Alumni Connections Spring 2021

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS Happy 99th Birthday Dr. Hayes Dr. Arthur Hayes (DDS ‘47) celebrated his 99th birthday on February 14, 2021.

Full story on Page 15

SPRING 2021

On the cover Message from the school The School of Dentistry is very pleased to acknowledge and congratulate Navi Bharj as the new president of the Dental Alumni Association (DAA). Navi is a 2019 DDS grad and has demonstrated a real passion for doing things differently. He is eager to engage our dental alumni through a mixture of online events and in-person events, when the time is right, and he feels strongly that one of the best services that the DAA can provide its members is mentorship. If you would like to get involved, now is the time as both the DAA and the Dental Hygiene Alumni Chapter (DHAC) are recruiting new board members.

Navi and Rebecca Lee (DHAC president) could use your support!

On another note, the school is getting ready to graduate another great group of dentists, dental hygienists and specialists so if you have any opportunities to promote, send them to dentweb@ualberta.ca for posting to the intranet careers page.

Alumni Connections | Spring 2021 Edition Editor: Cheryl Deslaurier Writer: Tarwinder Rai, Cheryl Deslaurier Designer: Tarwinder Rai 2

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Dentistry alumnus celebrates 99th birthday Page 14

What’s inside Messages from Alumni Chapter Presidents

4

Orthodontic grad program celebrates 50 years

6

Dentistry research gains momentum

8

Graduate project leads to new research focus in dentistry

10

CDE courses offer more hands-on learning

12

Student group launches bursary program

16

ADF introduces new student board members on their team

18

Modernization underway at the CRDHA

20

2020/2021 Student award recipients

20

Drive-In Charity Ball a success

24

Welcome to dentistry Class of ‘24

26

Research publications

28

10 YEARS of DENTAL RESEARCH

Page 8 SPRING 2021

3

Dental Alumni Chapter President Message

A welcome from new alumni chapter president Hi! My name is Dr. Navi Bharj and I am a proud dental alumnus from the University of Alberta (DDS Class of 2019). Originally from Winnipeg, MB, I moved out west to attend the U of A and I enjoyed Alberta so much I stuck around! I have been practicing general

dentistry full time in Fort McMurray, and travel bi-weekly to Fort Chipewyan to provide dental care for the First Nation community and residents of Northern Alberta.

During my dental school studies, I understood we could make a lasting impact on our community beyond our mirrors and explorers. In September 2016, alongside my classmate Dr. Bryan Lim, we founded the Oral Health Total Health (OHTH) Alberta Chapter to help bridge the gap between future dental professionals (DH and DDS students) and those with developmen-

4

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

tal, congenital, and physical disabilities. This chapter has since grown to new heights with more recent student involvement from both dentistry and dental hygiene. Additionally, alongside my classmate Dr. Dharminder Panesar, we co-chaired the 4th and 5th Annual Dental Student Association (DSA) Health and Wellness Retreat. This retreat focused on collaborative learning and maintaining physical, emotional, and mental wellness for students. More recently, I created and hosted the preliminary episodes of the CDA Podcast: “The Grind”. This was made in conjunction with the Canadian Dental Association to develop and produce a series of podcasts that focuses on the stories, lives, and issues dentistry students face across Canada.

Firstly, I would like to thank the past president of the Dental Alumni Association (DAA), Dr. Mintoo Basahti, for his commitment and leadership of this association for the past several years. I first met Dr. Basahti when we started the OHTH Alberta Chapter and he has been both a supporter of student-led initiatives and mentor. His roles with the DAA and ADA+C over the last number of years show a great commitment in uniting dentists across Alberta and making this profession better for current and recent graduates starting their careers.

As the new president of the DAA, I want to grow on my past commitments

to the dental community and maintain the strong leadership and camaraderie Dr. Basahti has led the association with in the past. Looking into the future, the following is the DAA common agenda for collective impact: 1. Maintaining a healthy and collaborative relationship with the University of Alberta 2. Celebrating achievements in our Alumni Dental Community 3. Establishing a networking platform for past graduates, students, and new alumni to diversify our representation Our alumni board of volunteers are a group of like-minded dentists and community members at the University of Alberta who desire nothing more than to see the growth and celebration of our profession. We will strive to follow these goals to fulfill our commitment to our fellow alumnus.

The future of dentistry has changed considerably since the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet, the purpose and focus of the DAA maintain the same. The DAA is working diligently to expand our presence as oral health advocates in Alberta and maintaining an active voice for dentists who earned their designations from the University of Alberta. We look forward in the near future to announce new initiatives from the DAA in collaboration with the School of Dentistry to spearhead the outlined goals.

Navi Bharj Class of 2019 President, DDS

Dental Hygiene Alumni Chapter President Message

Recognizing our achievements and resilience Looking back over the past year, it’s safe to say that we’ve all been through a challenging and rather unusual time in our lives. What started off as chaos and confusion, turned into sweating in PPE, and eventually into anxiously anticipating the vaccine.

Despite this rollercoaster, the dental hygienists I have spoken too have found courage, strength, and resilience through these difficult times. So, instead of focusing on the negatives over the last year, let’s focus on celebrating our achievements, milestones, and hard work. I truly appreciate having a career that has allowed me to stay connected to people. It has reminded me how important our job is to our patients’ overall health.

