Meet Our Specialists
We have an excellent team of professionals, including prosthodontists and periodontists to assist you with all your dental specialty needs.
Dr. John P. Zarb
BA, DDS, MSc (Prostho), FRCDC
Dr. John P. Zarb earned his DDS at the University of Detroit Mercy in 1995. Upon graduation, he completed a one-year General Practice Residency at the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, followed by graduate prosthodontic training at the University of Toronto, earning his MSc in 2002. Dr. Zarb is a staff prosthodontist at Mt Sinai Hospital in Toronto and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester, Eastman Institute for Oral Health. He has been involved with surgical and prosthetic implant dentistry education at both the undergraduate and graduate level and serves as the co-Director of Genesis, Continuing Dental Education, and the Dental Community Resource. Dr. Zarb joined Barrie Dental Specialists in 2003. He is a Fellow, former examiner and Prosthodontics Director, and currently Registrar of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada, a Fellow in the Academy of Dentistry International, and Fellow in the Academy of Prosthodontics, a Regional Councilor for the Association of Prosthodontists of Canada and the Ontario Dental Association, and a former Director of the American College of Prosthodontists.
Dr. Dave Powell
BA, DDS, MSc (Prostho), FRCDC
Dr. Powell received his Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from McGill University in 2011 and then completed two years of General Practice Residency at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He then pursued his Prosthodontics speciality training and Masters of Sciences at the University of Toronto. His practice focuses on prosthetically driven, digitally guided implant procedures and complex full mouth rehabilitations. Outside of clinical practice, Dr. Powell is devoted to continuing education. He was an assistant professor at U of T for 3 years and he regularly gives lectures for dentists seeking to improve their skills in implant prosthodontics. He also works part time at Chrysalis Dental Centres in North York and he is a fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and member of the Association of Prosthodontists of Canada and the American College of Prosthodontists.
Dr. Murad Shaqman
BDS, MDSc, Dip ABP, FRCDC
Dr. Murad Shaqman graduated dental school from the University of Jordan with distinction in the year 2000. He practiced for 6 years as a general dentist in Jordan until in 2006 he started his 3-year residency in periodontics at the University of Connecticut in the USA. He also earned a Master of Dental Sciences degree at the same university in 2009. After practicing in the USA for a short period of time, he returned to Jordan in 2010 where he taught and practiced at the University of Jordan Hospital for 10 years. During that time, he was very active in clinical patient care, administration of continuing dental education on the local and regional levels and has published several research papers in high impact journals. In 2020, Dr. Shaqman joined BDS as a full-time periodontist offering the full scope of periodontal and dental implant care to our patients. Dr. Shaqman is a diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and a fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada."
Dr. Ousama Damlaj
BSc, DMD, MSc (Prostho), FRCDC
Dr. Ousama Damlaj received his bachelor’s degree in Physiology and his Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree from McGill University. After graduation, he completed a 1 year of General Practice Residency (GPR) in New York Hospital Queens, NY and then moved to Ottawa to work as a general dentist.
After years of working as a general dentist, Dr. Damlaj decided to continue learning and pursue his passion by enrolling in and completing the Graduate Prosthodontics Program at the University of Toronto. Throughout his academic career, Dr. Damlaj has been the recipient of various scholarships and research grants including the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Industrial NSERC Scholarship, Nobel Biocare Research Fellowship in Prosthodontics, and the Dentsply Sirona Research Fellowship in Prosthodontics. He is an examiner for the Royal College of Dentists of Canada (RCDC) and the National Dental Examination Board of Canada (NDEB). He is also a member of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario (RCDSO), the Ontario Dental Association (ODA), the American College of Prosthodontists (ACP), the Association of Prosthodontists of Canada (APC), the Association of Prosthodontists of Ontario (APO), and a reviewer for the Canadian Journal of Undergraduate Research (CJUR).
Dr. Damlaj takes pleasure in providing a high level of treatment to his patients with his gentle touch and extensive technical skills. He specifically enjoys providing patients with full mouth rehabilitations to restore their smile and improve their self-esteem. He is very approachable and treats all his patients equally with care and respect.
In his spare time, Dr. Damlaj enjoys running and biking as well as lecturing and attending various seminars and meetings to stay up to date on latest developments in the field of Prosthodontics. Dr. Damlaj also loves spending time with his wife and 2 children, who inspire him to help more people everyday.
Dr. Carol Forster
BSc, DDS, MSc, FRCDC
Dr. Carol Forster earned her Honours Bachelor of Science with distinction in Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario. She completed her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree with distinction at the University of Toronto Ontario. Dr. Forster continued at U of T to complete her Masters of Science in cell biology followed by specialty training in Periodontics combined with a Masters in innate immunity during which she published in top-rated scientific journals. Dr. Forster is a Fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and a member of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario. As a licensed periodontist, she offers a full range of periodontal services.
Dr Mahshid Torabi
DDS, MSc (Prostho), FRCDC
Dr. Torabi earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) at the University of Toronto in 2020. She then moved to Rochester, NY, USA, to pursue specialty training in Prosthodontics and a Master of Science at the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, University of Rochester, and graduated in 2024. After completing her specialty training, she stayed at the University of Rochester for an additional year to complete the Gerald N. Graser Surgical Implant Fellowship, graduated in 2025.
Her practice focuses on full-mouth rehabilitation, prosthetically driven, and digitally guided implant procedures. What she enjoys most about her work is restoring smiles and witnessing the boost in confidence and happiness it brings to her patients. Seeing their transformation is both deeply fulfilling and endlessly motivating for her.
Dr. Torabi is also a part-time clinical instructor at the University of Toronto, and she also works part-time at Chrysalis Dental Centers in North York. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and a member of the Association of Prosthodontists of Canada and the American College of Prosthodontists.