them to go for a walk, eat food, or brush their teeth.
During his dental studies he enjoyed the fun of treating children and the interdisciplinary aspects of working in the operating room with physicians and anaesthetists. He realized that he enjoyed complex cases, including treating patients with medical and behavioural challenges.
A one-year paediatric residency at the IWK and a two-year Pediatric Dentistry Residency
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED L to r: Tom Raddall II, Tom Raddall IV, Tom Raddall IIIWhen Thomas H. Raddall II (DDS’61) arrived at Dalhousie University in the autumn of 1957, there was no way he could have known that he was starting a family connection with the Faculty of Dentistry that would last the next 65 years.
Program at the Boston’s Children’s Hospital/ Harvard School of Dental Medicine followed his DDS degree. Although it was the right decision for him personally, his training has taken him to Moncton, rather than Liverpool, where he will be the only paediatric dental specialist for all of New Brunswick.
Gavin (DDS’22) entertained the idea of studying medicine, but the hands-on patient interaction aspect of dentistry won out.
During his undergraduate studies in medical sciences at Dal, he completed his thesis research in regenerative endodontics at the Faculty of Dentistry, which strengthened his interest in the field.
Even though he had other dental school options, he chose Dal because his family had “good experiences there” and it has strong clinical programs. He started working in the family practice in July, becoming part of the 60-year tradition of Raddall dentists in Liverpool.
Each generation of the Raddall family faced challenges and highlights in dental school. Tom II studied dentistry in the Forrest Building as part of a class of 13 students.
Tom III and Blair enjoyed a clinic that was renovated in the 1980s, while Tom IV and Gavin benefitted from the latest renovation in 2018. In both their professional and student clinics, they all experienced the challenges and uncertainty presented by COVID-19.
Over the years, they have seen the general dental health of the population improve, thanks to better oral health education and care, less smoking, and a higher level of overall health. Patients keep their teeth longer, so there is less denture work. At the same time, access to care has become more challenging for some segments of the Raddalls’ rural community.
Tom III points to other challenges that have emerged for the profession, such as the cost of education. “I’ve always felt that dentists should represent society and I fear we’re getting to a point where that is increasingly difficult,” he says.
Blair talks about the impact of COVID-19: the nearly three-month shutdown of dental clinics, PPE and sterilization requirements, difficulties in access to care for seniors and marginalized populations, and the extra time and attention needed to allay people’s fears at their appointments.
Patients are more informed, adds Gavin. They are researching their treatment options on the internet and the information they find may not be appropriate for their situation. “For example, a lot of people think they want implants,” he says, “but it is often preferable to save natural teeth.”
All the Raddall dentists value their Dal education and what it has given them, not just in labs and classrooms, but in outreach clinics, rotations, and through volunteer student groups that put them into contact with disadvantaged youth and children and adults with physical and mental disabilities.
They have all followed Tom II’s maxim “if you don’t like what you see, get involved” by participating in organized dentistry and student societies, and by serving on boards and committees in Liverpool.
“The Raddall family has enriched student life in our Faculty, worked to improve professional dentistry in our province and country, and they remain involved and committed citizens in their community of Liverpool,” says Dr. Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry.
“We are proud they chose to start their dental careers here at Dal and continue to support us as engaged alumni.”
PHOTO MARK ROBERTS PHOTO CONTRIBUTED“I tried to lead by example, and I think my sons could see that I enjoyed what I did for a living.”
- Dr. Tom Raddall IIIPhoto from the Liverpool Advance, July 7, 1993, to announce that Blair Raddall was joining the practice. L to r: Blair, Tom III, Tom II. The family recreated the 1993 photo to mark Gavin’s arrival in the practice. L to r: Tom II, Gavin, Blair.
When Shauna Hachey (DDH’04) was a high school student in Monastery, N.S. and thinking about university courses, she heard how competitive it was to get into dental hygiene programs and decided on speechlanguage pathology instead.
