“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of.” Dr. Antel was also involved in establishing the Manitoba Dental Foundation in 2016, which raises funds to support programs that provide dental care for people who wouldn’t otherwise have access. In 2017, Dr. Antel joined the CDA Board of Directors. “In the same way that I wanted to learn how things worked at the provincial level, I was interested in learning more about how issues are addressed at the national level,” Dr. Antel says. “CDA approached some things differently than MDA, including in communications, which was where a lot of my expertise lies, so I was curious to learn about the differences and see if I could make things better.” Dr. Antel says that the pandemic had unexpected results for CDA. “When COVID hit, we had one overarching issue to deal with, an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ mentality,” he says. “We had to find ways to work together effectively to deal with a crisis. As an organization, we learned how to truly collaborate. Once we’d make a decision, the people who would turn that decision into action had everyone else’s full support.” When Dr. Antel was officially installed as CDA president in April 2024, he said he wanted to further bolster this spirit of collaboration. “In our approach to advocating for a functional and effective Canadian Dental Care Plan, CDA and the provincial and territorial associations have continued to work together really well, and always with the public and dentists in their offices across the country in mind.” Dr. Antel believes that the working relationships and collaborative model that was forged during the pandemic and the introduction of the national dental care plan will continue to serve dentists well in the future. Mandibular Black playing at aManitobaDental Foundation fundraising event. SonZack is on keyboards andDr. Antel is on guitar. Second album of the Chai Folk Ensemble, released in 1980. Dr. Antel is on guitar, back row, 3rd from left. Son Darryl, at his law office. During his time at the MDA, Dr. Antel helped start the General Practice Study Club, which serves fledgling dentists within the first five years of registering with the association, a combination of dentists that are new to the province and those who have just graduated. “It was based on the experiences that I had in my early years in practise with Dr. Diner and created an opportunity for dentists to receive practical hands-on, engaged mentoring,” he says. CDA President 2024–25 26 | 2024 | Issue 3
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTE5MTI=