Dr. Amarjit Rihal, from Manitoba, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about his recent election to Chair of the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada. Highlights The Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC) is a national body responsible for accrediting dental, dental specialty, dental assisting and dental hygiene programs in Canada and is comprised of various stakeholders. The commission reviews educational programs and services via structured on-site survey visits. As Chair, Dr. Rihal serves as the spokesperson of the Commission and the liaison with external stakeholders in conjunction with the CDAC Director Mr. Frederic Duguay. The committees and the Commission meet ...

Dr. Lois Cohen, Consultant and Paul G. Rogers Ambassador for Global Health Research, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about her participation in the Women Dentist Worldwide Forum during the FDI World Congress in Poznan Poland. Highlights Dr. Cohen spoke at the FDI’s Women Dentist Worldwide Forum in Poland about “Global Health through Oral Health: Issues and Challenges”. She focused on global trends in oral health and their implications for gender issues. The World Health Organization defines health as: … not only the absence of infirmity and disease, but is also the state of physical, mental and social well-being. Global health problems, issues ...

Dr. Chiraz Guessaier had the opportunity to speak FDI’s Chair of the Dental Practice committee, Dr. Michael Sereny. He recently participated in the FDI World Congress in Poznan, Poland. Highlights The five-day meeting consists of the presentation of official reports and discusses various dental and oral health policies. The dental practice committee is the voice of dental practitioners and consists of dentists who work in their own various private offices and are connected to their dental communities. The new oral health definition that was developed which is likely not as interesting to wet-fingered dentists was necessary as many view oral ...

Sandy Evans, dental assistant, post-director of the Waldo County Dental Program and PhD candidate, spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about the importance of coming up with alternative non-traditional ways to deliver dental services in rural areas and to vulnerable populations.  Highlights Sandy Evans, who worked with the Waldo Community Action Partners in Waldo County, Maine was able to use non-traditional delivery methods to enhance dental and oral health care in rural areas in Maine. Rural areas are often under-serviced with respect to specialized care and access to care may be limited. Programs were designed and developed to care for vulnerable groups ...

Dr. Sree Koka, Associate Editor of the Journal of Prosthodontic Research, joined Dr. John O’Keefe in this conversation about the changes that the field of prosthodontics will undertake in the next 10 years.  Among six dentists, Dr. Koka is the founder of Career Design in Dentistry an organization that helps dentists plan their careers on a personal as well as business levels.  Highlights The prosthodontics knowledge base is extending on two fronts: There is a new marriage of materials and technology: we are on the threshold of tremendous potential of technology being used with certain materials to impact the day-to-day practice. Industry ...

Dr. Bill Scarfe spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about what he sees the future of dental radiology.  Highlights Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) has brought enormous opportunities for specialists and general dentists, in terms of monitoring disease progression and treatment outcomes, particularly in three areas: (1) orthodontics, (2) endodontics, and (3) craniofacial assessment. CBCT has the potential to change the way dentists practice, for 2 reasons: (1) Greater market penetration has brought CBCT technology to a wider group of users, beyond the early adopters such as oral surgeons, endodontists and orthodontists, and (2) With increased use of CBCT scans, incidental ...

Last weekend, I attended and played a small role in the annual meeting of the Council of the Federation of Dental Student Associations (FCDSA). For two days, twenty really intelligent, creative and dedicated dental students from all ten dental schools in Canada came together in Ottawa to chart the course of their organization over the coming year. It is not an easy task to create and develop a national student organization, but the previous and current leaders of this federation, that is still only four years old, have made great advances in this short time. Having been a dental student organization ...

Dr. Jeff Glaizel is a General Dentist in Toronto and Consumer Innovation and Development Lead with Ontario Telemedicine Network. He spoke with Dr. John O’Keefe about the road to implementing telemedicine and how that may mean change for dentistry too.  Highlights Technology is advancing at a fast pace and there are many technological solutions that we don’t know how to use. The main drivers that are moving telemedicine fast: Patients want the ease of access to their doctors The cost of healthcare delivery The demand for physicians’ services Associations need to get ready for big data, namely large amounts of ...