ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
Alumni Messages PROUD TO BE AN ALUMNUS As the Dental Alumni Association president, and an alumnus of the DDS program, I take a lot of pride in knowing I received my dental education from one of the best schools in Canada. You should too.
We are survivors in many ways. Not only did we survive by graduating from a very rigid and stressful dental program but many of us will remember when the School of Dentistry was scheduled to close down in the mid-1990s.
Now look at us, in 2017 the School will turn 100 years old. Can you believe it? So much work on everybody’s part to keep this fabulous School in business and now it’s on track to becoming one of the most sought after schools to go to for dental and dental hygiene education. Well done everyone! Let’s continue to support one of the best schools in Canada because you and I know, survivors still need support.
Bill Sharun Dentistry Alumni President DDS ‘74
MAKING A DIFFERENCE Dental hygienists are actively making a difference both locally and globally through community outreach initiatives. The dental hygiene profession encourages social responsibility and advocacy efforts for vulnerable populations.
Kimi Khabra Dental Hygiene Alumni President DH ’13
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Several dental hygienists volunteer internationally to help promote oral health and wellness through organizations such as, Kindness in Action and Dentistry for All. These global initiatives are important to prevent disease and provide oral health education. At a local level, dental hygienists are involved in several community initiatives that
extend beyond providing preventative dental hygiene services. Annually, dental hygienists can be found out of their scrub uniforms and in their favourite running shoes to raise awareness for breast cancer at the CIBC Run for the Cure. Not only are dental hygienists aware of the key ingredients to a healthy mouth, but also the recipes needed to cook nutritious meals for Ronald McDonald House Charities. As health care professionals, dental hygienists play a crucial role in both community initiatives and behind the mask and gloves.
Alumni Connections
Greetings from the
School For the last few years now, the School of Dentistry has made some real strides with building its reputation and trying to engage our alumni base. Ever since moving into our new state-of-the-art facilities in 2012, change has never been so rapid and present. It was almost as though we were stuck in a time warp when in the old building. It might have been due to our anticipation of moving and our hesitation to take on new projects knowing the
Features
CDE expands courses Page 5
School of Dentistry
unsurmountable task of moving would be enough. Now, we are settled, and we are moving in other ways that don’t involve boxes and moving trucks. Our move is now about becoming vital to the health of our communities in everything we do. Since you are a part of our community, we wish to also be a valuable resource to you as well. Enjoy reading the magazine! School of Dentistry Executive
Beyond dental school
Transforming the future
Snatic builds wellness centre
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DENTAL HYGIENE
Tooth fairies do exist Denise Kokaram (’88 DH) is Calgary’s living tooth fairy. She is the dental hygienist behind developing the Alex Dental Health Bus program, which provides free dental care to underserved children and youth aged six to 24. And she’s the light at the end of the tunnel for parents who can’t afford dental care for their children. Recognizing her tireless work to improve access to oral care and dental hygiene, she was the recipient of the Joanne Clovis Award presented to her by the College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta. “To be receiving an award in Joanne Clovis’ honour is phenomenal. There are so many people who I share this award with because they are the real trailblazers. The ability I have to run the mobile clinic is thanks to them,” says Kokaram. “I met her at the very start of my career and she is one of the real gurus of dental hygiene. She had confidence and she had a passion for our field.” The dental health bus – the only program of its kind in 4
Western Canada – was made possible by a $500,000 donation. Kokaram’s motivation behind the dental health bus program is simple. She believes, with all her heart, that dental care should be easily accessible by everyone - not just those that can afford it. “It (the bus) is a dream come true. It is amazing to design a program to do something that hasn’t been done before. It’s a part of equalizing oral health care across the board. By being able to provide a program early in life, we can give children and youth in this population access to the foundation for good oral health,” she says. The mobile dental health bus started operating in 2013, providing services at 16 identified high needs schools. Today, it has expanded Oral Health School Services to students from 36 different schools, providing preventative oral health clinics in designated locations, as well as assisting with the identified restorative needs.
DENTISTRY
NOW OFFERING OVER 90 COURSES
CDE EXPANDS COURSES Specialized education and certification programs offered year-round
The Continuing Dental Education (CDE) division at the School of Dentistry is all about consistently improving and gaining knowledge as a professional. That’s why dentists and dental hygienists now have more than 90 professional development courses to choose from says CDE program director and clinical professor James Yacyshyn. “We’re still adding more courses as the year goes on,” he says. “We offer working professionals courses that help them build or enhance their practice.” A wide variety of programs are offered. Implantology and radiology School of Dentistry
are a few new streams being introduced. Other courses include nitrous oxide and oral sedation, emergency airway management, clinical orthodontic procedures, local anesthetic, business in dentistry and practice management, neuromodulators, oral pathology and restorations. “We’re training dental professionals to utilize the latest technology available,” says Yacyshyn, adding the Cone Beam CT (CBCT) certification course has become a national standard across Canada. “Where CDE is the most impactful is it allows individuals the opportunity to invigorate their practice.”
