About Dr. Dave
Dr. David P. Alfaro is registered with the College of Dental Surgeons of BC as both a Certified Specialist in Prosthodontics and general Dentist. He provides the general dentistry at the office, but also takes referrals for complex prosthetic dental care, including dental implant surgery, bone grafting and implant restoration.
Dr. Dave was born and raised in Vancouver and is a band geek at heart, having studied music in college, before completing a Kinesiology Degree at SFU in Burnaby. He moved on to Columbia University in New York for his dentistry degree and then returned to Vancouver to pursue specialty training in Prosthodontics at UBC Dentistry. His Masters thesis focused on digital impression technology.
After running specialty practices in Greater Vancouver for various years, Dr. Alfaro and his wife Dr. Melanie Mattson (who is from nearby Trail) decided to leave the hustle of the city to move to the tranquility of the Kootenays. This will be Dr. Dave's first taste of small town living, but he is looking forward to a better work/life balance, including plenty of paddle boarding, mountain sports, and most importantly, family time.
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Dr. Dave runs our social media, and posts videos and blog articles about dentistry and other health related topics, so please follow along!
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Education
BSc (Kinesiology): SFU (2005)
DDS: Columbia University (2010)
MSc in Craniofacial Sciences and
Diploma in Prosthodontics: UBC (2013)
What is a Prosthodontist?
Prosthodontists are dental specialists who have taken an extra 3 years of university level training in advanced prosthetic techniques in dentistry, including crowns, veneers, bridges, implants and dentures, in addition to their basic dental degree.
Most programs require the completion of a Masters Thesis.
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To be registered with the College of Dental Surgeons of BC as a "Certified Specialist in Prosthodontics" a dentist must first complete a general dentistry degree and qualify for licensing as a general dentist, and then complete their specialty training, and pass the National Dental Specialty Examination offered by the Royal College of Dentists of Canada.
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Becoming a certified dental specialist in Canada therefore entails thousands of hours of clinical, academic and research training AFTER one is already a general dentist.
This is no easy task!
