Meet The Staff
ALYSSA GALLANT
Registered Dental Hygienist
Alyssa is a Registered Dental Hygienist at Spirit River Dental. She began her career in the dental field in 2013 as a dental assistant. As her passion for dentistry grew, she decided to further her education and received her degree in Dental Hygiene, from Coastal Bend College in southern Texas.
Alyssa grew up in Spruce Grove and moved to northern Alberta in 2019 with her husband Ryan. They have two children, Sawyer and Cooper. When Alyssa is not at work she loves to spend time with family and friends. She enjoys spending time outdoors, doing projects around the acreage, and she is looking forward to getting chickens this summer!
Alyssa thrives to provide the highest quality of care to her patients through gentle clinical care and education related to oral health. Her favourite part of being a dental hygienist is creating relationships with each and every patient she sees.
TORI MACOOH
Registered Dental Hygienist
Tori was born and raised in Spirit River and used to work at Spirit River Dental as a teenager. She has always known she would be working with us one day as a dental hygienist!
After high school, Tori played volleyball with GPRC while she studied general sciences for two years, followed by two years in the dental hygiene program in Ottawa in 2020. She then worked as a dental hygienist in Vancouver Island for a few months before finally joining us here at Spirit River Dental as part of our dental hygiene team.
Tori enjoys golfing in her free time, as well as anything outdoors. Having her whole family living in Spirit River, Tori enjoys spending time with them, and especially loves spending time with her baby nephew.
Her favorite foods are sushi and tacos.
KAREN KURYS
Registered Dental Assistant/Office Administration
Karen was born and raised in Spirit River. Once she graduated from high school, she moved to Grande Prairie to attend GPRC where she obtained a certificate in Business Administration. After working for a couple of years in Grande Prairie, she went back to GPRC taking the Office Administration Intensive Program receiving her diploma. A few more years of work in Grande Prairie, she moved back to Spirit river and started working for Spirit River Dental in 1993 as office administration/receptionist.
She really enjoyed the dental environment and began taking the Dental Assistant Independent Study Program from NAIT in 1994. While working full time and doing her studies for dental assisting, she also helped out her husband with his family farm. She became a Registered Dental Assistant in 1997. Karen began working part time in 2006 in order to help more with the farm and her husband Gary’s aerial applicator business.
Karen enjoys gardening, needlework and reading. She also loves travelling with Gary to his drag racing and aerial aerobatics events.
After working 26 years at Spirit River Dental Karen really enjoys her job. She especially likes catching up with old patients and meeting the new patients. The best part of the job is working with a great team to help provide exceptional dental treatment to the community.
CANDACE BOIRE
Registered Dental Assistant
Candace has been a Registered Dental Assistant since her completion of the program through NAIT in 2008. She has worked at surgical facilities in Grande Prairie as well as general dental practices including in Sprit River. She appreciates the attention to detail and enjoys the strict protocols that need to be followed in the dental office.
She moved from Sherwood Park to Spirit River the day after graduation and has been here ever since. The closeness of the community as well as the Northern winters are a couple of her favorite parts of living here.
Candace enjoys playing golf in the summer and is the Vice President of the ladies league at Chinook Golf Club. She is serving her first year as Chair on School Council and enjoys being involved in the school.
CARLEE ANDREWS
Registered Dental Assistant
Carlee was born and raised in Marmora, Ontario. She finished her dental assisting education in 2012 at Algonquin College in Ontario.
Carlee worked as a dental assistant in Saskatchewan where she met her husband, and in 2019 moved to the Spirit River area where they now live on an acreage with goats and chickens in the Woking area.
She is the proud mother of two very busy children, and she enjoys cooking, spending time in the outdoors, and hosting gatherings with friends and family.
Carlee is happy to be part of another small town community and always thrives to do her best to keep patients as comfortable as possible in a sometimes stressful situation.
SARAH PHILLIPS
Dental Assistant
Sarah graduated from the Spirit River Regional Academy in 2018, during which time she was a two-time provincial volleyball champion with the Spirit River Renegades. Sarah brings her exceptional work ethic and constant hunger for improvement accumulated over years of involvement in competitive sports to the dental office after quickly realizing her passion in the field.
Starting her career in the dental field as a sterilization technician, Sarah has quickly grown to be an excellent dental assistant, and is in the process of going through schooling through correspondence to eventually become a registered dental assistant.
Having grown up in Spirit River, Sarah loves being a part of its small community, and finds satisfaction in her ability to help with providing dental care to the individuals with whom she has grown up around.
KARI SCHEERS
Dental Assistant
Kari comes to us from veterinary practice where she worked as a technician for 15 years. Her passion for animal dentistry eased her way into the human field. The chance to work closer to home brought her to us. She has lived on an acreage outside of Rycroft for the past 13 years with her husband, 2 kids, dogs, cats, bunnies and llamas. She enjoys being active and spending time with family.