Growing up in a hard-working, blue-collar family, Shauna always knew she wanted to work in health care. “I felt a calling to help people,” she says. However, she didn’t want to do shift work, which ruled out medicine and nursing. In her first year of a BA degree at Mount Allison University in 2000, she took one linguistics course – and decided she had picked the wrong career path. “It just didn’t feel like a good fit for me,” she says.
After switching to science, Shauna applied to study dental hygiene at Dalhousie and John Abbott College in Quebec. “I got accepted to both,” she says, “but Dal seemed like the better fit, plus I was happy to stay in Nova Scotia.”
In September of 2002, Shauna started the dental hygiene diploma program. Leaving Mount Allison after just two years had been hard. “I loved my experience there, and I had made good friends,” she says. “But the practical side of me felt like it was the right thing to do, and it didn’t take long to make amazing friends at Dal.”
With a sister living in Halifax and a part-time waitressing job, Shauna soon settled into her new city and her classes, which were intense. “First year can make or break you,” she says, chuckling. “But I enjoyed it because it married my creativity and love of learning and the opportunity to apply knowledge in a hands-on way.”
Upon graduating in 2004, Shauna had her sights set on getting a job to pay back her student loans. “I never thought I’d return to Dal again!” she says. Over the next several years, she worked in a family practice, periodontics, orthodontics, and prosthodontics, enjoying the variety of experiences.
In 2011, Shauna returned to Dal for a year to earn a dental hygiene degree to “open more
doors”, while still working one day a week. “I thought, once I have my degree, maybe I’ll do some clinical teaching,” she says. “I was 29 when I went back to school, and it was the best decision.”
One course in particular resonated with Shauna: health policy. “When you see discrepancies in access to care because people can’t afford it or have difficulties accessing transportation, it’s an opportunity to find solutions to those problems,” she says. “I gravitated toward it.”
When she earned that degree in 2012, she jokes, “I didn’t leave Dal again.” She started working as a part-time clinical instructor, which she did for the next few years. As opportunities arose, she taught other courses, too. In 2015, a 50 percent teaching position came up for a clinical and course instructor, which she accepted.
“I was nervous when I started teaching,” says Shauna. “There’s something about the comfort and confidence of experience, which I didn’t have in those early days, but I loved it.” She didn’t stop studying, though; in 2017, she earned a master of health studies degree. Since then, she has focused her interests and initiatives on the integration of oral health into mainstream health care.
One project Shauna is particularly proud of focuses on the oral health of aging adults. She explains that plaque can contribute to aspiration pneumonia. “I’m hoping to make a small dent in this issue,” she says.
Shauna has recently received a research grant to explore the integration of a dental hygienist in long-term care.
The opportunity to contribute to the section on oral health in the One Chance to Be a Child report on the well-being of Nova Scotian children and youth, released in April 2022, was a highlight of Shauna’s career. “That report is incredibly holistic, and to have oral health included is a monumental step in the right
Anotherdirection.”passion project is a communityled project by the Tui’kn partnership called Baby Smiles. An oral health children’s book will be sent home from the hospital with all new parents in Nova Scotia’s First Nations communities through the Read to Me program. Illustrated by Indigenous artist Loretta Gould and translated into Mi’kmaw, the book covers oral and overall health topics, such as the importance of water between meals, teething, toothbrushing, and first dentalStartingcheckups.inUnama’ki (Cape Breton), the book will form part of a kit, which will also include a washcloth, a toothbrush for an adult and a child, a sippy cup, and a teething toy. “There are higher rates of pain in general among children in First Nations communities, including mouth pain,” says Shauna. “We hope this kit will be one step in reducing that pain.”
Shauna plans to spend the rest of her career looking for more opportunities to integrate oral health into mainstream healthcare. Today, the advice she gives to her students is a path she has followed herself: “Don’t limit yourself. Hard work, drive, and commitment does pay off, and you’ll find great gratitude in your work.”
PHOTO NICK PEARCE Prof. Shauna Hachey instructs a student in the clinic.The Canadian Dental Association has appointed Dr. Aaron Burry (DDS’86) to the position of CEO.
Andra Sterea (DDS’22) was named a 202122 CADR-NCOHR Student Research Award winner in the junior category for her research paper on hard and soft tissues following orthognathic surgery.