What makes CDE’s courses so popular are the international experts they attract to teach the courses. Many are world-renowned researchers, dentists, and corporate professionals. “CDE provides professional knowledge that can be applied to oral health care. People get to seek this knowledge from the leaders in dentistry,” say Yacyshyn. “We are now working on expanding more courses into Calgary as well.” Courses are offered year-round. For more information, please visit dentistry.ualberta.ca
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BEYOND DENTAL SCHOOL Meet James Mah the researcher behind the development of 3-D facial imaging
In dental school, James Mah was the student that always asked too many questions. He knew dentistry had many unresolved scientific questions that needed to be solved. Therefore becoming a researcher was at the top of his game plan. Mah is the 2016 Dental Alumnus of the Year. Chosen by the University of Alberta’s Dental Alumni Association, Mah has become an international expert on many things dentistry. Today, many of his dental concepts and principles stemming from his research have become common practice in dental offices around the globe. His biggest contribution being the development and use of 3-D facial imaging devices in patient treatment. “It’s hard to find a dental practice not affected by this technology,” says Mah, during a recent visit to the School of Dentistry where he presented a course on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). “Using these imaging devices, we are now
School of Dentistry
trying to build a virtual patient that tracks things like jaw motion for reconstruction.” Mah graduated from the U of A’s undergraduate dentistry program in 1988. He completed his master of science in oral biology and his certificate of specialization in orthodontics from the U of A as well. He then earned his doctor of medical sciences degree at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine in 1995. Mah is a practicing orthodontist in Las Vegas. Currently, he is a clinical professor and director of the advanced education program in orthodontics at the University of Nevada. He is also been involved in the research and development of intra-oral scanners, and CAD/CAM applications in dentistry. “Dental school was the happiest time of my life. It set the groundwork for my inquisitive nature to ask questions and challenge the ways,” he says. “This award is special to me because it’s from the U of A.”
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BRENDA WALKER 2015 Bulyea Cup winne
r
Brenda Walker was selected as the 2015 Bulyea Cup Award recipient. The Bulyea Cup is the highest honour that the School of Dentistry confers on its faculty members, members of the dental and dental hygiene professions, and members of the community. It is awarded in recognition of faculty members who have clearly excelled in both teaching and research, members of the oral health care professions (dentistry and dental hygiene) who are involved in teaching, research or service to the School of Dentistry, and to members of the community who have made contributions to oral health sciences education. Walker, Registrar, College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta (CRDHA), was recognized for her outstanding work and considerable contributions she has made to dental hygiene. Alberta is considered a leader of the dental hygiene profession in Canada and beyond and this is a credit to the vision and leadership of Brenda Walker. She has worked tirelessly for the profession at both provincial and national levels. Walker was a clinical instructor from 1975-1991, 8
teaching in both the dentistry periodontal clinics and the dental hygiene clinics here at the School of Dentistry. During these years when she taught and practiced dental hygiene she was also very active with the Alberta Dental Hygiene Association (ADHA), now known as the College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta (CRDHA). She has dedicated most of her professional career to committees, executive positions and task forces for the CRDHA as well as the Commission for Dental Accreditation of Canada, National Dental Hygiene Certification Board, and the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA). She resigned from clinical teaching to become the Registrar of the ADHA in 1991. Walker’s achievements include being involved in self-regulation in Alberta, the institution of mandatory continuing education, the adoption of local anesthesia, the passing of the degree status and approval for the widest scope of practice for dental hygienists in North America and beyond. Her vision and leadership has truly propelled and formed the profession of dental hygiene and consequently she has made a significant contribution to the oral health of Albertans. Alumni Connections
ALUMNI PROFILE
Q&A
with
JOHN WORONUK John Woronuk (DMD ’57, MSc ’95) is a strong believer of giving back. After retiring from his dental practice in 1989 he spent 20 years at the University of Alberta’s School of Dentistry. He, in cooperation with professor Michael Walter, his counterpart in Dresden, Germany initiated the Alberta/ Dresden Dentistry Exchange program. Woronuk was the 2011 Bulyea Cup winner. Now retired – for the second time – Woronuk has turned his attention to writing and has published his first book The Quest for Eden and has two more books in progress. But he has not strayed from his interest in dentistry. Looking back over the years, and especially after retiring from your practice, what made you decide to come to the U of A? A major motivation for all of us who have been in dentistry for a long time is we have the desire to share our experiences with the next generation of dentists. The optimum place for sharing those experiences is in the faculty. In a sense, you get to engineer the direction dentistry is going. What you learn and practice in your office is different from what you learn in school. Being able to share my experiences with the next generation of dentists was important. While you have made many contributions to the School of Dentistry, what are you the most proud of? It would have to be the Dresden German Exchange program. I was a part of the process along with many other people from the department. This program allows for an
