My name is Dr. Alexis David and I am pleased to be the orthodontist at Say Cheese Orthodontics since 2019. As a native Calgarian, both of my parents had medical practices in the Marlborough Professional Tower for many years (dating back to the 1970s), so it feels like home to be involved with this community again. I might also know some odd facts about the mall’s history.
But let’s talk about straightening teeth, facial growth and correcting jaw alignment. As a Certified Specialist in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, I am first and foremost a dentist. However, to become an orthodontist, I completed additional years of post-graduate training and passed both oral and written fellowship examinations administered by the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (RCDC) to become a certified specialist. If you haven’t heard, the RCDC’s mission is to maintain the high standards of specialty education, practice and certification for the recognized dental specialties.
Orthodontics is my sole focus of dental practice for 25 years; it is my passion.
What else? Orthodontics gives me the privilege of working with wonderful families to create beautiful smiles and to improve my patients’ well-being. I like to play a part in the growth and development of patients from when they are children to (driving!) teenagers to adults. I enjoy following families as they grow and pass through the major milestones in life.
As for a little background about myself, I graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Science in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology. (In other words, I studied the small stuff of this world…actually the microscopic things.) After that, I completed a Master of Science in Biochemistry, also at the U of C. (So I might know a little bit about magnetic resonance and an important calcium binding protein called calmodulin). Life then took me to the U.S. where I completed dental school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. I then pursued my orthodontic specialty training (obtaining a Certificate in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics and another Master of Science degree) at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After that, I moved to Vancouver Island where I was in private practice for 15 years. My training has also allowed me to provide regular orthodontic treatment to underserved, very remote high arctic communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut for almost 10 years.
As I get older, I have learned a lot of things about my work that you can’t pick up in school. I balance my life by spending time with my three daughters (while they still like to hang out with their dad) and my partner. Family pulled me back from the west coast to Alberta and this beautiful city with its vistas of the foothills and rocky mountains.
In my spare time, can be spotted climbing mountain peaks, skiing or riding my bicycle (often with my camera in hand).
So what’s your story? I look forward to meeting you and learning about it as we follow the path to a better bite and more pleasing smile!