VITAL TO THE COMMUNITY Dentistry through a pandemic For over 100 years, the School of Dentistry has been providing oral health care to the community of Edmonton and surrounding areas through our teaching programs. The importance of highquality dental education and care cannot be understated in maintaining a healthy community. Just like your physical and mental health are important, so, too, is your oral health. As dentistry services fall outside of the public medical healthcare system, they can be expensive. The benefit of the school’s programs is
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that while the students are learning to become dentists, dental hygienists and oral healthcare specialists, they provide oral healthcare services to the community at a low cost. Many people do not realize the impacts of poor oral health. And many do not realize that if the oral healthcare system didn’t exist, the burden on the public
medical healthcare system would be astronomical. Being vital to the health of our communities isn’t just about treating patients — it also involves sharing oralhealth information with the public. UAlberta SMILES focuses on oral-health education and awareness for the public and our patients. We hope you enjoy it.
Please note that some photos highlighted in this publication were taken pre-COVID.
