Dr. Patricia Kmet (left) and Mary Bertone will be honoured by their dentistry and dental hygiene peers on Sept. 19.
Distinguished oral health professionals to be honoured at alumni gala
Two alumni will be recognized for their distinguished careers in dentistry and dental hygiene at a gala dinner during the University of Manitoba’s Homecoming, on Sept. 19 at the Fort Garry Hotel.
Dr. Patricia Kmet, a recently retired Winnipeg dentist who has served as president of the Manitoba Dental Association (MDA) and for several years chaired the annual MDA convention, will receive the 2025 Alumni of Distinction Award from the UM Dental Alumni Association.
Mary Bertone, a faculty member who is director of the UM School of Dental Hygiene and past director of UM’s Centre for Community Oral Health (CCOH), will be recognized with the 2025 Alumni of Distinction Award from the UM School of Dental Hygiene Alumni Association.
Dr. Patricia Kmet
Kmet was raised by Ukrainian immigrant parents in Winnipeg’s North End. She earned her UM bachelor of science in 1983 and graduated from the UM dental school in 1987.
She practised at Regent Avenue Dental for 35 years, from 1989 until her retirement in 2024. She was a board member of the MDA from 2002 to 2009, serving as president in 2008-09.
For 10 years she was a part-time instructor in the restorative and pediatric departments at UM’s Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry. She also served as a longtime examiner for the National Dental Examining Board of Canada.
Kmet’s honours from the dental community include being inducted into the Pierre Fauchard Academy and the International College of Dentists. She received the MDA President’s Award of Merit in 2022.
Recently, she has given back to UM by fundraising for the leading-edge dental clinics planned for the Dr. Gerald and Reesa Niznick Centre, now under construction on the Bannatyne campus.
Kmet has also generously given her time to the Ukrainian community, serving in leadership roles with organizations such as the Kyiv Pavilion at Folklorama and Holy Family Home.
Mary Bertone
Bertone earned her diploma in dental hygiene at UM in 2005. She also holds a bachelor of science and master of public health from UM. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in rehabilitation and health leadership at Queen’s University.
She has led the School of Dental Hygiene since 2014 and concurrently led the CCOH from 2017 to 2021.
Her provincial and national leadership roles have included serving as president of the Manitoba Dental Hygienists Association and the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association.
Throughout her career, Bertone has been committed to improving oral health care for underserved populations, including elderly people, those with disabilities, care home residents, people in remote communities, Indigenous people and newcomers to Canada.
In spite of her leadership commitments, she continues to maintain a clinical practice in the northern community of Churchill. She has twice been honoured with the UM Community Outreach Award.
Bertone has also been involved in many research projects, on topics such as the promotion of early childhood oral health.
Her nominators for the Alumni of Distinction Award wrote that she “has selflessly and significantly contributed to the dental hygiene profession through her extensive leadership, community involvement, collaboration, health promotion and volunteer experiences.”
Tickets for the Sept. 19 Alumni of Distinction Awards Evening at the Fort Garry Hotel, honouring Kmet and Bertone, are available through the UM Dental Alumni Association website. The event will also pay tribute to the Dentistry Class of 1975.