exchange of expertise and knowledge. The program helps students develop a real-world perspective on oral health. The Dresden German Exchange Program was important to you. What inspired you to help set-up the program? From my 32 years of dental practice I learned that there are phenomenal skills in the management of oral disease all over the world, modalities we do not necessarily use here. One of these is the level of applied technology being developed in Germany – they were the forerunners. My association with Dresden demonstrated that they had a great deal to offer us and we had a great deal to offer them. It was a natural marriage that benefited our students academically and theirs clinically. For the future, I would like to see the program expand to include the exchange of lecturers. Where do you see the future of dentistry headed? I feel there will be both short-term and long-term outcomes. Short-term, being the next 30 years, I don’t see any real significant changes in the approach to the service we provide as dentists. But I do see little progressive changes. The biggest one being that oral medicine will become a much stronger component than it is today. I see a leading-edge profession developing where we will be more specialized with medicine. And as for 60 years from now, I’m very enthusiastic for what we will be able to do. Dentistry will not just be extracting teeth and placing amalgams. I feel that what we now call dentistry will be based heavily on a combination of engineering and oral medicine. 9
TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE The School is changing, curriculum getting an overhaul The School of Dentistry is moving forward and fast. In the next five years, the School is undertaking a number of strategic initiatives to raise the bar. Part of that leap forward is building entirely new dentistry and dental hygiene curricula from the ground up. With the School successfully passing accreditation in 2014, demonstrating a strong foundation, undertaking a curriculum overhaul now is the perfect time says Steve Patterson associate chair, academic and professor. “We’re in between accreditation visits and a full curriculum review hasn’t been done for years. Over the years we have adopted and made changes along the way, but nothing to this extent,” says Patterson. “It’s an important step in moving our school from good to great.” The curriculum renewal committee – made up of professors, clinicians, and staff is leading the work of the whole School in this project. The first phase, a needs assessment, has already been completed. Now commencing on phase two of the project, the program redesign is underway. The following phases include redesigning all the courses, and adhering to a set of guiding principles 10
designed to create the curriculum of the future, including increasing the amount of time students spend in the dental clinic, and building a strong professionalism base. “The redesign is linked directly to our School’s strategic plan. We want to create a curriculum that is responsive to the dentist we are graduating and to what patients need and want,” says Patterson. “While the curriculum will continue to be rigorous and extensive, our students will leave with positive attitudes towards their careers and wanting to be dentists that meet the needs of our society. They will be leaders.” Further, the program design will be focused on improving student well-being, development, and growth including strategies to address the complexities of the stress and demand associated with becoming a dental professional. Professionalism and ethical behavior will continue to be taught, modeled and expected throughout the program added Patterson. “We want to be leaders in dental education and this is one huge step towards achieving that,” says Patterson.
Alumni Connections
ALUMNI DIARY
A picture perfect event at PDC VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA If you graduated from the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta, the Coal Harbour Room in the Pan Pacific Hotel was the place to be on Friday, March 18, at the Pacific Dental Conference in Vancouver. More than 140 alumni and guests attended the annual Doctor of Dental Surgery Alumni Association (DDSAA) reception to re-connect in a spectacular setting. Bill Sharun, President of DDSAA hosted the event and Paul Major, Professor and Chair of the School of Dentistry, brought greetings on behalf of the University. Student presentations are always an important part of the event and this year students from our dentistry program, Andrew Gibb and Ann Mahe, and our dental hygiene degree program, Danielle Clark, did a fantastic job of illustrating the student initiatives happening on campus. Major announced the School of Dentistry’s upcoming centennial celebrations to take place in 2017, and invited everyone to attend September 24 during Alumni Weekend 2016 in Edmonton to learn more. The annual reception will have a few surprises and more about the centennial will be revealed. Come out and join the pre-party, reconnect with classmates and tour the facilities used in teaching and research for both dentistry and dental hygiene programs. For more information about the School of Dentistry centennial celebrations, contact Jody Paulson, Events & Engagement via email jody.paulson@ualberta.ca or by calling 780-492-5431.