Dr. Violet D’Souza (DCS), Dr. Locke DavenportHuyer (AOS), and Dr. Leigha Rock (SDH) are recipients of Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation Health Research Excellence Grant Early Career Researcher Awards.
Dr. Paul Cameron (DDS’89) has received the 2022 Dr. P. S. Christie Award for Distinguished Service from the NSDA.
Dr. Ian Cunningham (DDS’01) has been installed as NSDA president for 2022-23.
Dr. Nada Haidar (DDS’97) received the NSDA Award of Excellence for 2022. Her daughter, Mya Haidar, received the Don Pamenter Friend of Dentistry Award. Mya begins her dentistry studies at Dal this autumn.
Dr. Ben Lawlor (DDS’15) was selected for Incisal Edge dental magazine’s 2022 40 Under 40 list. He practises in Portland, Maine.
After retiring as a dentist, Dr. Barry MacLeod (DDS’72) wrote and published a novel, Grand River. More information www.jbarrymacleod.com.
Drs. Rachna Minocha (DDS’91) and Rick McKenney (DDS’02) received the NSDA Community Service Award the first husband and wife team ever to win the award.
Dr. Christos Papadopoulos (DDS’13) received a 2022 UNB Young Alumni Achievement Award.
Dr. Drew Smith (’DDS’93) received an Ontario Dental Association Service Award in May 2022.
Dr. Kilby Townshend (DDS’ 91) received the 2022 T. D. Ingham Volunteer Award from the NSDA.
Dr. Jeff Williams (DDS’86) was elected chair of the CDSPI Board in May 2021 and has had his term extended for a further year.
Lawen Dentistry was awarded ‘Lebanese Business of the Year’ from the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce in Nova Scotia. Congratulations to Dr. Danny Lawen (DDS’03) and his team!
Dr. Sangeeta Wylie’s (DDS’01) play, ‘We the Same’, received six Jessie nominations (the British Columbia equivalent of the Tonys).
Dr. Danny Boyd received the President’s Research Excellence Awards for Research Impact, which recognizes researchers who have made a ‘major and impactful contribution’ to their field of research in recent years.
Dr. Violet D’Souza is the recipient of a Cognitive Decline and Oral Health Award from the Alzheimer Society Research Program.
Dr. Jean-Charles Doucet was chosen as the recipient of the 2022 Section Editor of the Year Award for the Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal.
Dr. Goodday received the CDA Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Brendan Leung received the President’s Research Excellence Award for Emerging Investigators, which honours those who have made noteworthy contributions to Dalhousie’s research culture early in their careers.
Dr. Debora Matthews received the CDA Honoured Member Award. She was also elected chair of the Commission on Dental Accreditation in Canada.
Dr. Isabel Mello is the recipient of the 2022 Dr. Gorman Doyle Award.
The School of Dental Hygiene claimed three CJDH awards in August: Prof. Kim Haslam (DDH’85), together with Kelsey Hennebury (BDH’20) and Shannon Hilland (BDH’20), received the award for best literature review, Dr. Leigha Rock won the best original research award, and Jessie Yang (BDH’22) won the student writing competition for best essay.
Dr. Ron Bannerman is the 2022 recipient of the Dr. Wayne Garland Award.
Dr. Eraldo Batista received the 2022 Outstanding Teacher in Graduate Periodontics Award.
Dr. Tom Boran (DDS’78) is the recipient of the 2022 Part-Time Clinical Instructor Award.
Dr. Sachin Seth (DDS’00) was appointed the Faculty’s new associate dean academic.
Dr. Zeeshan Sheikh (MSc. Perio’22) was appointed director of the NCOHR Knowledge Exchange and Mobilization Working Group.
Angela Faulkner and Jo-Anne Roski are this year’s recipients of the Above & Beyond Award.
Angela Pitman will receive the 2022 Gladys Littler Award at the annual Legacy Awards ceremony in the autumn.
Tricia Wills is the recipient of the 2022 Student Life & Community Improvement Award.
