CDA Essentials 2015 • Volume 2 • Issue 2

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31 Volume 2 Issue 2 |
Issues and People
tions in various locations in his home province, in
major American cities, and internationally in China,
India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Kingdom of Bahrain
and Europe. The program’s international influence
is also evidenced in Westin Hotels & Resorts world-
wide where the Kids Eat Well menu, created in col-
laboration with SuperChefs, is now a global brand
standard in all 200 of their hotel restaurants.
A community volunteer program run in partner-
ship with the University of British Columbia faculty
of dentistry also helps families make a connection
between diet, oral health, and overall wellness.
SuperChefs brings dentistry and dental hygiene
students together with volunteer chefs for cook-
ing demonstrations in school programs. “It teach-
es up-and-coming dental professionals that they
have a great role to play in promoting overall
wellness and preventing childhood obesity,”
explains Dr. Chang. Also in the works, as part of
the UBC faculty of dentistry’s new Masters of Pub-
lic Health program, is a mobile dental clinic that
would operate alongside a mobile SuperChefs
kitchen—making a tangible connection between
the dentist’s chair and the kitchen counter. In
partnership with the Arizona School of Dentistry
and Oral health, SuperChefs also participated in
the American Dental Association’s “Give Kids a
Smile” event in February 2015.
Dr. Chang is committed to improving children’s
health by increasing their knowledge of food and
cooking. “We can do so much more for our
patients if we encourage them to eat more
nutritious foods, which underscores the
importance of getting kids to cook. It’s a
matter of promoting back to basics: meals
cooked at home, sitting down together, and
eating real food rather than processed food
that contains so much added sugar. Patients
appreciate the discussion and this is what preven-
tion of metabolic disease is all about,” he says. “We
are one of the very few health care professions
that generally see their patients every 6 months.
So dentists are in an ideal position to deliver im-
portant reminders to patients about decreasing
sugar consumption and promotion of healthy
eating habits.” a
➊ On the cooking stage at Surrey’s Fusion Festival with Wally Buono (c.),
vice president of Football Operations and general manager of the
BC Lions, Dr. Greg Chang, the BC Lions team dentist, and the
SuperChefs team of chefs and counsellors.
➋ In the kitchen of the Westin Bayshore Vancouver preparing a
SuperChefs/Westin cake to raise funds for UBC Community Outreach
Programs during the Pacific Dental Conference’s Tooth Fairy Gala,
March 2014. (L. to r. ) Steven Rutherford, Westin executive sous chef,
Dr. Charles Shuler, UBC dean of dentistry and Dr. Chang.
➌ Dr. Chang (c.) with the “SuperChefs of the Universe Live!” characters
during a UBC Alumni Open House event.
Visit
to find out more
about SuperChefs
and its programs.
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