Moreover, during the last year, I have come to fully appreciate that as dental hygienists, we are not just ”teeth cleaners” - we are primary oral healthcare providers and proud of it!

One of the ways the Dental Hygiene Alumni Chapter (DHAC) has been working hard over this last year, has been finding ways that we can continue to support our alumni and students safely through online events. While this has been a challenging task, I am excited for our future plans. The DHAC continues to support dental hygiene students through our bursary, as well as through various events such as the Graduation Luncheon and Black & White Affair. For our ever growing alumni, this year we will be hosting our Continuing Education event online. Additionally, the Reunion Reception and our new Coffee with Alumni event, are other ways we plan on providing support, education, and mentoring to our alumni community.

Please keep an eye out for further updates regarding these exciting events this year!

Rebecca Lee Class of 2012 President, DH

SPRING 2021

5

50

6

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

years of or graduate p

rthodontic program It was 50 years ago that out of a growing need and interest in children’s dentistry, the graduate program in orthodontics at the School of Dentistry began to take shape.

While orthodontics had been taught at the university since the early beginnings of the dentistry program, it officially first became a part of the undergraduate dentistry curriculum in 1926 and was taught by none other than dentistry legend and Alberta’s first orthodontist, Harry Bulyea.

Bulyea appointed orthodontist Rowland Haryett as head of the department of orthodontics in 1958.

Under Haryett, orthodontic education at the university would achieve great heights. He introduced progressive changes in the curriculum and organized continuing education courses in orthodontics. And, once he had set a solid foundation, Haryett introduced the Orthodontic Graduate Program in 1969.

While these humble beginnings helped mold the orthodontic program, today the graduate program is a highly competitive and sought-after program for both patients and graduate students.

“It has been a privilege and an honour to continue the work that the late Rowland Haryett, otherwise known as Bus, left as a legacy,” says chair of the School of Dentistry, Paul Major.

Orthodontic faculty members and

orthodontic graduate students have published close to 600 peer-reviewed articles. The last 15 years alone have led to an average of 30 publications per year, mostly due to an increase in the orthodontic faculty members’ number.

“Our national board specialty examination success rate has been 93 percent over the last 20 years,” says Carlos Flores-Mir, adding that without passing the exam, our graduate students are unable to practice in Canada. All those that were unsuccessful in their first try were successful the second time. “We have built a highly competitive program that is a fun working and learning environment at the same time.

We are proud of our student’s accomplishments and achievements.

We are thankful for our patients, and the positive feedback we receive from them shows us our students are focused and skilled. Entire families have come to us for treatment!”

Students and staff echo similar sentiments. The strongest aspect of the program is the close-knit friendships and work environment it fosters. For orthodontist Kevin Chen (Ortho ’20), the U of A program was his first choice.

“I was lucky. Orthodontics is quite a competitive program,” he says. “I like that orthodontics is thoughtprovoking. And as much as I like working with my hands, I also enjoy very methodically planning out treatments. It has the mechanical

aspects of planning out different tooth movements and seeing the results of your treatment planning unfold over time. I think that’s unique to orthodontics.”

For the past 24 years, Susan Helwig, clinical supervisor and registered dental assistant for the orthodontic graduate program, has seen the program grow leaps and bounds.

From two graduate students in the early beginning of her career, Helwig has worked with over 110 orthodontics students.

“Joining the school when this growth was happening was a good fit for me, and my role evolved,” she says.

“Working with all our graduate students is the biggest part of what keeps the school environment interesting. When I think about all the people I have worked with, students, instructors and staff, there are so many memories and stories that come to mind. There aren’t too many dull moments and lots of opportunities to grow and learn.”

Helwig says the most significant change she has been involved in with was moving from the old Dent/Pharm building to the Kaye Edmonton Clinic in 2012.

“We continue to look for ways to improve and grow the program, so we stay current with what students need to learn while they are in the program,” says Helwig. “Happy 50th anniversary!”

SPRING 2021

7

Dentistry research gain

Looking at a decade of research growth at the The School of Dentistry has spent the last decade building a strong research portfolio that is core to moving oral health research forward while enhancing access to care.

The school has increased its number of graduate students, established core research units and increased grant funding by building a strong academic knowledge base that has expanded its footprint directly in our community.

“Existing and new faculty are expanding their research portfolio and changing the culture of research in our school,” says Maryam Amin, professor and associate chair of research at the School of Dentistry. “Over the last 10 years, our research has gained attention on the national and international stage. We are seeing a huge increase in the quality and quantity of graduate student applications, which shows that we are standing out against other universities.”

Research Units The school has established three distinct research units – Educational Research & Scholarship Unit (ERSU), Biomedical Oral & Maxillofacial Research Unit (BOMRU) and the Applied Oral Health Research Unit (AOHRU).

Each of these units and the expert researchers within these units focus on advancing oral health knowledge and care in clinical treatment, oral healthrelated diseases and the delivery of dental education. Research is being conducted in the areas of craniofacial development, oral cancer, inflammatory conditions, COVID-19, immunology, dental materials, biomechanics, 8

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

clinical research, population- and community-based research, and fosters educational research scholarship.