Congratulations to our alumni, faculty, and staff who continue to receive awards and recognition for their work and contribute to the fields of dentistry and dental hygiene. If you have any news items or story ideas to share, please send them to alumni.dentistry@dal.ca.
The Faculty of Dentistry is extremely grateful for the generosity of our alumni, friends, and organizations that support our Faculty and Dalhousie University. The following is a list acknowledging those who have made financial contributions between April 2021 and March 2022. We sincerely appreciate your support. We would also like to thank our donors who requested to remain anonymous.
1950
Ed Spracklin
Doug & Jackie Eisner
Norman Layton Murray Dewis
Yosh Kamachi Kinji DonaldRogerAsahinaPaturelWoods Douglas Chaytor Robert Murray
Melvin Brown Garry Condon Brian Weeks 1965 Robert GeorgeGeorgeCooperNyeZwicker Brock MauriceRondeauWong Doug Arnold John McMullen Donald Feeney Eckart Schroeter L J BillFloydHudginsJackson&RobinMacInnis Carl Tilley
David RobertMooreMurray
1973 Harold Johnson Peter Manson A. Ernest Corrigan William Rector Ron RayGaryBeatonMacDonaldWenn
1976 James Craft Paul Nauss C. Terrence Shaw H. Wayne Garland Murray Holburn J. Gregg Hood Tom RichardJanetRussellAlfredThomasBoranBoyleDeanGroverStewartVickerson
1979 Carl Canning Paul Downing Gary Samson Val MichaelRobertMarleneBiskupskiMaderSnowTaylor
1982 Ronald Buckley Anne Young Janet Bailey Buckley Robert Dunphy Kip Homewood Eric M.JohnBeatonConradAnneMacDonald
Simone Abbass Terry Ackles Tim JosephDuncanTerrieChaissonLogueMcMasterWesthaver
1986 Judith JeffDonaldChrisKennethFlecknellNganPetropolisStewartWilliams Daniel CarolineMcKennaPavlin
1988 Tara Singh 1989 Linda Blakey Paul Cameron Glen GordieAdrianK.GregTerryGillianCraneEspieForemanHooperStaceyHughesPowerRudolph
1990 Kevin MaryAnnWalshWiseman
1991 Grant Creighton Allan Hynes 1992 Sanjay MaryDavidJeffPatriciaChristopherAnandBakerBueckertClarkCraigMcNally
1993
Pauline Cahill Joanne Green J. Scott Green Robert Hatheway Neil GlendaPowerRoss 1994 Jill AnnMatthewJenniferDobbinMacLellanNicholsRoy
1995 Katrina Brouwer Todd Parent Kirk Preston 1996
Maureen Wiseman
1997 Todd Dakin Nada Haidar Kelly Hatt
1998 Nancy Browne Michel MelanieComeauMoore
1999 Christine McLaughlin Jeff Watson
2000 Isabelle Chase Janice Stewart 2001 Sandy SangeetaPirieWylie
2002 Julie SherrieMarkLabbeSutherlandWills
2003 Danny Lawen 2004 Natasha Garnett Amy Mihaljevich 2005 Wade ColetteThoraShannonSandyAbbottCrockerDavisHunterVallee
2006 JonathanAviLeilaVijayaranjanArumugakadavulEbrahimpoorGoldbergKing
Scott Schofield William Taylor
2007
Charanpal Ahluwalia Patricia Brady Terry MatthewFarquharMacLeod
2008 Allison Chorley Richard Holly MikeCarolynTravisMacPhersonMcLeanMorinPettipas
Mohammad Shafiei
2009 Emily Murray Pari Irani 2010 Gaurav Mahar Patrick Snow 2011 Simardeep Hundal Ian MacAskill 2012 James Brunt 2017 Eunnie Kim 2021 Mohammad Alshateel Tori LavanyaSaravpreetHarkamalZahraaBrownCherriKaurKaurSireesha
