Matthew Illes, DDS, FAGD
Regional Director, Region 16

Motivated by the personal challenge of credentialization, Dr. Illes joined the AGD in 1999, two years after his graduation from the University of Western Ontario Dental School. He practiced general dentistry in the Niagara Region of Ontario until 2008, then he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to join a prosthodontic practice. In 2012, he made a commitment to revitalize the dormant local AGD constituency in British Columbia and has served as its president and continuing education chair for the last five years. As of 2016, Dr. Illes currently represents AGD members in British Columbia and its neighboring provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as the Regional Director of Western Canada. His current focus is overseeing the transition of the incoming British Columbia AGD president. In addition to his AGD responsibilities, he has served as both a board member and scientific conference chair for British Columbia’s largest dental organization, the Vancouver & District Dental Society, for the past several years. He is a clinical prosthodontic consultant at the University of British Columbia Dental School and provides continuing education abroad on various topics within the realm of prosthodontics, esthetic/restorative dentistry and occlusion.

Dr. Illes’ advice to current leaders is: “To shine in the AGD, one must be able to speak to one's peers without fear of judgement, act without procrastination or the need for support, and possess the mindset that success can best germinate from personal sacrifice. Be brave, make a commitment, honor that commitment through thick and thin, refute mediocrity, and manifest being an exceptional leader to transform yourself into the type of leader you are capable of being."