Dr. Reena Talwar and Dr. Cheryl Cable

Dr. Reena Talwar DDS PhD FRCD(C) - Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon and Dr. Cheryl Cable B.Sc DDS MBA FRCD(C) - Maxillofacial Prosthodontist. These exceptional mentors are the first and only females in their respective specialties in Alberta. They are both full-time faculty members at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. As full time faculty members, these exceptional educators have contributed to the growth and development of both female and male dental professionals over the past several years. It goes without saying that these two women are intelligent and hard-working, however it’s their kindness, humility and obvious love of their respective professions which is most attractive to those they teach and work with. Their unique position as the only females in their respective fields in our province has been a significant motivator for female dental students to pursue specialty training and hence provide more specialists to treat the citizens of Alberta.  

Alongside their duties as dental educators, both women are actively involved in their speciality societies in Alberta. In this additional role and as specialists in the two main fields of implant dentistry, they recognized an increasing gap in the undergraduate general dental education in implant dentistry and the current demands in scope of practice for new graduates. In recognizing this void and in keeping with their fundamental belief in education and patient care, they developed a comprehensive dental implant residency educational program in conjunction with the University of Alberta, Dentistry Continuing Education department. The main goal of this program was to lay the early foundation towards creating guidelines in Alberta for the placement and restoration of dental implants by general dentists.

Dr Reena Talwar and Dr. Cheryl Cable was nominated for the Minerva Mentoring Award.