‘A new future’: city dentist Cholakis donates $2M to school of dental hygiene

Dental hygienist training in Manitoba is getting a big boost, after a major gift from a local dentist.

On Thursday, the dental hygiene school at the University of Manitoba’s Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry unveiled a new $2-million donation from Dr. Ernest Cholakis. It’s the largest gift the program has ever received, and in honour of the funding, the school will be named the Cholakis School of Dental Hygiene.

The gift was unveiled at a ceremony Thursday morning at the Brodie Centre at the U of M’s Bannatyne campus. The benefactor and other dignitaries, including Premier Wab Kinew, were in attendance, as well as the three-year program’s current students.

Cholakis, who graduated from the U of M’s dentistry school in 1982, had high praise for the dental hygiene profession.

“I see dental hygiene playing a greater role and responsibility in health care, in outreach and communication, (in) serving Indigenous communities and underserved areas within our province,” Cholakis said in a statement. “Supporting the school represented an opportunity to invest in a profession and in an educational institution I have long admired.”

In a moving speech, school director Mary Bertone recalled how, when she took the job in 2014, the outgoing director handed her a long list of tasks the school didn’t have the budget to address. Despite those limitations, she said, the school was able to keep moving forward, training up to 26 dental hygienists each year.

Among other benefits, the new endowment will help support innovative teaching, and enhance teaching and clinical spaces on campus, the U of M said in a release. It will also allow the program to expand its community-based oral-health offerings, where students connect with patients in underserved communities across the province.

“Today, we’re not just expressing gratitude for a donor, we’re imagining a new future for the school of dental hygiene,” Bertone said. “It’s a big day for us.”

In many cases, Bertone pointed out, a dental hygienist is the primary health-care provider patients see most regularly. Dental health is closely linked to other major health concerns, yet oral hygiene care is often missed in broader discussions about improving Manitobans’ health.

“Honestly, it is an undervalued part of health care,” Bertone said. “Oral health impacts diabetes control, heart health, and overall well-being, yet it’s often seen as separate from serious medicine. It remains out of reach for many who need it most. When somebody endorses a dental hygiene program, they’re sending a message: this work is important.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca