JCDA - Journal of the Canadian Dental Association

The members of the Dentistry Canada Fund (DCF), the Canadian charity for oral health for 15 years, directed the DCF Board of Directors to close the charity in September 2009. The decision to shut down DCF wasn’t made lightly, and after a thorough review of DCF’s operations by CDA’s corporate members, it was determined to be the best way forward.

DCF was established in 1994 through the amalgamation of the Canadian Fund for Dental Education, the Canadian Dental Foundation, the Dental Research Fund, the Library Trust Fund and several other smaller funds. DCF’s mission was to mobilize and allocate resources for the advancement of oral health through education, research and public outreach.

As part of its efforts to encourage education and research in oral health and dentistry, DCF offered grants, scholarships and research fellowships to qualifying Canadian dental students to help fund dental academic careers.

DCF also made significant contributions to the collective history of the dental profession in Canada. During CDA’s centennial celebrations in 2002, CDA and DCF presented an 11-part series of articles on the history of dentistry, tracing the growth and evolution of modern dental practice in Canada. Dr. Ralph Crawford, dental historian and past president of CDA, authored this series titled A Century of Service.

Dr. Crawford also donated his lifelong collection of dental artifacts toward the establishment of the Dentistry Canada Museum, founded by DCF. Steps are currently being taken to preserve these museum artifacts, and they will eventually be housed at a museum in Kingston, Ontario.

In recent years, CDA has offered administrative and other support to DCF. Since the decision to close DCF was made, the focus has been to work with the charity’s donors to ensure that existing funds are transferred to qualified organizations. This process involves ensuring that these funds will be used for purposes similar to those originally intended for use at DCF.

“DCF would like to sincerely thank the many donors, both individuals within the profession and from industry, who have supported DCF over the past 15 years,” says Dr. Ronald Smith, CDA president-elect.

For further enquiries on DCF, please contact Donna Bierko, CDA coordinator of corporate affairs, at dbierko@cda-adc.ca.