“Establishing these research units promotes collaboration,” says Amin, adding it creates a community of exchanging research expertise and ideas. “The units help bring all the people in the same area of interest together, making everyone aware of what they are investigating and most often, raising opportunities of collaboration and mentorship. For junior faculty, the units allow for shared resources, which is very important.”

Endowed Chairs With the support of the Alberta Dental Association & College (ADA&C), the school created two endowed chairs in oral health and dental research. With a joint commitment to generation, translation and utilization of research, these endowed chairs will lead to advancing the dental profession and acquisition of new knowledge in the prevention and treatment of oral diseases.

Dentistry research will lead to increased knowledge in the areas of treatment and dental care delivery. The impact of this research will contribute to cost containments, improved quality of care as well as an understanding of barriers to access to care.

Daniel Graf, associate professor in the Division of Foundational Sciences, holds the ADA& C Oral Health Research Endowed Chair and Maryam Amin, professor in the division of pediatric dentistry, holds the ADA&C Dental

Research Endowed Chair. The establishment of the research endowed chairs is one of the ways the School of Dentistry is able to achieve and further its academic mission, develop new research initiatives and opportunities for the achievement of excellence nationally and internationally.

Research funds Several of our faculty members hold long term Tri-Council Grants including CIHR Foundation Scheme Grants and NSERC Discovery grants. In addition, our faculty have been co-investigators on a number of Tri-Council grants and other 18 external grants since 2018.

From 2016 to 2020, the school has raised a total of approximately $12.7M with $3.9M raised towards research and innovation. The school has 16 endowment funds and resources supporting research projects and students including the Fund for Dentistry, Sperber Fund, School of Dentistry Education Research Fund, Oral Health Community Engagement Fund, and Dental Hygiene Graduate Research Fund.

“Our increase in external and internal funding over the last decade shows our school is being recognized for its leading role in conducting quality and impactful research,” says Amin. “Our increase in endowment funding shows our community and alumni support our research. This endowment gives new investigators the chance to build a research program and bridge funding.

Our alumni support reiterates that alumni recognize the school as a centre for conducting oral health research and that

ns momentum

e School of Dentistry they support it.”

Graduate Program The graduate program has seen significant growth over the last 10 years. Not only has student enrollment increased to 55 students, but with the addition of new graduate studies options, the research program is attracting students from all over.

In 2014, building on TMD/Orofacial Pain options, the school began offering the Oral Medicine Graduate Program.

Graduate students focus on treating oral diseases, orofacial pain, and the planning of dental care treatment for medically complex patients.

Followed by graduate programs in dental hygiene and periodontology – the school has positioned itself to be competitive in attracting and retaining students and researchers.

The impact graduate program research is having can be witnessed in the community. A community-based project involving graduates, dental hygiene and dentistry students resulted in development of an Oral Health Education Tool.

This tool was created to address the oral health literacy need of recent immigrants. The collaboration with community partners led to the development of a series of oral health educational tools to improve parental knowledge about oral health of young children and how to take care of their teeth with respect to diet, oral hygiene, and visiting the dentist.

“This is a free educational tool created for young parents. Having this tool builds capacity and raises awareness in the community on the importance of young children’s oral health,” says Amin. “This is an example of the final outcome of a research project that is being used by public today.”

Undergraduate summer research programs Another exciting program that is exposing DDS and DH students to research is our Summer Research Program. This program specifically allows dentistry and dental hygiene students to participate in the process of discovery and its application to evidence-informed decision making.

Students work with faculty mentors and have the opportunity to conduct a well-defined project with goals, objectives and use scientific methods to generate new knowledge. Students will then present their research project during regularly scheduled Discovery Dental Sciences Seminar Series. Some selected projects are also presented at the national and international conferences.

“The school is building a research portfolio that could lead to changes in policy and practice guidelines making the impact of our research multi-fold,” says Amin. “My vision is to build bridges and facilitate collaboration amongst the different disciplines to continually create impactful outcomes for our research that have immediate tangible benefits for people.”

ADA&C endowed chairs The ADA&C Oral Health Research Endowed Chair is Dr. Daniel Graf. He is an internationally recognized immunologist, developmental biologist, geneticist, and hard tissue specialist. Dr. Graf’s research contributions thus far have contributed to a better understanding of the etiology of developmental malformations of the craniofacial complex. He has established numerous collaborations within the school and faculty to translate findings from his research to the clinic. He has been recognized for his outstanding student mentorship and is a strong contributor to the teaching programs at the school. Through these engagements, he promotes the development of faculty and students in dental research and attracts undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty interested in dental research to the school.

The ADA&C Dental Research Endowed Chair is Dr. Maryam Amin and she will lead the development of a worldclass dentistry research program at the school with a focus on active engagement of foundational sciences in the clinical dentistry and bridging the gap between bench discoveries and clinical projects through developing innovative dynamic multidisciplinary research teams including basic scientists, clinicians, biostatisticians or epidemiologists and other stakeholders involving the delivery of care and policymaking.

This will include identifying the selected areas for research based on the existing infrastructure and interest at the School of Dentistry and developing a road map and strategic plan for interdisciplinary and collaborative research across disciplines within the university and faculty.