Putchala Najla DIPLOMACLASSDENTALZachariahSalehi-GheshmiScinoccaHYGIENEGIVING–1964 Jane Wong 1965 Carol (Forman) Nicholson 1968 Merla DianneGerriorShaffner 1969 Glenda Butt 1971 Jean McGinis 1972 Deborah Richard (Turner) 1974 Jane Addison (Cummings) Pauline Murphy Sutow 1975 Rena Demone 1977 Susan Matheson 1978 Jeannette Laba Wendy Swinemar Wilkins
Jeanne Saulnier
1981
Ann MacDonald
Colette LaVigne
Wanda Staples
Carolyn Gorling
Kim Haslam
Lesley Des Noyers
Catherine McIntyre
Vicky Garland
Sara Harding
Dolena MacDonald
Tracy Stewardson
Stacey Walsh Angela Hynes
Susan Keating-Bekkers
1992
Joanne Clark Jackie White (Hubley) 1993
Jennifer Bower Janet Munn 1998
Karen Reid 1999
Andrea McAllister
2001 Wendy Stewart Heather Cassidy
Denise Zwicker
Pamela MacKay
2006
Sarah Gillis
2007 Marianne
rememberedpeopleWeLEGACYWilliamsDONORSthankthefollowingwhohavetheFaculty of Dentistry in their wills:
Simone Abbass
E. Paul Atkinson
Ron Beaton
James W. Carson*
Michel Comeau
Walter F. Cook*
Don & Norma Cunningham
Douglas & Jackie Eisner
Judith Flecknell & Jeff Williams
Gary M. Foshay
Timothy Guy Haywood
C. David Hoffman
Frank Lovely
Debora C. Matthews
Carl RoryMcDermott&LoisMcLean
Bruce & Susan Moxley
Robert Murray Kenneth C.L. Ngan
Thomas H. Raddall II*
Helen A. Ryding
Gary Samson
* deceased
Augustine Baker
Cheryl Bell
William Beverly Beth Brogan
Sandra Brown
Jonathan Bruhm
Stacy Bryan
Pix Butt
Tammy Chouinard
Blaine Cleghorn
Joanne B. Clovis
Sheliah Connolly
Doris Delory
Jack Gerrow
Catherine Hennessey
Patricia Konopasky
Joyce MacMullen
Debora C. Matthews
Leland McFadden
Sayed Morbid
Bruce & Susan Moxley
Ann Petropolis
Leanne Roach
Leigha Rock
Helen A. Ryding
Michael Shimizu
Giovanna Valente
3M Canada Co.
American College of Dentists (Atlantic Provinces Section)
Atlantic Orthodontic Association Atlantic Society of Periodontists
Canadian Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
Canadian Academy of CARDPCanadianPeriodontologyDentalAssociation
College of Dental Hygienists of Nova Scotia Community Foundation of Prince Edward Island Dental Hygiene Class of 2021
EastdentalcorpCoast Dental Group Edwards Family Charitable InternationalHuFriedyGroupFoundationCollege
of Dentists (Canadian Section)
Ivoclar Vivadent Inc New Brunswick Dental Society
Newfoundland & Labrador Dental Association Newfoundland & Labrador Dental NovaAssociationHygienistsScotiaDentalAssociation
Novocol Pharmaceutical of Canada Inc. Prince Edward Island Dental AssociationHygienists’
Sunstar Americas Inc.
Ralph Bull, DDS’55
Harold Carmichael, DDS’79
Michael Creighan, DDS’95
James Darcy, DDS’48
Jack Davis, DDS’57
Cynthia Gill, DDH’93
James Hearn, DDS’67
Gregory Hiltz, DDS’93
Maureen Lawton, DDS’82
Garth Lepine, DDS’80
Ian MacDonald, DDS’50
Allen MacLean, DDS’67
Vincent McMaster, DDS’47
John Miner, DDS’66
Kirby Moore, DDS’85
Patricia Murchison, DDH’73
James Peters, DDS’57
Thomas Raddall II, DDS’61
David Rubin, DDS’59
Theresa Stapleton, DDH’95
Harold Wood, DDS’65
If you would like to honour the memory of someone on this list by donating to the Gifts and Memorial Scholarship Fund, please contact Melanie Bremner at 902.266.2021 or melanie.bremner@dal.ca, or donate online at www. giving.dal.ca/dentistry.
