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2025 Alumni Award winners (back row l-r): Simone Abbass, Heather Carr, Rachel Skanes, Brooke Kinden, Cory Sears, Bobby Nadeau, Lindsay James, Ben Davis, dean of the Faculty of Dentistry; (front row l-r): Terri Logue, Jennifer MacLellan, Michelle ZwickerÌý Ìý(Photos by Nick Pearce)ÌýÌý

DentDays 2025 kicked off on October 16 with the presentation of nine awards to alumni and friends of the Faculty of Dentistry who have excelled in some way. The awards celebrated our four new Outstanding Alumni Award winners and launched two new award categories – Early Career and Friend of Dal Dentistry – with their inaugural winners.

For 41 years, Outstanding Alumni Awards (OAA) have been presented annually to dentistry alumni who made a significant contribution to their profession or their communities. Now, the Early Career Award will recognize alumni who have excelled in the first 15 years of their careers, and the Friend of Dal Dentistry award will acknowledge those from outside our Faculty of Dentistry who support its work.

Friends of Dal DentistryÌý
There were two inaugural recipients of the Friend of Dal Dentistry award. Cory Sears, currently the director of partnership development at dentalcorp, has an 18-year history with the Faculty of Dentistry, first at Nobel Biocare and now at dentalcorp.

Rachel Skanes is the youth development coordinator and director of Healthy Athletes with the Nova Scotia Special Olympics. In this role, she has introduced several new initiatives with the Special Smiles program, which has gained national recognition as a result.

Speaking at the event, Skanes said, "Before discovering Special Smiles, many of our athletes with intellectual and developmental disabilities were anxious – or even afraid – to see a dentist." She said that the "compassion, patience, and commitment" shown by the student, faculty, and alumni volunteers from the Faculty of Dentistry helped to replace those fears with trust.

Early Career AwardÌýÌý
There were three recipients of the Early Career award: Dr. Lindsay James (DDS'19), Brooke Kinden (DDH'15), and Dr. Bobby Nadeau (DDS'15).

After graduating in 2019, Dr. Lindsay James pursued further studies in paediatric dentistry at the IWK/Dal and the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University.

Now part of the IWK/ÈâÈ⴫ý paediatric dental academic and clinical group, James is helping to develop a surgicentre program aimed at improving access to dental care for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As James accepted her award, she said that she is "always looking for ways to be better".

Dental hygienist Brooke Kinden returned to her home province of Newfoundland following her graduation in 2015. After working in dental practices for a few years, she decided to collaborate with two other dental hygienists in an independent practice and now offers a full range of preventative dental hygiene services, education programs, a mobile service for seniors, and evening and weekend appointments.

"I hope this award reminds you that leadership doesn’t always wait until later in your career," Kinden advised her fellow dental hygienists. "If you see a need, fill it…Our profession is evolving, and we are the ones shaping its future."

The third recipient, Dr. Bobby Nadeau (DDS’15), specialized in endodontics and became a pioneer in dynamic navigation within the field. His collaboration with ClaroNav resulted in the development of Navident for endodontics, which obtained Health Canada approval.

Attending the award ceremony was Nadeau’s first time back to campus since his graduation in 2015. "I get to do what I love because of 10 years ago," he said, as he accepted his award.

Outstanding Alumni Awards
The four OAA recipients this year are Drs. Heather Carr (DDS’88), Terri Logue (DDS’85), Jennifer MacLellan (DDS’94), and Michelle Zwicker (DDS’00).

Dr. Heather Carr was a student leader when she studied dentistry at ÈâÈ⴫ý and served as the first female president of the ÈâÈ⴫ý Dentistry Student Society.

It is a pattern she has replicated throughout her long career, with leadership roles at every level of organized dentistry, including president of the Halifax County Dental Society, the Nova Scotia Dental Association, and the Canadian Dental Association.

As president of the CDA, she supported the creation of the Canadian Dental Care Plan, a process that she said required "careful handling and fierce advocacy".

Dr. Terrie Logue began teaching in the Faculty’s undergraduate clinical program in 1988 and has been part of the graduate periodontics program since 2012, winning a teaching award for her work.

As a volunteer, she has served on many committees and working groups, including a year as president of the Nova Scotia Dental Association in 2010.

As she accepted her award,Logue spoke of feeling honoured "to walk these halls here" and thanked her classmates, colleagues, and friends for her 40-year career.

Dr. Jennifer MacLellan is a paediatric dentist at the IWK and the ÈâÈ⴫ý School of Dentistry. At the Nelson Whynder Elementary School Clinic in North Preston, one of the Faculty’s outreach clinics, she supervises dental students on their rotations and actively supports the school and broader community.

"I truly find joy in giving back to my profession," MacLellan said as she received her award. "To be recognized for doing what I love is the cherry on top."

Dr. Michelle Zwicker is the owner of Bay Roberts Dental in Newfoundland and a dedicated volunteer in organized dentistry and her community.

For the past 15 years, she has been an examiner for the National Dental Examination Board and an active member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Dental Association, including as president. As the Provincial Dental Consultant, she advises the government on dental matters.

Accepting her award, Zwicker said that she and her fellow recipients "don’t do what we do for recreation, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel good." She encouraged everyone to "pass on what you know and have learned".

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