SPRING 2021

9

Graduate project leads to new research focus in dentistry

10

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

What started out as a graduate research project to analyze oral cancer rates in vulnerable populations is now the foundation for many new research projects at the School of Dentistry.

The oral cancer screening project, initiated in one of the most underserved populations in Edmonton – the Boyle Street community – has led to the creation of an Oral Cancer Research Program.

The project first proposed by graduate student Parvaneh Badri, now involves numerous researchers, clinicians, dentistry and dental hygiene students, and graduate students.

The program, now led by professor and associate chair in research Maryam Amin, along with Badri’s PhD advisory committee member Seema Ganatra , clinical professor of oral medicine and pathology, is working to create oral cancer screening opportunities by setting up targeted clinics.

“As a team we are advocating for oral cancer screening in targeted populations,” says Badri. “We are advocating to our medical colleagues to make oral cancer screening a part of their global screening processes.

For us to sell this to our policy makers we need to back it up with research and data.”

First, Badri conducted a scoping review to learn more about oral cavity cancer (OCC) and oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) in Alberta. In this study, she found that most of the OCC and OPC lesions are diagnosed at an advanced clinical stage with a significantly high number of advanced OPC lesions in stage IV of which

about 48% of patients died.

In 2017, Badri and Ganatra launched the Boyle Street Community screening project, which was completed in February 2020. In total, 322 participants were recruited from the Boyle McCauley Health Centre Dental Clinic, George Spady Society Shelter-DetoxSupervised Consumption Centre, Operation Friendship Seniors Society, and Bissell Centre West.

“The oral cancer screening examinations performed on site by the research team included a specialist, dentists, and dental hygienists, showed that the prevalence of oral cancer and precancer lesions in this population was significantly higher than the provincial and national rate in the average population,” says Badri.

While the screening project was underway, the team also analyzed oral and oropharyngeal cancer cases from the Alberta Cancer Registry between 2005 and 2017. The final part of Badri’s graduate project involving chart audits from the Cross Cancer Institute, showed that most oral cancer patients had advanced stage IV disease prior to diagnosis.

“Our main concern was there is a delay in the diagnosis of oral cancer even when screening and dental services are easily accessible,” says Badri. “We know the earlier the diagnosis, the higher the survival rate.

Unfortunately, the more vulnerable populations go to the dentist less often, so we are trying to get to them instead. Oral cancer screening through visual and tactile examination helps in the detection of malignant and

potentially malignant lesions in early stages with 80 per cent to 5-year survival rates.”

Badri says many socioeconomic factors come in to play when seeing the delay in diagnosis.

But while oral cavity cancers globally are declining, the numbers are staying the same or slightly increasing.

“One reason might be related to the influx of South Asian immigrants in our province in recent years. Typically, these groups have higher rates of oral cavity cancer due to tobacco use,” says Ganatra.

This is one of many examples why building a cancer research focus in dentistry is vital.

“The majority of provincial research is focused on treatment and the quality of life – not on prevention,” says Amin.

“Instead of waiting for our patients to come to us, which they often do when cancer is already in Stage IV , we are going to them.”

In the next phase of this study and project, researchers propose to measure a comprehensive set of healthcare costs associated with the management of oral cancer in Alberta and cross-examine it with patients’ income and treatment outcomes.

“The ultimate goal of this study is to improve early detection, survival, and quality of life of oral cancer patients who are economically and socially disadvantaged, and therefore, at high-risk for late diagnosis of cancer,” says Amin.

SPRING 2021

11

12

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

CDE courses offer more hands-on learning As COVID-19 restrictions continue to affect our lives, Continuing Dental Education (CDE) at the

and dental hygienists the flexibility to work around their own schedules. This leaves them with more

School of Dentistry has been working tirelessly to offer the same high-level training courses to dentists and dental hygienists.

time to see patients and less time away from their practices or family.

After the initial lockdown in March 2020, CDE had little time to plan and change hundreds of its courses before being back up. While the initial gear-up was strictly online, the move has now led to a hybrid model of training and course delivery that benefits the attendee – a balance of online and in-clinic training.

“With COVID restrictions, clinics are staying open longer. With the switch to online learning, registrants can complete the modules accordingly and do not need to take extra time off,” says Yacyshyn. “Smaller groups in clinical training has allowed for more intimate handson learning and with increased frequency in the amount of times the course is offered, our total participant numbers have remained high.”

CDE has streamlined the way they offer courses by utilizing the eClass platform – a University of Alberta online course delivery portal – that has allowed for a 90% retention of programs and enrollment.

This past fall, CDE began offering CBCT, Nitrous and Oral Sedation, Sedation Assistant Certification, Neuromodulators and more on their new platform.

“Our strength has been adapting to the challenges of the day and are most realized through our core programs,” says James Yacyshyn, director of the CDE program. “Our metamorphosis to a blended learning model has made our course offering more efficient and achievable.”

The reduction in class size has allowed for more one-on-one intimate clinical training and experiences. With course preparation now completed online, the new model allows dentists

“E-Class allows us to remotely offer the program that participants can do on their own time, while maintaining the same quality of education people have come to expect. The real value here is that not only does the online platform allow us to deliver our programs, but it also allows participants to attend without giving up valuable clinic time. While the online delivery may be new for many of our participants, we know that like everyone this year we will adjust and continue to excel,” says Yacyshyn.