I’m Acadian and a francophone. When I decided that I wanted to be a dentist, I knew that I wanted to be a dentist in the place I’m from Meteghan, NS where I’ve seen the number of French-speaking dental providers dwindle.
For a few years, I’d been thinking about how to create a pathway for francophone students into dental education.
I decided that a scholarship aimed at them would help make that happen.
So, my wife and I decided that we would make a legacy gift
through our estate to the Faculty of Dentistry.
Those of us who went through dentistry school enjoyed the small community Dal offered us. I have a great attachment for my time there. By creating a scholarship for dental students, I feel like I can help others to live what I lived.
Making a donation through your estate is an easy way to pay it forward. My passions are dentistry and the heritage of my community. If you are thinking about making a gift, think about where your passions lie and just do it. For me, it was the right thing to do.
DID YOU KNOW? Faculty of Dentistry. Melanie Bremner (902.266.2021
Dr. Nada Haidar (BSc’93, DDS’97) owns a busy dental practice in Halifax, N.S., teaches part-time in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Dentistry, and volunteers in the North End Community Health Centre’s (NECHC) dental clinic. She says dentistry is her career and her passion. But without the experience and example of her immigrant parents, she might have chosen a different path.
As a teenager, Haidar thought about becoming a designer because she loved drawing and sewing, but her parents hoped she would become a doctor.
“I didn’t think that was my future, but my parents had had a hard life,” she says. “I wanted to give them happiness instead ofWhenstress.”itwas time to decide, she opted for dentistry so that her work would have an “artistic side.”
Haidar’s parents immigrated to Nova Scotia from Lebanon in the 1960s. They arrived with nothing but were both trained as hairstylists and started their own businesses. Her mother
Naomi also worked as a manicurist at her salon on Windsor Street in Halifax.
“My mom loved to make people feel good about their appearance, especially if they were having a hard day,” she says. “She would try to give them something back to make their day better.”
The example Haidar grew up with was one of hard work, caring for people, and business ownership. It was a model that dentistry fitted within quite naturally.
After graduating, she quickly learned the art of juggling as she combined working in private practice with teaching in the Faculty of Dentistry and being a mother to two children.
When her children grew older, Haidar added volunteering with the Nova Scotia Dental Association to the mix, serving as president in 2018-19. That role opened her eyes to issues that don’t always come to light for dentists working in their clinics, particularly access to care for the elderly, those on low incomes, and Indigenous populations.
“There are so many people in Canada who can’t go to the dentist and their dental needs are not being met,” she says. “It made me ask,
Haidar began by volunteering. Her daughter Mya, who was involved with Global Brigades – a nonprofit health and sustainable development organization – convinced her mother to go on a public health mission with her to Honduras. For a week, Haidar visited a series of small villages where she treated patients.
“The people who need your skills are so appreciative of them,” she says. “Giving them dental care also really gave something back toWhenme.” the pandemic made international travel impossible, Haidar and Mya shifted their volunteer efforts to the NECHC dental clinic, where they now work each Tuesday. Haidar has helped many patients get fitted for dentures, which the NECHC had not been able to offer before.
“To be able to give dentures to someone is amazing,” she says. “It’s so much more than teeth. It’s their smile and their self-esteem.”
When she started volunteering at the
‘What can I do to help these people get the care they need?’”Dr. Nada Haidar and her daughter Mya Haidar. Mya will start her first year of dental school at Dalhousie this autumn. Photos by Danny Abriel. By Cheryl Bell
NECHC, Haidar’s mother was in hospital. A broken hip turned into a longer-term illness.
“Helping others became my way of helping my mother,” she says. “She would have told me to do that.”
In December 2021, she and Mya, together with Francine Leach at the NECHC, organized the first Dental Blitzen to clear a backlog of patients caused by the pandemic.
Haidar has been donating to the Faculty of Dentistry since the day she graduated, but says it wasn’t anything “substantial.” That all changed when former dean Dr. Tom Boran asked if she would consider donating a cubicle to support the clinic renewal campaign – a $25,000 commitment spread over five years.
