Alumnus selected as Top Pediatric Dentist of the Decade

Dr. Leonard Barry Smith (DDS 1968), a pediatric dentist and former owner of his Calgary practice Dental Care for Children, was recently selected as Top Pediatric Dentist of the Decade by the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP).

Smith is being recognized for this honour for dedicating over 49 years of his life’s work as a pediatric dentist. Smith will receive this esteemed recognition along with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at IAOTP’s 2020 Annual Awards Gala being held in New York City this December.

Stephanie Cirami, President of IAOTP stated, “Choosing Dr. Smith for this honour was a simple decision for our panel to make. Dr. Smith is respectful and engaging for every patient.

He is an inspiration amongst his colleagues and within his profession. Top Pediatric Dentist of the Decade is a well-deserved title, and we are happy to bestow this honour on him.”

Among other leadership roles, he has been Chief of the Dental Department at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and a consultant to their hemophilia and cleft palate teams. Smith is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary and an associate member of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute for Child and Maternal Health. He served as Chairman of the Non-Hospital Dental Facility Accreditation Committee of the ADA&C.

Smith’s passion lies in research surrounding early childhood caries (ECC). He recognized a need to provide the public with compelling evidence that ECC was a disease that was about more than just baby teeth. As a result, Smith held awareness campaigns to teach why it is so critical to have preventive dental care from a baby’s first feeding in order to stop the occurrence of ECC.

Looking back, Smith attributes his success to his wife and children, his education, mentors he has had the honour of working alongside, and his passion for research.

For the future, he hopes to continue educating people about ECC. He feels Alumnus: Leonard Smith that unless we teach the children of today and the parents of tomorrow why and how their oral health impacts their overall health and development, ECC will never be controlled or eliminated.

After completing his DDS at the School of Dentistry, Smith earned a Master’s of Science Degree and Pedodontic Dentistry Certification from Ohio State University in 1972. In 1970, he completed a hospital residency at the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada, Life Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and a Life Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry.

— Story republished and edited with permission from Stephanie Cirami, IAOTP.