SPRING 2021

13

Dentistry alumnus cel

14

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

lebrates 99th birthday Arthur (Horodezky) Hayes (DDS ’47) was a natural born artist.

He was very creative and enjoyed dabbling in sculpture and painting. Growing up on his parents Alberta farm, Arthur spent time honing his craft. Therefore, when the time came to choose his own path, he naturally ended up in dentistry.

“My mother was a very modern thinking woman,” says Arthur.

“She always said you should be your own boss and so I was. My parents were modern and progressive for people of that time.”

Today, Arthur lives in Vancouver with his wife Arlene, where on February 14, 2021, he celebrated his 99th birthday. Arthur shared his birthday with his late mother.

Graduating from dentistry over 70 years ago from the University of Alberta, Arthur often reminisces about his fellow graduates and close friends, Andi Wong and Leo Laimon.

“I made many great friendships here,” he says, and recalls living in residence at the time. “They became my lifelong friends.”

After graduating, Arthur went on to practice dentistry in Vancouver, where he met his wife Arlene, who coincidently was on her first trip to the big city. The two were set-up on a blind date, where they went dancing, and, two week later, the two were engaged. Arthur and Arlene went on to raise 3 children, Jeffrey, Jacquelyn and Lianne, in the big city where they fell in love.

“Arthur has always been a very refined man who dresses beautifully,” says his wife. “His art is featured in our home.”

Motivated to study further, he attended Columbia and became an orthodontist. When Arthur returned to Vancouver, he started the first of its kind – The Orthodontic Group. He took in 3 other orthodontists and built a very successful practice. He practiced in this same office for almost 50 years, and even had his grandchildren as his last patients.

“It has truly been an honour to have worked as a dentist and orthodontist for so many years. Always practice to perfection and remember to lead with empathy and kindness,” says Arthur.

“I wish all my fellow new colleagues a fulfilling and rewarding career ahead! Best of luck!”

SPRING 2021

15

Student group launches bursary program for students interested in dentistry Sama Banaei (DDS ’21) reflected on his time during his pre-professional degree and noticed he was one of the few in his program that considered dentistry as a potential career. He felt the reason for this was that students were simply uninformed about the field. As he gained admission to dental school, he realized many that chose a career in dentistry had gained familiarity of the field through their parents, relatives or family friends.

He also realized that there was a significant population of students that didn’t have the strong financial support that is necessary to pursue a preprofessional program.

Hoping to change these barriers in accessibility, Banaei created and co-founded Pathways to Dentistry – a student-led initiative that not only provides young adults with an allencompassing view of dentistry as a career option, but also establishes a bursary program to provide financial aid to marginalized populations.

“Pathways to Dentistry aims to minimize the barriers between the profession and communities that have been financially marginalized as well as to provide insightful information to all prospective students regarding the program and field of dentistry,” says Banaei. “We aim to provide a more equitable opportunity to pursue dentistry as a career.”

This inspired Banaei and the rest of 16

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

his team to develop and deliver presentations to prospective high school and undergraduate students on a potential career in dentistry or dental hygiene. It further led them to create a bursary program that provides incoming pre-professional undergraduate students financial relief. In addition to these projects they have also begun developing a hands-on summer program for prospective students to provide an early exposure to dental procedures.

“It was important for us to develop these presentations for students because we believe dentistry is a hidden gem and we wanted to provide students with more clarity. We touch on many of the key elements of dentistry and explore the fundamental factors in deciding if dentistry would be a good career option for them,” says Banaei, adding their last event had over 100 students in attendance.

“Despite the financial resources available to those in need, there is still a considerable gap that deters students from pursuing professional programs like dentistry” says Banaei.

“And this is where the Pathways to Dentistry bursary program provides support.”

“We realized that there were many bright young students in financially difficult situations that wouldn’t even consider dentistry due to the huge financial risk for them. Payment for

their pre-professional education by themselves would create a profoundly stressful environment when attempting to balance finances with academic excellence and a devastating debt situation if they fell short of admissions. The bursary program will help cover the costs of their undergraduate education as well as provide them an avenue in admissions to the program,” added Banaei. “We are excited to have the opportunity to bring the dental community together in helping these students pursue their aspirations of becoming a dentist.”

When asked about the mission statement for the initiative Banaei replied, “Our goal for Pathways to Dentistry is to create a foundation of accessibility for prospective students.

We want to be leaders in this initiative as this would be the first program of its kind in any dental school in Canada. In addition, we also aim to be mentors for students that want to learn more about dentistry as a career, as well as the programs we have available here at the University of Alberta.”

For those interested in providing donations to the Pathways to Dentistry Bursary Program please contact ddspath@ualberta.ca. More information about upcoming presentations will be posted on their Facebook page “Pathways to Dentistry”.

Pathways to Dentistry Team • • • • • • •

Sama Banaei (DDS ’21) – Creator and Co-Founder Jhoyli Labrador-Stacy (DDS ’21) – Co-Founder Joshua Handy (DDS ’22) – Senior Chair Sheldon Fradette (DDS ’23) – Junior Chair Maria Czyz (DDS ’23) – Summer Program Director Allora Mason (DDS ‘ 24) – Presentation Director Neha Raman (DH ’22) & Heram Khan (DH ’22) – Dental Hygiene Directors

Jhoyli Labrador-Stacy (left) and Sama Banaei are co-founders of Pathways to Dentistry.

