Dr. Ward credits the principal dentist at his first associateship, Dr. Sakata, as being an early and important mentor. Jocelyn Johnson, the executive director of BCDA before her retirement in 2023 after more than 30 years of service to BC dentists, was a mentor for Dr. Ward in organized dentistry. “I also have trusted colleagues who are specialists who I could call up all the time to ask questions or talk about my concerns related to patients,” he says. “There’s an oral surgeon and an endodontist whose advice has been very valuable over the years. I’d send them an X-ray. Ask if a root canal requires a specialist. Ask if they’d do a biopsy. That kind of advice.” In 2015, Dr. Ward became chair of the organizing group for the Pacific Dental Conference (PDC), the biggest dental meeting in Canada. “I love everything about it. I love the people I work with, putting it on for colleagues, looking for speakers, selling space to exhibitors and handling their issues,” he says. “It’s an incredible opportunity for networking and for building proficiency in new skills. We’ve turned it into the largest dental meeting in the country, and it’s arguably one of the best in North America.” In 2025, the PDC hosted close to 15,000 attendees. Dr. Ward joined the CDA Board of Directors as the BCDA representative in 2017 and was officially installed as CDA president at the AGM in May 2025. Teaching and volunteering For three years in the early 1980s, Dr. Ward taught in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at the UBC dental school. “Though I’ve just retired, I’ve kept my license because I’d like to be a sessional instructor again; I enjoyed it so much,” he says. Since 2012, Dr. Ward has been a lecturer in the UBC Professionalism and Ethics Program and coordinator of the First Year UBC Ethics Scenario Program. “I talk with students about the kind of problems they’ll face and how they might react to them,” he says. “What happens when you break a file in a root canal? What do you do? What do you say to the patient? There are so many things that can happen in dentistry that can be handled ethically and professionally, rather than handled poorly.” Dr. Ward volunteers at the Eastside Dental Clinic, which serves people living in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver who cannot afford dental care. The neighbourhood is one of the city’s oldest and Canada’s poorest. Services at the clinic are provided by volunteer dentists and support staff. Between 2008 and 2015, Dr. Ward served on the advisory board of the clinic and has volunteered his dental expertise there for almost 20 years. “Before I started there, I was a little anxious about it,” he says. “But very quickly, I realized how gracious the people who live in Eastside are. It’s a vibrant community and the patients we treat are always grateful for our help.” In one of Dr. Ward’s first memories of the clinic, he was at the reception desk when a man came in carrying most of his possessions in a cardboard box. Dr. Ward helped the man fill in the intake form. “He said that he was 39 years old, slept under the Granville Street Bridge and had HIV, HEP B and C, but he felt great except for a toothache,” Dr. Ward says. The man had a carious lesion in his upper left first molar that was under a gold crown. “He wanted to save the tooth if he could, so the dentist on duty that day started a root canal,” he says. Person-centered care, which values a patient’s unique needs and life experience, is an integral part of the clinic. Dr. Ward and his long-serving team members enjoying a staff trip to Seattle, Washington. Bruce and Karin at a vineyard in France.
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