Redefining denture care through holistic, patient-centred approaches
Age: 34
Job Title: Denturist and Founder of Pearl Denture and Implant Centre
Last year, while lecturing at an international denturist conference in Las Vegas, Jade Connors asked the audience a simple question: How long are your patient consultations? To Connors’ surprise, many said it was an average of 15 minutes. Connors tries to spend upwards of an hour with their patients at Pearl Denture and Implant Centre, which they founded almost 10 years ago. Operating from the perspective that losing one’s teeth is akin to losing a limb, a patient should feel supported with trauma-conscious communication, regardless of the denturist’s limited time.
Connors calls their approach “slow dentistry” — a process that recognizes the importance of taking your time with both consultation and denture-making. They know that losing your teeth can have a huge toll on your mental health. “I literally watch people let themselves rot, rather than address the issue, because they’re so scared that they’re going to be judged when they reach our office,” says Connors. “We need to change that.”
Slow dentistry also means being extremely detail-oriented with the prosthetics they make. “I take the time to draw in little veins. I’m currently trying to build my skills on perfectly matching gum shapes and skin tones,” says Connors, who also has an art and design background. This year, their “artisan dentures,” as they call them, won first prize at the KunstZahnWerk Award, an international full denture prosthetics competition at the 2025 International Dental Show in Germany, attended by more than 100,000 people. Connors is the first Canadian to ever receive the top prize.
They share their knowledge and method of approaching denture care holistically through instructional videos and hopefully soon books targeting their patients, peers and especially would-be denturists. It’s an essential yet under-resourced profession, a problem that’s worsening with Canada’s aging population, says Connors. “There’s a lot of advocacy and a lot of changes that need to be made, and I’m hoping that I can be a part of that wave.”
This article appears in the November/December 2025 issue of Edify