SPRING 2021

17

ADF new student For the first time, the Alberta Dental Foundation (ADF) is excited to welcome two dentistry students from the School of Dentistry as student representatives on its board. Simran Sarao (DDS ‘22) and Gregory ZoBell (DDS ‘22) are the foundation’s newest board members.

Improving access to oral health care has always been at the heart of both students dentistry journey. By volunteering on the board, Sarao and ZoBell are hoping they can help bridge the gap between Albertans in need of dentistry and the organizations designed to serve them even further.

Simran Sarao “The foundation’s mission to support charities that improve access to dental care is one that resonates with me,” says Sarao, who has volunteered with numerous dental charitable organizations. “It is an honour to be of service on this committee and provide a student’s perspective.”

Sarao worked on the External Committee for the Ninth and Tenth Annual Charity Ball events (hosted by the University of Alberta Dental Students’ Association). As a senior member, her responsibilities included contacting sponsors for donations and ticket sales. She was also the co-chair for the Alberta Chapter of Oral Health Total Health and is the co-chair for the Sharing Smiles Day event where individuals with disabilities interact with dental providers.

Through her work at these organizations, she has developed a passion 18

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

for increasing access to dental care for the underserved populations in Alberta. Her two years of experience volunteering at SHINE (a student-run, free dental clinic) on Saturdays has provided first-hand experience of resources lacking for those who struggle the most with maintaining oral health.

“This past year has certainly demonstrated the resilience of people in the face of adversity.

Although various activities were restricted and opportunities lost due to COVID-19, many have come together in our community to help those most in need,” says Sarao.

“2020 has highlighted that if we work together to repurpose resources, we can continue to provide care for those most vulnerable in society. Seeing patients’ smiles is exceptionally rewarding-even if it is through a face shield.”

At the ADF, Sarao is looking forward to collaborating with local dental organizations to improve the oral health of Albertans! Her past experience as a leader on various committees of charities has prepared her well to make a difference through this roll.

Gregory ZoBell As a member of the Ahtahkakoop Cree First nation near Shell Lake, ZoBell has particular interest in improving the access and availability of oral health care in remote Indigenous and Metis communities in rural Alberta.

“I see this as a unique opportunity to

learn from experienced leaders in our dental community and to contribute to building better access to dental care throughout our province,” he says.

“There is great need for improvement of access to dental care in Alberta for minority groups, specifically the Indigenous community. However, this is not just a problem in rural and remote communities, but also in urban centres as well.”

ZoBell is currently participating in research aimed at improving access to oral health care for school-aged children in remote and rural communities. As a part of his research, ZoBell reviewed the dental charts of school-aged children in communities that have access to mobile dental hygiene services. He found children had untreated tooth decay due to the lack of accessible dental providers in these communities.

“In my next phase of research, we will be interviewing parents of the children and their teachers. The interviews are meant to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of the mobile hygiene practice that is available in these schools,” says ZoBell, adding he had the privilege of playing a role in the creation of the Indigenous Medical and Dental Students Association at the University of Alberta.

He has also been involved with the Dental Student’s Association, the FoMD professionalism committee, volunteered for the Shine Dental Clinic and was a part of the Dental Student Association’s Charity Ball.

t board members

Gregory ZoBell (top left) and Simran Sarao (bottom right) are the newest student representatives on the Alberta Dental Foundation on its board.

SPRING 2021

19

Congratulations

20

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

Modernization underway at the CRDHA The College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta (CRDHA) is embarking on an extensive undertaking that will enhance its regulatory processes and policies.

The CRDHA is the self-regulating body for the profession of dental hygiene in Alberta and has been in place since 2006. With the Health Professions Act (HPA) proclamation in 2001, health profession regulation has been very stable in Alberta. Despite this long-term stability, times have changed, and society’s needs have evolved leading to regulatory reform explains Amie Dowell (DH ’03), registrar and CEO at the CRDHA. Further, in December 2020, the Health Statutes Amendment Act (Bill 46) was proclaimed and is seen as one of the most extensive set of amendments to be made to the HPA in the past 20 years.

“The recent amendments to the HPA require and support the college to

modify its policies and operations towards a more modern approach to regulation,” says Dowell. “The CRDHA embraces the values of accountability, transparency, collaboration and integrity. Numerous changes can be expected in the coming months and years, not only to the content and structure of regulatory tools, but also

streamline regulatory processes, enhance transparency, improve collaboration, and help colleges fulfill their mandate of public protection,” says Dowell. “Many of these amendments realign the use of regulatory tools and create the opportunity for all colleges to be nimble in their mandate of regulating the profession and

the processes and interfaces with the registrants of the CRDHA and the public.”

protecting the public.”

The new amendments include: the requirement for separation of regulatory colleges and professional associations, enhanced continuing competence programs and practice visits, enabling amalgamations, publishing of orders made by hearing tribunals, not allowing colleges to negotiate fees, and streamlining of registration processes.

