ADA honors award winners at Changemakers Celebration

Event shines spotlight on innovation, service to dentistry

The ADA honored this year’s award winners during the second Changemakers Celebration at SmileCon 2025.

The event took place Oct. 24 in Washington, D.C., at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It recognized recipients of the ADA Distinguished Service Award, ADA Humanitarian Award, Evidence-Based Dentistry Practice Awards, Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, and 10 Under 10 Awards. The event also featured the first-, second- and third-place videos of the ADA’s 2024 Dental Student Health Literacy Video Contest.

While presenting the ADA’s two highest honors, the Distinguished Service Award and Humanitarian Award, ADA President Brett Kessler, D.D.S., recounted his experience with substance abuse and subsequent recovery. In a conversation with the winners of these two awards, he praised their contributions to the dental profession — both of which focus on helping those in need.

“Organized dentistry saved my life. As I got better, I got inspired to live my best life, and I feel compelled giving back to the profession that has given me so much. That’s why I am standing here today,” Dr. Kessler said. “Thank you both for your leadership and your legacies.”

All winners honored at the Changemakers Celebration include:

ADA Distinguished Service Award: Bill Claytor Jr., D.D.S., is the executive director of North Carolina Caring Dental Professionals, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping dentists and dental hygienists who struggle with substance use disorders, mental health issues, depression and burnout. He began volunteering with the organization following his own experience with stress and burnout, rising to associate executive director and then executive director in 2022. Dr. Claytor also co-founded the National Council on Dentist Health Programs, an organization focused on encouraging best practices in peer assistance, professional monitoring, education and advocacy.

ADA Humanitarian Award: William T. Kane, D.D.S., founded Smiles of Hope Dental Clinic, which provides accessible oral health care to the underserved population in rural Missouri. Since its inception in 2010, Smiles of Hope has provided more than $9 million in dental care to over 11,000 patients. Dr. Kane has donated funds, equipment and time to the organization, as well as fostered a collaboration to bring dental students and faculty from A.T. Still University’s Missouri School of Dentistry and Oral Health to Smiles of Hope for special clinics to reduce the backlog of patients.

Evidence-Based Dentistry Faculty Awards, sponsored by Colgate: Nicole McGrath-Barnes, D.D.S., is the recipient of the Practice Award. Dr. McGrath-Barnes established the KinderSmile Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has worked since 2007 to provide underserved children and families with access to comprehensive dental care. Chenshuang Li, D.M.D., is the recipient of the Mid-career Faculty Award. Dr. Li, an associate professor and clinical director of the orthodontic clinic in the department of orthodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, primarily researches the functional investigation of molecules involved in tissue development and regeneration. Parish P. Sedghizadeh, D.D.S., received the Accomplished Faculty Award. Dr. Sedghizadeh is a professor of clinical dentistry and director of the oral pathology and radiology certificate program at the University of Southern California Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, as well as department co-chair of diagnostic sciences, anesthesia and emergency medicine.

Norton M. Ross Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, sponsored by Kenvue: Craig Miller, D.M.D., is an Alvin L. Morris professor of oral health research, associate dean for faculty affairs and development, and director of a nudge unit at the University of Kentucky College of Dentistry. He has served as president of the American Board of Oral Medicine, president of the American Academy of Oral Medicine and clinical scholar for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

10 Under 10 Awards: First presented at the Elevate conference in March, this award goes to recipients chosen by the ADA New Dentist Committee who demonstrate excellence and inspire others in science; research and education; practice excellence; philanthropy; leadership; and advocacy. They include Sara Ehsani, D.D.S.; Adam Lowenstein, D.M.D.; Craig McKenzie, D.M.D.; Kathryn Pawlak, D.D.S.; Eddie Ramirez, D.M.D.; Allison C. Scully, D.D.S.; Lyubov Daniilovna Slashcheva, D.D.S.; Akshay Thusu, D.D.S.; Yi-Chu Wu, D.D.S.; and Lauren C. Yap, D.M.D.