Lessons in compassion: SHINE dental clinic has given students a chance to give back for past 20 years
Gillian Rutherford - 19 March 2025
Dentistry student Anthony Do and dental hygiene student Elias Jirgees work with a patient at the SHINE dental clinic in inner-city Edmonton. (Photo: TMS productions/Mitchell Kucher)
Patients start lining up at 6 a.m. most Saturdays at the SHINE dental clinic in inner-city Edmonton, no matter what the weather. SHINE is a unique student-run learning enterprise that has been providing free dental care to vulnerable Edmontonians for the past 20 years.
Students from the University of Alberta’s Mike Petryk School of Dentistry provide about $8,000 worth of care each week — emergency extractions, root canals, fillings and cleanings.
There are roughly 300 volunteer spots each semester for students from the dentistry, dental hygiene and dental assisting programs to serve between 25 and 35 patients each week. An elected student board does everything from recruiting community dentists as supervisors to running the annual golf tournament fundraiser. Last year so many students tried to volunteer at once that the sign-up system crashed and had to be replaced.
The Student Health Initiative for the Needs of Edmonton Clinic — now known simply as SHINE — was started in 2005 by then-dental student Amreesh Khanna, who now runs dental practices, an AI startup and a charity in Calgary.
“I knew that this was something that could really make a difference and create a legacy for the school to give back to the community, but also an opportunity for students to get exposure to this type of care and practice,” Khanna says. “Seeing it still going 20 years on is something I’m very proud of.”
The impact of SHINE for patients and students hasn’t diminished in all those years.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever had a toothache, but it’s not a fun thing to have, so some people who can’t afford to deal with it will wait the whole week until we’re open,” says Kareem Hassan, the fourth-year dentistry student who leads the SHINE team this year.
“I’ve learned through SHINE that if you just approach the patient with compassion and empathy — with a gentle and understanding tone — they calm down very quickly,” Hassan says. “My main goal in going into dentistry was to improve patient-practitioner relationships.”
The patients are drawn from Edmonton’s most vulnerable populations — newcomers to Canada, shelter residents, people with low incomes and those who don’t have insurance, according to Suzanne Depledge, associate clinical professor and the faculty liaison for SHINE.
“These are people who need urgent care, and our students are down there every Saturday on their day off providing dental care for emergencies. We’re happy to give them any support they need.”
Bringing smiles back
Andrew Wong, now an assistant clinical professor and owner of a pediatric dental clinic in Edmonton, got his first exposure to working with children as a student volunteer at SHINE. Having followed in his father’s footsteps into dentistry, he wasn’t sure where to specialize.
“Just being able to see the smile on their face once they were happy again and they were no longer in pain — that really helped me to decide I wanted to be a pediatric dentist,” Wong remembers.
Wong was the SHINE lead for his final year in 2011, and he returned for several years afterwards as a volunteer instructor. He now helps sponsor the golf tournament, which raised $56,000 last year.
Third-year dental hygiene student volunteer Elias Jirgees moved to Canada as a child and wasn’t able to go to the dentist often because of the financial burden.
“As a kid, I could see the sacrifice my parents made to provide me with dental care,” Jirgees remembers. “When I got into the dental hygiene program and learned there was an initiative to provide free dental care, I was all in to help.”
For Christie Li, fourth-year dental hygiene lead this year, working at SHINE has expanded her clinical skills.
“We’re working on patients who have extensive buildup on their teeth, and we just don’t get to see that kind of case at school,” Li points out. “We’re constantly getting new patients, seeing new faces who are just learning about SHINE, which just shows how much of a need this is for the community.”
Hassan points out that good dental care is integral to overall health, and experiencing financial barriers or dealing with mental health issues can have an impact on the teeth.
"Patients who are going through a hard time have that reflected in their oral health. Whether it is a lack of care or grinding and clenching brought on by stress, that translates into potential teeth fracturing and costly dental care,” he says. “It can be a vicious circle.”
Building lifelong skills
Calgary dentist and entrepreneur Amreesh Khanna started the SHINE clinic in 2005 as a way for dental students to give back to the community. (Photo: Supplied)
All of the dental work the students do is supervised by a volunteer dentist and hygienist who act as licensed preceptors, as well as a paid staff member from Radius Community Health & Healing (formerly Boyle McCauley Health Centre). Complex cases the students can’t handle are referred to the U of A or private clinics. SHINE reimburses Radius for the cost of materials.
“None of it would be possible without our volunteers, preceptors, faculty and the support from our sponsors,” Jirgees underscores. “It’s free to the patient but it does still cost us money and so we have to keep the organization afloat. They all support us to keep our mission going.”
Khanna says he’s still using many of the skills he first gained as SHINE founder, while setting up his own clinic and now as an entrepreneur founding an AI startup that uses machine learning to analyze health records and improve diagnoses.
“How do you bring a vision to reality and then ensure that you can keep it going? I think that is one of the hardest things to do,” Khanna says. “I’ve had to create a foundation. I’ve had to create a vision. I’ve had to pitch myself. I’ve had to get people to invest money.”
Khanna now lives in Calgary with his wife (also a dentist) and his two young kids. He continues to support SHINE with two scholarships for students who volunteer and lead the SHINE initiative.
“The impact they make on the community and patients they take care of — it is tremendous,” he says.
To learn more about the annual golf tournament fundraiser or other ways to support SHINE, visit shinedentistry.org or email uofashinedentistry@gmail.com.
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