Bev Woods

With a career that spans three decades, Bev Woods has given thousands of people a reason to smile.

Since graduating from Durham College’s (DC) Dental Assisting program in 1980 and the Dental Hygiene program in 1986, she has worked in private and public health settings, including owning a dental hygiene practice and serving as program director of dental hygiene for Maxwell College from July 2006 to August 2008. Bev also held a council position with the College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario and was president of the Bay of Quinte Dental Hygienists Society and Ontario Dental Hygienists’ Association.

Another hallmark of her career is her commitment to giving back. To ensure no one goes without dental hygiene care, Bev founded Gift from the Heart project (GFTH), a day set aside for registered dental hygienists across Canada to share their skills, knowledge and compassion with those who need it the most, Canadians who experience barriers accessing oral health services. To date, over $1.4 million in dental hygiene care has been provided at no cost to the client.

In recognition of her efforts, Bev received the Award of Merit from the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association in 2014. Three years later she was selected by the International Federation of Dental Hygienists to represent Canada at a Global Social Responsibility Conference in Italy.

Recently coming out of retirement, she now works with the Whole Health Clinic in Brighton Ontario and has continued her work with GFTH with plans to create a GFTH Foundation to enable dental hygienists to provide care to those not able to access care on our GFTH day. Bev is committed to seeing the GFTH project grow into a sustainable organization that not only connects clients with independent dental hygienists but also raises awareness about oral health inequalities.