The Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Oral Health Advisory Committee
The NIHB Oral Health Advisory Committee (NOHAC) is an independent advisory body of highly qualified oral health professionals and academic specialists. They bring impartial and practical expert views, advice, and recommendations to the NIHB program to support the improvement of oral health outcomes for First Nations and Inuit clients. The advice and recommendations provided by the Committee follow an evidence-based approach and reflect scientific knowledge, as well as clinical and oral health care delivery and disease prevention best practices.
NOHAC membership and qualifications
The NOHAC is made up of 8 to 12 members, including First Nations and Inuit oral health professionals. Committee members must hold a qualification and license in Canada as recognized oral health professionals or have expertise in other related academic disciplines.
Committee members contribute their expertise and do not represent an association, organization, corporation or industry.
NOHAC members:
- Chairperson: Dr. Carlos Quiñonez
- Vice-Chairperson: Dr. Sacha Singh
- Dr. Stacey Shiwak
- Dr. Meredith Brownlee
- Dr. Bruce Freeman
- Dr. Peter Coyte
- Ms. Dawn Sauvé
- Mr. Roy Brown
Chairperson: Dr. Carlos Quiñonez
Dr. Quiñonez is a dentist and dental public health specialist. He is a Professor at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto and, since 2009, has been Program Director of its Specialty Training Program in Dental Public Health. He has extensive experience delivering dental care to socially and economically marginalized groups. From 1998 to 2003, he was a clinician in First Nations and Inuit communities across Nunavut and Manitoba. Dr. Quiñonez is the Past-President of the Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry and regularly consults with professional groups and governments regarding public dental care policy. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature on equity and technical issues in oral health care.
Vice-Chairperson: Dr. Sacha Singh
Dr. Singh is a licensed periodontist currently engaged in providing intravenous sedation to patients in private-practice settings in Ottawa, Canada. In 2012, he worked with Health Canada to review the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) preventive and periodontal policy. Dr. Singh holds a DDS, an MSc and a Diploma in Periodontics from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Dentistry. He is a past member of the Canadian Academy of Periodontics, the American Academy of Periodontics, and the Ontario Society of Periodontists and is a current member of the Ontario Dental Association and the Canadian Dental Association.
Dr. Stacey Shiwak
Dr. Shiwak is a dentist, with a dental degree from Dalhousie University. She currently has a private practice in Happy Valley-Goose Bay (Labrador). Prior to becoming a dentist, Dr. Shiwak was a dental therapist, graduating from the National School of Dental Therapy in 1998. She was also a dental hygienist, graduating from Dalhousie in 2004. For the last 20 years she has worked in a variety of populations across Canada including several First Nations and Inuit communities.
Dr. Meredith Brownlee
Dr. Brownlee earned her B.Sc. from University of Winnipeg in 1999 and her D.M.D. from University of Manitoba in 2004. She then pursued her dental career providing care for northern indigenous people of Manitoba from 2004 to 2011 in numerous isolated communities. After seven years in private practice, Dr. Brownlee undertook her training in Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology at University of Connecticut, obtaining her Master of Dental Science in 2014.
Dr. Brownlee was an Assistant Professor and Division Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology at the University of Manitoba from 2014 to 2020 in the department of Dental Diagnostics and Surgical Sciences. Dr. Brownlee conducts a private practice of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology imaging referral service, and enjoys giving continuing education lectures. Dr. Brownlee is a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada.
Dr. Bruce Freeman
Dr. Freeman is an honors graduate of University of Toronto (U of T). He then completed the Advanced Education in General Dentistry program at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, NY. He returned to U of T to complete his Diploma in Orthodontics and his Master of Science degree in the field of temporomandibular disorders and orofacial pain. He is Co-Director of the Facial Pain Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital and lectures internationally on clinical orthodontics, facial pain, patient experience, and virtual surgical planning. Dr. Freeman is a certified yoga instructor with additional training in breathing techniques, meditation, and trauma informed movement. He directs the wellness program for hospital dental residents at Mt. Sinai Hospital emphasizing how self-care leads to the best patient care.
Dr. Peter Coyte
Dr. Peter C. Coyte is a Professor of Health Economics in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the University in 1987, he was a member of the Economics Department at the University of Alberta and, before that, at Simon Fraser University.
Dr. Coyte is a national and international expert in health economics, health services evaluation, and health policy and planning. In 2002, he was elected President of the Canadian Health Economics Research Association and championed its evolution into the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR). He was elected as CAHSPR's inaugural President in 2003.
In 2000, Dr. Coyte was awarded a CHSRF/CIHR Health Services Chair, for ten-years. He was the Director of CIHR's Strategic Research and Training Program in Health Care, Technology, and Place between 2002 and 2013. Dr. Coyte was awarded the Health Services Research Advancement Award from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF), in 2010.
Ms. Dawn Sauvé
Ms. Sauvé is a dental hygienist currently managing the dental program at the Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) in Ontario. She started at NWHU as a clinical dental hygienist in 1988, where she discovered a passion for dental public health. She has progressed in her field and obtained various positions with NWHU.
The Northwestern Health Unit serves the Kenora and Rainy River Districts with 13 offices, with a total population of approximately 80,721 many of whom are First Nations people.
As Program Manager, Ms. Sauvé provides leadership and direction to dental staff and the dental program, and manages service delivery to a number of First Nations communities in the north.
Mr. Roy Brown
Mr. Brown is a denturist with Honours Diplomas in both dental technology and denture therapy from George Brown College. He is a member in good standing with the College of Denturists of Ontario, the Denturist Association of Ontario and The Denturist Association of Canada. He is a past Chair of the Denturist Association of Ontario Fee Guide Committee.
Mr. Brown has over 30 years experience providing dental prosthetics to both the private and public health sectors. He has worked as a Dental Technician in a prosthodontic specialty office and as a Department Supervisor in a commercial dental laboratory. He has provided denturist services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in various group dental practices and is currently in private practice in Weston, Ontario.