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Alumni Connections
ALUMNI PROFILE
All aboard the wellness train Early in their careers, Jed Snatic (DDS ’91) and his sister, Michelle Carlson (DDS ’93) had a vision. Their vision involved bringing a majority of healthcare specialties together to practice under one roof, ultimately creating a one-stop-shop for patients requiring treatment for anything from dental care to chiropractic, optometry, and beyond. Their vision came to life 23 years ago in Calgary with the establishment of the first Wellness Centre. Since that time, the brother and sister team have worked to perfect the one-stop-shop model. Ten years ago they opened a larger Lifepath Wellness Centre in Chestermere, Alberta. The Chestermere Lifepath Wellness Centre has grown to meet the needs of the local community over the years and has expanded to include ten dentists, a dental hygiene clinic, a denturist, chiropractic care, acupuncture, nutritional coaching, massage therapy, physiotherapy, naturopathic medicine, counselling services, and a Medspa which provides laser treatments, skin care services and Botox/Filler injectables. More recently, Chestermere Lifepath Wellness in conjunction with dental specialists expanded to include an additional 16 dental chairs to accommodate dental specialty practices, including a pediatric dentist, an orthodontist, an endodontist, a periodontist, and an oral surgeon. They will be housed in their new wing of the building called the Chestermere Station Dental, which was architecturally designed to emulate the City of Chestermere’s original train station from the early 1900’s. “The town is like a movie set,” says Snatic. “You’ve never seen anything like it, except in Disneyland,” he says. “We’ve built a world-class facility and mixed in a little bit of fun and character to welcome our guests.” With the expansion of Lifepath Wellness Centre in Chestermere, Snatic’s dream of developing a progressive health and wellness facility has become a reality. “It’s a better way to administer a healthcare system,” says Snatic. “It’s a wonderful thing we’ve got going on here. We offer wellness, education and prompt, friendly service driven by our patients and their needs.” The centre boasts an open door policy, and collaboration amongst the team represent hundreds of years of wellness knowledge. “The practitioners, employees, our families, and everyone involved have helped make this Centre a reality,” says Snatic, adding the Centre has a team of over 100 employees. “Our biggest asset is the people. They are responsible for our success and are driving our train to the future. ” School of Dentistry
The Chestermere Station is uniquely designed to depict a small Wild West town. The waiting area includes a reception desk resembling a bank teller/ticket office and a large, life-size replica steam engine train (which emits ‘steam’ and the sounds of a passing train) attached to a coal car, a passenger car and a caboose. 13
ALUMNI PROFILE
Dental Students Association raises $60,000 The dental and dental hygiene students at the University of Alberta proved to be vital to the health of our communities by raising $60,000 for the non-profit charity Kindness in Action. Photos courtesy of studio-e-photography
ALUMNI DIARY
Fighting tartar build-up one patient at a time Nadia Kobagi (DH ‘13) is a tartar-fighting dental hygienist by day and a globe-trotting plaque-fighting philanthropist by night. She works as a dental hygienist. She’s a clinical instructor at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital Dental Clinic, and volunteers countless times a year on dental missions around the world. Hold your dentures, there’s still more. Kobagi is also working on hers master’s degree in medical sciences in dental hygiene. Her research has her finding ways to improve oral health care access in vulnerable populations. “It’s such an emotional experience. I really do invest in these people,” she says in reference to working with seniors. “Oral care is limited when caring for them. Most often health care professionals miss providing adequate oral care. However, proper oral health care relates to your entire body. I want to implement change and make it mandatory that everyone receives full care.” Kobagi’s graduate research has her looking into the dementia population more closely. She’s working to provide ways to improve access to oral care in the dementia population from both the perspective of the caregiver and dental professional. “There’s a lack of resources devoted to the area and it might simply may be due to the lack of knowledge available,” she says. “We need to develop a protocol or knowledge-base focused on how to provide them adequate oral care regularly.” For Kobagi part of her motive behind being a clinical instructor ties directly into her desire for furthering her education. She says being an instructor provides her with the opportunity to share actual patient experiences with the students and pass on sound advice which they can utilize in their practices. “Being able to use personal experiences to teach helps showcase the social side of things,” she says. “I love teaching the students. Being involved is a passion for me rather than a job.” School of Dentistry
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Celebrating in 2017
Kaye Edmonton Clinic 8th Floor, 11400 University Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1Z1
Edmonton Clinic Health Academy 5th Floor, 87 Avenue NW Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1C9
Katz Group Centre for Pharmacy and Health Research Office: 7-020H Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E1
dentistry.ualberta.ca
ital to the health of our communities