About Nation’s Dental

Nation’s Dental is a sustainable, scalable, social enterprise of dental professionals on a mission to create healthy and vibrant communities by providing affordable, accessible, and equitable dental care for all.

Why Nation’s Dental?

Oral healthcare is necessary for a healthy life, but research shows that 1 in 5 Canadians avoid getting oral health treatments due to financial challenges.

No matter who you are, you deserve quality oral health care. Nation’s Dental ensures you receive the care and preventive treatments you need.

Our team

Dr. Emeka Nzekwu

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Emeka Nzekwu was born and raised in Calgary as a second-generation immigrant of Nigerian parents, Emeka is proud of his heritage and has always found a passion in helping others in his local and global community. Expanding off the success of his first foray into social entrepreneurial models for resolving inequalities in access to eye care, Nation’s Vision, Emeka is dedicated to leading innovation in improving access to oral healthcare. Emeka loves the outdoors (particularly the Rockies), enjoys time with his family, and is an avid traveler.
Denise Kokaram MA, RDH

Chief Operating Officer
Denise Kokaram is the Chief Operating Office of Nation’s Dental. She is a University of Alberta Dental Hygiene graduate, with a Master of Arts in Leadership (Health) degree from Royal Roads University. Immigrating to Canada from Trinidad at a very young age, Denise is intrinsically aware of the complex challenges priority populations face. She is a passionate oral health advocate with a strong belief that oral health access and equality foundationally supports wholistic health and well-being. Her desire to be of service led to her work creating and improving oral health programs focused on serving underserved populations. She believes everything is possible and doesn’t accept “That’s the way it’s always been done” as an answer. She gains much of her appreciation for diversity through global adventure traveling; and feeds her Soul playing in nature whenever possible and spending quality time with her family, friends, and four-legged companion Bear.
Nakita Gibbons, RDH

Registered Dental Hygienist
A registered dental hygienist, Nakita Gibbons is a dedicated ND team member. Her diverse experiences include working at the Vancouver General Hospital providing dental hygiene to patients with disabilities and complex medical conditions. She has a passion for environmental sustainability and living a healthy lifestyle and makes frequent trips to the Rockies in her spare time. She is also a proud mom to her two rescue fur children Molly and Nala.
Ashley Dalliday

Registered Dental Hygienist
In addition to working for Nation’s Dental as a registered dental hygienist, Ashley has also been a dental assistant. Aside from dental hygiene, she is a Holistic Massage Therapist, Stott Pilates Instructor, and 500 Yoga Alliance trained AFLCA certified Instructor.
Nation’s Dental provides Ashley the opportunity to work with like-minded individuals who are passionate about oral health and wellness. Together they raise patient awareness of their total body health by providing education, advocating for their health needs, and helping them overcome transportation and language barriers. She believes that it’s so rewarding helping these individuals and families of all ages who are new to Calgary, children in our school system, and/or priority populations that need assistance accessing quality, affordable dental care.
Outside of work you will find Ashley running along the river, hiking in the mountains, and spending time with friends and family.
Lina Thouraya

Registered Dental Assistant
A registered dental assistant, Lina Thouraya is an enthusiastic member of the ND team! Lina was born in Lebanon and arrived in Canada with her family as a refugee in 2009. Successfully navigating several obstacles experienced during her upbringing, Lina completed the dental assistant program at SAIT. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and supporting her community.

What we stand for

Priority populations face many obstacles to receiving oral healthcare services. Nation’s Dental seeks to overcome these obstacles so that you can access the quality care you need.
Access to affordable oral healthcare services must be sustainable and resilient to fluctuations in public funding or private donations. For this reason we have established a unique portable social entrepreneurial model to ensure ongoing services are available to priority populations in our local community.
Collaboration is powerful. With the help of our partnered organizations, we are able to provide diverse services tailored to your needs and at convenient locations for you!
Diversity is tremendously important to us. You can see this reflected in the make-up of the Nation’s Dental team and in the communities and people we serve.
Everything we do aligns with our values so that you can count on us to make the right decisions regarding your oral health.
You are at the core of what we do. We promise you that our services will incorporate continued reflection, trust-building, respect, and reconciliation.