Dr. Larry Levin spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about his attendance at the recent Health Canada Opioid Conference on November 18, 2016. The conference discussed relevant issues related to the harmful effects of opioid use. Highlights The Canadian government is aware of the crisis that has been growing over the past years. Canada is second worldwide in opioid use. The initiative was co-chaired by the federal and provincial (Ontario) ministers of health. A broad spectrum of stakeholders were invited to participate including first responders, doctors, long-term addiction care workers, social workers, and members of affected families. What is the role ...

Guessy Wang, a 4th-year student at Western University and the founder of the Students Professionalism and Ethics Association (SPEA), spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about this SPEA chapter established in 2015. Highlights The focus of SPEA is professionalism and ethics in dentistry which aligns with the Practice Administration course at Western. The chapter has hosted several events: “Graduation and then what?” for 3rd/4th year students with guest speakers to discuss the excitement and challenges that may be faced post-graduation “Main Clinic Ready” event – clinicians spoke with lower year students about how to prepare for clinic Surviving the 1st year – ...

Dr. John O’Keefe spoke with Dr. Anne Twomey, past President of the Irish Dental Association and who recently addressed the Irish Gerontologist’s Society. The society is composed of consultant geriatricians who are strong advocates for multidisciplinary team approaches in caring for patients; however, no dentist had spoken to this organization to date. As such, Dr. Twomey shared her experiences and insights gained from her practice with their members. Highlights Better outcomes for patients can be expected, if dentists are included in patient care early in their overall care plan. Preventive care is very important for elderly patients. There are several ...

Dr. Chiraz Guessaier spoke with Dr. Cristin Kearns about the journey that sugar has taken to fully permeate our diet. Dr. Kearns research started to look at the practices of the sugar industry in 2007. Highlights Dentists often speak with patients on an individual level about the impact sugar in diets has on dental health; however, the discussion should also involve the population at large. Food labelling practices promote foods that are high in sugar. The cane and beet sugar industry has had a strong influence on the food industry by casting doubts on the link between sugar and health ...

Drs. Joel Rosenbloom, Lindsay Louwagie, and Bhavna Sharma, from the University of Toronto, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about their recent trip to Ethiopia within the Toronto-Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC). Highlights The Toronto-Addis Ababa Collaborative is the university of Toronto’s largest global academic program to teach graduate students in Addis Ababa in Medicine, Nursing and Social Studies who will be amongst the leaders instructing the next generation of academics and professionals in Addis Ababa. For the Faculty of Dentistry, the goals of the collaborative were to strengthen the bonds between the University of Toronto and the Addis Ababa University ...

Timothy Brown, CEO of ROI Corporation, spoke with Dr. Suham Alexander about the potential impact of the recent US elections on the increased interest in the Canadian dental marketplace. Since the election, there has been increased traffic and interest in subscribing to ROI Corporation’s website and newsletters, respectively by US-based dentists, many of whom are presumably Canadians training or living and working in the United States. With the more than adequate supply of dentists training and working in Canada, an influx of dentists trained in the US or further abroad would only further increase our supply of dental professionals while ...

Dr. Flavia Lamberghini, a pediatric dentist and Assistant Professor in the pediatric dentistry department at University of Illinois Chicago, recently spoke to Dr. Suham Alexander about her experience in treating Syrian refugee children. Dr. Lamberghini, sympathetic to the situation of the Syrian refugees, was able to connect with the Syrian community in Chicago through a patient of hers to organize a day dedicated to serving this population. With the help of colleagues in her practice, educational materials were translated into Arabic and Arabic-speaking translator were asked to volunteer to help on the designated clinical day. The day not only provided ...

Dr. Naty Lopez, from the School of Dentistry in the University of Minnesota, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about a recently implemented program aimed at encouraging new graduates to practice in rural areas. Dr. Lopez is Associate Professor in Dental Public Health and Assistant Dean of Admissions and Diversity in the U of MN School of Dentistry.  Highlights The “Minnesota Collaborative Rural Oral Health” project is a 5-year training program funded by the US Dept. of Health and Human Services to help address the lack of access to oral health care in rural populations as well as lack of oral health ...