“Bill 46 will require careful planning and implementation by colleges, but has the potential to significantly

These regulatory tools include professional regulations, standards of practice, code of ethics and bylaws.

“The realignment means that different tools will be used to address certain subject matters and making changes will be a major undertaking for colleges,” she added.

Change can sometimes be hard, but Dowell notes that the CRDHA is excited about these changes and is hopeful that they can be leaders in the advancement and modernization of the regulatory environment.

Dental hygiene student award recipients The Margaret Berry MacLean Scholarship - Samantha Ahlstrom & Robyn Mazzei The College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta Scholarship II - Sarah Rachid The Alberta Dental Association & College Scholarship in Dental Hygiene - Terri Ward College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta Award for Leadership in Dental Hygiene II - Robyn Mazzei The College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta Scholarship III - Mackenzie Sturdy & Alanna Blanchette The College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta 40th Anniversary Award - Alicia Howery College of Registered Dental Hygienists of Alberta Award for Leadership in Dental Hygiene III - Alicia Tran 21 The Dr. Thomas J Marrie Award in Dental Hygiene - Katelyn Ehm

Congratulations

Dentistry Class of 1988 Leadership Award winners Kayla Trca (Pineau) Ana Khehra Kaylie La Walter Juniekiewicz

Dr. Douglas MacDougall Leadership Award winners 3rd year - Carolyn Berendt 4th year - Eleanor Lekach 22

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Both the Dental Alumni Association (DAA) and the Dental Hygiene Alumni Chapter (DHAC) are recruiting new board members! With your ideas and input, you can make a difference within the oral health alumni community. If you are: • • • •

Passionate about your alma mater Interested in making a difference and inspiring your peers Good with engaging people in virtual platforms Creative and like to share ideas

Both the DAA and the DHAC are comprised of dedicated volunteers who work to help our alumni stay connected with the School, with one another, and with current students.

Board members are an integral part of helping build these connections and to support a variety of activities. We encourage all of our alumni to consider joining the DAA or the DHAC. For more information, or discuss one of these opportunities, please contact Jessica Kennedy at jessica.kennedy@ualberta.ca

SPRING 2021

23

Drive-in Charity Ball a success Students use creative approach to continue annual tradition, $45,000 fundraised for Access for All What do you get when you have an unpaved parking lot and some precipitation – a whole lot of mud!

This was the ‘scene’ at the March Slumber Party Under the Stars Charity Ball this year.

Lots of mud, popcorn and laughs is how Hyun-Joo (Lina) Lim, DDS Class of 2022 student and lead organizer, would describe this year’s Charity Ball event.

Students were not going to let COVID get in the way of their annual tradition so they organized a drive in movie event that garnered a tremendous amount of interest. Lim thinks the overwhelming response to this event was because people were looking for things to do during COVID. They got the idea from former U of A DDS grad, Andrew Gibb, who had organized something similar through his church. Classic Landscapes provided permission to use their

24

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

parking lot free of charge and the students rented a big screen.

Here are how the numbers stack up: • $65 -Cost of admission for one parking spot for one movie feature including 1 medium pizza, 2 drinks, 1 bag of candy and 1 bag of popcorn • 500 -Cars (over the two nights) • 2-4 -People in each car • 50 -DDS & DH student volunteers • 30 -Students on the organizing team • Countless number of hours spent volunteering • Bags of popcorn (students lost track!)

• 7 -Door prizes that were donated from community businesses • •

$2,460 -50/50 Raffle Pot $45,000 Net Profit Raised for Access for All

Access for All Dentistry co-founded

by DDS students Reid Boulet and Wojciech Junikiewicz is a newly formed non-profit organization providing dental care to remote communities in Alberta and the North.

Lim says that everyone was willing to work long hours and into the late night/ early morning, even those students that had exams on Monday morning and volunteered at SHINE. This was made possible by the many DH and DDS students who worked very hard to make sure this event was a success.

Lim says it was a true team bonding experience with her classmates and a nice change from what has largely been a virtual event world.

The event was sponsored by Kingsway Oral Surgery

SPRING 2021

25

Welcome to dentistry Cla

26

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

ass of ‘24

SPRING 2021

27

RECENTLY PUBLISHED RESEARCH

Check out the research section on our website for a monthly listing of publications.

Impact of Acculturation on Dental Attendance of Preschoolers Among Filipino Immigrants in Edmonton, Canada Badri P, Dahlan R, Amin M. Published in Global Social Welfare. Sep 2020. doi: 10.1007/s40609-020-00189-x Perceived Effectiveness and Applicability of Think-Pair-Share Including Storytelling (TPS-S) to Enhance Clinical Learning Ganatra S, Doblanko T, Rasmussen K, Green J, Kebbe M, Amin M, Perez A. Published in Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 2020 Sep 2;1-12. doi: 10.1080/10401334.2020.1811094 Prevalence of hyposalivation in older people: A systematic review and meta-analysis Pina GMS, Mota Carvalho R, Silva BSF, Almeida FT. Published in Gerodontology.

2020 Sep 23. doi: 10.1111/ger.12497.

Online ahead of print. PMID: 32965067 Review.

