JCDA - Canadian Dental Association

––– News & Updates –––
urban smiles: university of Manitoba’s outreach effort
team of volunteers from Winnipeg’s dental community, including dental practitioners, hygienists and assistants, joined
A the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Community Oral Health (CCOH) at the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre
on June 11 for Urban Smiles — a day dedicated to improving the oral health and overall health of children, pregnant
mothers, people with diabetes and others needing oral care.
According to CCOH director Dr. Doug Brothwell,
Urban Smiles is really just business as usual for the
community outreach arm of the faculty. “It’s a little
known fact that for many years now, the faculty of
dentistry has been a major source of care for the
underserved,” he said. “Today, we are celebrating
what we do every day of the year.”
Urban Smiles marked 35 years of community
outreach for the faculty of dentistry at the University
of Manitoba. As part of the event, 5 Manitoba
alumni were honoured for their contribution to com-
munity outreach in dentistry: Drs. Art Schwartz, Olva
Odlum, Phil Poon, Margot Pilley and Henry Redhead.
Canada’s Chief Dental Officer Dr. Peter Cooney, a
former executive director of Manitoba Dental Health,
was also honoured for his contributions to dental
public health.
From left: Dr. Phil
Poon, Dr. Margot
Pilley, Dr. Anthony
M. Iacopino,
Manitoba Premier
Gary Doer,
Dr. Doug Brothwell,
Dr. Olva Odlum and
Dr. Henry Redhead.
Faculty dean Dr. Anthony M. Iacopino noted that in addition to marking a
significant milestone for the faculty and CCOH, Urban Smiles could be considered
a model for the future of health care delivery. “We want the province of Manitoba,
through the faculty, to be a showcase for how one can take oral health care and
Hirut Gebrehiwot, a new Canadian
from Ethiopia and expectant mother,
receives treatment as part of the
Urban Smiles outreach program.
make it part of comprehensive health care for all people and actually save health care dollars and improve quality of life by
preventing chronic inflammatory diseases like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and respiratory disease.” a
JCDA • www.cda-adc.ca/jcda • September 2008, Vol. 74, No. 7 • 585