USask students unite to turn oral health challenges into solutions

A new University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Dentistry initiative will give undergraduate students the opportunity to turn real oral health challenges into innovative solutions while building skills, experiences and professional connections that can benefit them throughout their university experience and beyond.

Launching this week, Dentpreneur is a free extracurricular initiative designed for students who want to gain hands-on experience in innovation and entrepreneurship while working collaboratively on meaningful problems.

Participants will work together to identify challenges in oral health and develop practical, innovative and potentially commercially viable solutions.

No prior experience in entrepreneurship, business, innovation or oral health is required. Students do not need to arrive with an idea, a team or advanced knowledge in their field of study. What they need is enthusiasm, curiosity and a willingness to participate and collaborate.

Through Dentpreneur, students will learn how to identify opportunities, validate problems, develop and test solutions, build prototypes and explore pathways to commercialization.

"Some of the most innovative solutions emerge when we bring together people who see the same problem from very different perspectives," said Dr. Walter Siqueira, DDS, MBA, PhD, FICD, FCAHS, dean of the College of Dentistry. "Dentpreneur creates an environment where those perspectives can come together and become something tangible."

That interdisciplinary approach is central to Dentpreneur, which brings together undergraduate students from the College of Dentistry, College of Arts and Science, College of Engineering and Edwards School of Business.

"This is about creating an opportunity for students to learn by doing, to work with people they might never otherwise meet and to discover what can happen when they approach a real problem together," said Brooke Milne (PhD), dean of the College of Arts and Science.

Building experience beyond the classroom

Dentpreneur is designed to complement students' academic studies while giving them an opportunity to begin building their professional experience outside the classroom.

For students, particularly those early in their university journey, the initiative provides experiences they can add to their resumé or CV while developing transferable skills in collaboration, problem solving, innovation, entrepreneurship and communication.

Participants will also have opportunities to expand their professional networks by connecting with students from across USask as well as entrepreneurs, industry professionals, innovation experts and mentors.

Students will receive entrepreneurship training, coaching and mentorship from experienced innovators and venture-building professionals, including Highline Beta, a corporate venture studio and venture capital firm.

From learning to building and pitching

Dentpreneur unfolds in three phases, allowing students to progress from introductory learning to developing and pitching an idea with an interdisciplinary team. Participants will receive a certificate for each phase of Dentpreneur they complete, providing recognition of their extracurricular learning and participation.

The first phase provides an educational primer in innovation and entrepreneurship through workshops and guided learning activities. Students participate individually and learn the fundamentals of innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking, opportunity identification and stakeholder discovery. The first phase begins on October 3^rd.  Phase 1 includes approximately 12 hours of workshop time and four to 10 hours of assignment work. Workshops will take place on Saturdays, allowing students to participate alongside their regular academic programs.

Students who complete Phase 1 can apply to advance to Phase 2 in January, where selected participants will form interdisciplinary teams and begin putting what they have learned into practice.

The applied education phase includes approximately 10 hours of workshops and 40 to 60 hours of collaborative team and mentorship work. Workshops include rapid prototyping, AI and vibe coding, commercialization fundamentals, customer validation and pitching.

During Phase 2, students will validate problems, develop solutions, create and test prototypes and explore the commercial potential of their ideas. Promising concepts will also have access to start-up funding provided by the College of Dentistry, giving teams an opportunity to move beyond proposing an idea and begin developing it.

Phase 2 also provides students with increased exposure to industry, entrepreneurs and investors. It culminates in an Innovation Showcase on March 27, where teams will pitch their ideas to an audience that includes industry representatives, investors, alumni,  faculty, university leadership and sponsors.

Selected teams will then have the opportunity to advance to Phase 3 and continue developing their concepts through a summer immersion experience in Toronto with Highline DentalTech. The experience will provide firsthand exposure to how new ventures are developed, tested and brought to market.

Siqueira said Dentpreneur reflects the College of Dentistry's broader commitment to innovation and collaboration while creating an opportunity that extends well beyond dentistry. "Students don't need to arrive as experts. Dentpreneur will give them the environment, training and support to learn, contribute and see how far an idea can go."

For more information or to register: https://dentistry.usask.ca/dentpreneur.php

Registration deadline: September 25, 2026.

Turn ideas into impact. Become a Dentpreneur.