Spontaneous Palatal Cleft Closure Ritto FG, Sperber GH, Smith KS. Cleft Palate Craniofacial Journal (online ahead of print). 2020 Sep 28:1055665620960970. doi: 10.1177/1055665620960970.

Strategies to reduce attrition in managing paediatric obesity: A systematic review.

Ball GDC, Sebastianski M, Wijesundera J, Keto-Lambert D, Ho J, Zenlea I, Perez A, Nobles J, Skelton JA. Published in Pediatric Obesity. 2020 Sep 22:e12733. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12733. Online ahead of print.

PMID: 32959990 Review.

The use of finite element analysis in dentistry and orthodontics: Critical points for model development and interpreting results Romanyk DL, Vafaeian B, Addison O, Adeeb S. Published in Seminars in Orthodontics. Volume 26, Issue 3, September 2020, Pages 162-173 Augmented Reality Application to Develop a Learning Tool for Students: Transforming Cellphones into Flashcards Sharmin N, Chow AK. Published in Healthcare Informatics Research.

2020 Jul;26(3):238-242. doi: 10.4258/ hir.2020.26.3.238. Epub 2020 Jul 31

Dental enamel Sperber GH. Published in The South African Dental Journal. August 2020, Vol. 75 No. 7 p384 - p386 Detection of mast cells in ameloblastomas and odontogenic keratocysts dos Santos ES, de Andrade RRA, Sampaio GC, Catunda RQ, Andrade ESDS. Published in Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry. Volume 12, Issue 8, 1 August 2020, Pages e755-e761 Erythroid precursors and progenitors suppress adaptive immunity and get invaded by SARS-CoV-2 Shahbaz S, Xu L, Osman M, Sligl W, Shields J, Joyce M, Tyrrell L, Oyegbami O, Elahi S. Preprinted in bioRxiv 2020.08.18.255927; doi: https:// doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.18.255927 Evaluation of mandibular changes after rapid maxillary expansion: a CBCT study in youngsters with unilateral posterior crossbite using a surface-to-surface matching technique Leonardi RM, Aboulazm K, Giudice AL, Ronsivalle V, D’Antò V, Lagravère M, Isola G. Published in Clinical Oral Investigations.

2020 Aug 2. doi: 10.1007/s00784-02003480-5.

Influence of heritability on occlusal traits: a systematic review of studies in twins Santana LG, Flores-Mir C, Iglesias-Linares A, Pithon MM, Marques LS. Published in Progress in OrthodonticsOpen AccessVolume 21, Issue 1, 1 December 2020, Article number 29 Neonatal and Children’s Immune System and COVID-19: Biased Immune Tolerance versus Resistance Strategy Elahi S. Published in The Journal of Immunology. 2020 Aug 21:ji2000710. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2000710.

A peptide coating preventing the attachment of Porphyromonas gingivalis on the surfaces of dental implants Fang D, Yuran S, Reches M, Catunda R, Levin L, Febbraio M. Published in Journal of Periodontal Research. Volume 55, Issue 4, 1 August 2020, Pages 503-510

Selective Upregulation of CTLA-4 on CD8+ T Cells Restricted by HLA-B*35Px Renders them to an Exhausted Phenotype in HIV-1 infection Elahi S, Shahbaz S, Houston S. Published in PLoS Pathogens. 2020 Aug 6;16(8):e1008696. doi: 10.1371/journal. ppat.1008696. eCollection 2020 Aug. Neural crest-specific loss of Bmp7 leads to midfacial hypoplasia, nasal airway obstruction and disordered breathing, modeling obstructive sleep apnea Pranidhi Baddam, Vivian Biancardi, Daniela M. Roth, Farah Eaton, Claudine Thereza-Bussolaro, Rupasri Mandal, David S. Wishart, Amy Barr, Joanna MacLean, Carlos Flores-Mir, Silvia Pagliardini and Daniel Graf. Disease Models & Mechanisms 2021 14: dmm047738 doi: 10.1242/dmm.047738 Published 11 February 2021 Effect of diagnostic score reporting following a structured clinical assessment of dental hygiene student performance Alix Clarke, MSc; Hollis Lai, PhD; Alexandra DE Sheppard, RDH, BA, MEd; Minn N Yoon, PhD | Can J Dent Hyg 2021;55(1): 39-47 Development of diagnostic score reporting for a dental hygiene structured clinical assessment Alix Clarke, MSc; Hollis Lai, PhD; Alexandra DE Sheppard, BA, MEd, RDH; Minn N Yoon, PhD | Can J Dent Hyg 2021;55(1): 48-56 A comparison of 2- and 3-dimensional mandibular superimposition techniques against Björk’s structural superimposition method Christopher Stephen Franco, Christopher Sexton, Carlos Flores-Mir, David Healey Ajo-Do Volume 159, Issue 3, E253-E273 Oropharyngeal 3-dimensional changes after maxillary expansion with 2 different orthodontic approaches Silvia Gianoni-Capenakas, Carlos FloresMir, Manuel Lagravère Vich, Camila Pacheco-Pereira. Ajo-Do Volume 159, Issue 3, P352-359, Finite element analysis: Is it justifiable?

Manuel Lagravère Ajo-Do GUEST EDITORIAL,Volume 159, Issue 3, P255-256