“I wouldn’t have thought about donating in that way without being prompted,” she says. “But I really enjoyed doing it and I realized it’s actually easy to do.”
Haidar made her final cubicle payment in 2021, the summer her mother died. Wanting to honour her mother, she worked with Victoria Hamilton in Dalhousie’s Office of Advancement to create Naomi’s Outreach Fund.
This five-year fund makes it possible for disadvantaged members of the Halifax community to receive oral health care that would not otherwise be possible for them. Haidar says the process of creating the fund was not so much about donating money as it was about passing on her mother’s generous“Dentistryspirit.has surprised me along the way and given me more than I could ever have wished for from a career,” she says.
Mya, too, plans to attend dental school. “She chose dentistry because she saw that it made me happy,” says Haidar. “For both of us, volunteering will be part of our lives forever.”
This article first appeared in the spring/ summer 2022 issue of Giving Power. A video featuring Dr. Haidar at the NECHC dental clinic is available at videocom/watch?v=n2Y16X3hwrA.https://www.youtube.PhotosandbyDannyAbriel.
Jenna Upshaw is joining the Faculty of Dentistry in September as its first community engagement and outreach coordinator.
She brings to the role a great interest and experience in public health. She is also committed to health promotion and to working with underrepresented populations and remote communities to improve their access to quality health care.
“The Faculty of Dentistry does amazing community outreach,” says Prof. Shauna Hachey, “however, our programs typically work inTogethersilos.”
with Dr. Ferne Kraglund, Hachey is one of the leads of the oral health care outreach pillar in the Faculty’s strategic plan, which led to the creation of the new role.
“We need someone who will oversee all of the outreach programs and ensure we are meeting our mission and vision as well as the needs of the communities we serve,” adds Hachey. “Jenna’s role will enable our Faculty to gather the evidence that will help us to fund and expand our work.”
Jenna’s new role will span helping to develop the Faculty’s outreach activities, community engagement, health promotion and policy, and the recruitment of students from priority groups.
Jenna completed the Transition Year Program at Dalhousie, a one-year program that helps Indigenous and Black students prepare for university life, anticipating that her next step would be nursing. When she discovered that she was pregnant, however, she felt that working shifts would not be compatible with raising a young child.
A careers counsellor at Dal helped Jenna to explore some alternative programs and, she says, they “landed on” health promotion, a subject in which she now holds a BSc after graduating in 2020.
Jenna admits that she didn’t truly have a clear idea of what health promotion was until her first class, which she describes as “mind-blowing”.
“Health promotion looks at how social determinants affect your health,” she says. “It was looking at health through a social lens and seeing how income, race, housing conditions, and policies shape our health. I definitely made the right choice.”
Jenna’s internship with the Nova Scotia Health public engagement team enabled her to gain experience of going out into the community to listen, answer questions, and help identify needs and barriers. “I look at people differently now,” she says. “I look at their circumstances. I get it.”
THE NEXT STEP
Jenna has been working as a career development practitioner with a Nova Scotia Works employment centre. She didn’t anticipate that her next step would be with an educational institution, partly because she couldn’t see how health promotion would fit into a role there.
But when she spotted the job advertised and
read the various components of the position, she could see it was a good fit with her goals.
“I knew immediately that this was the exact role and the type of work I wanted to be a part of,” she Jennasays.isnow looking forward to incorporating health promotion in her new role and plans to start by getting familiar with the people and the different facilities. She will visit the Faculty’s different outreach clinics to see how they operate and speak with the people who work there. She is also excited about building relationships with underrepresented priority groups and helping them overcome their barriers to health care.
It’s a new role for the Faculty as well as for Jenna and it is sure to evolve over time as she becomes familiar with the Faculty’s aims and outreach clinics. But even at this early stage, Jenna can say with confidence: “This role makes sense to me and I’m looking forward to being back at Dal, where I had such a positive experience as a student.”
Jenna Upshaw, the Faculty of Dentistry’s new community engagement and outreach coordinator. DASHTINASEMAPHOTO
