Volunteering with the NSDA can be a valuable way to connect with peers, stay in-tune with the profession, and give back to the field of dentistry in Nova Scotia. NSDA volunteers, and their important contributions, are among the way the organization fulfills its mission of ‘dentists helping dentists.’

Avid volunteers Dr. Isabel Melo and Dr. Farha Sardar are two such doctors who have a history of giving back. They have served in various positions throughout the years and believe volunteerism is the backbone of supporting dentists in our province.

At the moment, they make up the NSDA’s Professional Development (PD) Committee, which is responsible for multiple activities, including:

• Planning the CE sessions at the AGM, which were just held at the Prince George Hotel; a stellar line-up that included a variety of topics which saw a huge turnout!
• Liaise with the CE Department and DAL Faculty of Dentistry to ensure topics and sessions offered are relevant for dentists and students.

Meet our PD Committee, two very accomplished women dentists whose work spans education, sleep medicine, and private practice across Nova Scotia.

Dr. Isabel Mello

Dr. Mello received her DDS degree from the Federal University of Alfenas, Brazil, in 1996. In 2000, she completed her residency and Master of Sciences in Endodontics at the University of Sao Paulo and, in 2008, she defended her PhD in Dental Sciences in a joint program between the University of Sao Paulo and the University of British Columbia.

Currently, she is the Division Head of Endodontics at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, and has received several teaching awards throughout her academic career. Dr. Mello has lectured nationally and internationally, is an active researcher and has published several papers in peer review journals. She is a board-certified Endodontist and a fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada. She is a reviewer for the Journal of Endodontics and serves as consulting staff in the Dentistry Department at the IWK children’s hospital and maintains a part-time practice in Nova Scotia.

She firmly believes in giving back, saying, “Isn’t it great helping one another? It makes me feel good lending a hand…After years of teaching, putting courses and lectures together, talking to others (students and colleagues alike) about what their educational needs are enables me to give meaningful input on this specific committee.”

When sharing her experience on the PD Committee, Dr. Mello shares that, as an educator, she particularly enjoyed working on learning opportunities that were inclusive for the entire dental team. It made her happy to see the CE component of the 2023 AGM taking shape and later, how all sessions were so well attended. Verbal feedback from members was amazing, and she said, “It made me feel so good!”

Dr. Farha Sardar

Dr. Sardar is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry, a former Canadian Armed Forces Dental Officer, and a Diplomat of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.

She practices general dentistry at the Canadian Forces Base in Halifax and at Ocean Stone Dental in Lunenburg. She exclusively practices dental sleep medicine at O2 Dentistry in Dartmouth. Outside of her enthusiasm for all aspects of clinical dentistry and patient care, she enjoys being involved in organized dentistry and spending quality time with her family.

Dr. Sardar says, “Volunteering in some way, shape, or form is an important aspect of my comprehensive sense of community. An intact sense of community brings me a professional, and personal sense of belonging, support, purpose, mentorship and overall fulfilment. Simply put, volunteering is a significant component of my overall contentment.”

When reflecting on her volunteerism, she says that she has been working with the NSDA Professional Development Committee for a number of years and is proud of their work every year — from supporting wellness activities to registered dental assistant development initiatives.

“I am particularly proud of our latest project; assuming responsibility for securing topics and speakers for the NSDA AGM 2023,” she says. “We worked well as a team, each bringing different strengths and ideas to the table. I am proud of the respect we had for each other, the support we received from our local speakers, and the positive, constructive feedback from our colleagues.”

Thank you, Dr. Mello and Dr. Sardar, for supporting the profession and giving back.

Interested in volunteering with the NSDA? There are opportunities on Committees! Only have a set mount of time? No problem, there is also opportunity for task-driven work. Contact Patricia Pellerine, NSDA Operations Manager, at operations.nsda@bellaliant.com