Colleagues, An important publication in the field of periodontology has just come across my desk and, at this early stage, I simply want you to be aware of its existence. Over time, we look forward to working with experts to put the various elements of new knowledge in this field into their proper context for Canadian oral health professionals. If you are interested in the latest developments in periodontology, this publication is a must read for you. The publication I refer to is the Proceedings of the World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri‐Implant Diseases and Conditions, which ...

It is always a pleasure to welcome Dr. Jack Cottrell, dentist from Port Perry, ON, and Treasurer at the World Dental Federation (FDI). Dr. Cottrell spoke about World Oral Health Day 2018 and the importance of promoting and sustaining oral health as well as facilitating the conversation between dentists and patients about their oral health.  I hope you enjoy the conversation and visit the WOHD website. A variety of good resources in multiple languages is available for the dentist, the dental team and the patient. As usual, we welcome your thoughts, questions, and suggestions! We’d love to hear from you ...

Dr. John O’Keefe invited Dr. Les Ennis to share his lessons from overseas dental missions. Canadian dentists are world renowned for their volunteer efforts aimed at providing oral care to underserved populations.  There are numerous resources available if you wish to participate in these missions. Below you will find links to some of them.  If you have a question or if you wish to share your feedback and suggestions, please get in touch with us at oasisdiscussions@cda-adc.ca Dr. John O’Keefe Director, Knowledge Networks, CDA Resource Australian Dental Association: Handbook for Dental Volunteer Projects.  Journey with Dr. Ennis in Kenya, in ...

  This was a great conversation! I welcomed Dr. Carol Gomez Summerhays to this Oasis Conversation about Women in Dentistry and learned quite a bit speaking with her. Dr. Summerhays brings both her clinical perspective and her long involvement in organized dentistry when addressing a variety of professional issues, such as income disparities between female and male dentists and women’s access to top leadership positions.  During her presidency of the American Dental Association, Dr. Summerhays encouraged the association and its members to positively think about the one constant in the world of associations: Change. And she approaches the topic of ...

I had the great pleasure to speak with Ms. Ruth French, Professor in the Dental Hygiene and Assisting programs at Niagara College in Welland ON. She is currently in Pakistan teaching the second cohort of the Dental Hygiene program at the AGA Khan University and with her students, they celebrated World Oral Health Day with an oral health community outing in Karachi.  Chiraz Guessaier, CDA Oasis Manager World Oral Health Day is celebrated globally every year on 20 March and is organized by FDI World Dental Federation. World Oral Health Day was launched in 2013 to raise awareness of the importance ...

I had the pleasure to host Dr. Jack Cottrell, Canadian dentist and Treasurer at the World Dental Federation FDI. We spoke about the importance of World Oral Health Day, coming up on March 20th, 2017. Chiraz Guessaier, CDA Oasis Manager Highlights   Oral health is multi-faceted and includes the ability to speak, smile, smell, taste, touch, chew, swallow and convey a range of emotions through facial expressions with confidence and without pain, discomfort and disease of the craniofacial complex. This year World Oral Health Day is tagged Live Mouth Smart: Good oral hygiene habits, avoiding risk factors and having a regular ...

Dr. Harry-Sam Selikowitz, Chair of the Science Committee at FDI, spoke with Dr. Chiraz Guessaier about the recent FDI Annual Congress as well as his role in adopting the new oral hygiene definition and policy statements. Highlights  Overall, the meeting was successful in formulating and adopting eight new policy statements due to the efforts of various committees. At the meeting, various committees met to discuss their areas of concern. The Science Committee covered topics including phasing-down amalgam, dental materials, antibiotic resistance, and are working on scientific updates in the fields of genetic testing and nano technology. The scientific program of the ...

In this interview, Dr. Chiraz Guessaier speaks to Dr. Jack Cottrell who recently attended this year’s FDI meeting Poznan, Poland. Highlights FDI’s role is global advocacy with the World Health Organization, World Health Alliance and Non-Communicable Disease Alliance, which are powerful lobby groups in Geneva, Switzerland. As such, FDI is able to advocate for oral health and its relationship and role in one’s general health. The organization also formulates and develops policies related to oral health. This past congress developed, passed and raised consensus on a new definition of oral health and developed advocacy tools regarding sugar reduction, the Minamata ...