2019 Winning Associate Dentist
Dr. Kristen Kezar
South Hill Dental Centre (SK)
Nominated for Giving Back
Born and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Dr. Kristen Kezar currently practices alongside her family dentist and mentor, Dr. Kristin Arpin, at South Hill Dental Centre. Described by her peers as an extremely caring, hard-working, and inspiring dentist, Kristen finds interacting with and helping people to be the most rewarding part of her profession. “We are very fortunate as dentists to be able to make a lasting change for the better with our patients,” she says. “I enjoy being able to help restore oral health and teach people how to maintain it. I love treating people and not just their teeth.”
A major proponent of increasing access to care, Kristen is committed to giving back to her community. “I work in an area of Saskatchewan where access is an issue for many people,” she says. “I see a lot of patients who have not seen a dentist in many years and have been suffering with dental pain. This pain has bled into other aspects of their lives, affecting nutrition and ultimately their systemic health.”
In her final years of dental school, Kristen co-founded DIRECT Dental, Saskatchewan’s first non-profit dental clinic providing emergency care for the financially constrained. Now run by third-and fourth-year students at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Dentistry, Kristen still donates her time to supervising students at the clinic.
Kristen ultimately believes the responsibility of giving back rests on the shoulders of all clinicians. “As I see it, we were selected into a competitive program, taught a specific skill and now it’s our responsibility to share that skill and give back to our community.”
-
“I enjoy being able to help restore oral health and teach people how to maintain it. I love treating people and not just their teeth.”