Dr. MacKenzie’s bio page covers the outline of her training. This post is the detail behind it, because she believes patients choosing an orthodontist deserve to know exactly what that training involved, not just a list of degrees.
Academic record
Dr. MacKenzie attended Mount Allison University for her undergraduate degree: it was and still is the #1 ranked undergraduate university in Canada. She graduated First Class Honours with Distinction in her Bachelor of Science with an Honours thesis in Biochemistry. She then completed a Master of Science at Mount Allison University, receiving the Governor General’s Gold Medal for the highest GPA and best thesis at the graduate level. Across both degrees she was named to the Dean’s List every year and received more than 20 additional academic prizes, including the Roger Melville Gold Medal in Biology and the Society for Chemical Industry Merit Award.
Dr. MacKenzie studied dentistry at McGill University’s Faculty of Dentistry (the #1 ranked school in the medical/dental category in Canada in 2007). She graduated with the AW Thornton Gold Medal in Dentistry for the highest overall standing in the four-year program, along with the American Association of Orthodontists Award, the Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity Award, and placement on the Dean’s Honour List for all four years. Over her four years at McGill she also received prizes in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Prosthodontics, Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, and Dental Public Health. At graduation she won the awards for academic achievement and clinical excellence. She was also a Senior Editor of the McGill Journal of Medicine and served on the Faculty of Dentistry’s Admissions Committee, reviewing applications for incoming dental students. Dr. MacKenzie was also the student representative on the Curriculum Committee, helping shape the teaching portion of the dental student experience.
She received a very competitive stipend to attend the University of Rochester, where she completed her orthodontic specialty certificate at the Eastman Institute of Oral Health. She received the Strong Star of Excellence, awarded to a resident for dedication to patient care and clinical excellence. She was the only dental resident to receive that award that year. Her program had extensive training and experience in Temporomandibular Joint Disorder treatment as well as Cleft Lip and Palate and Craniofacial Orthodontics. She participated in the Cleft Lip and Palate and Craniofacial clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital as a senior resident.
Research
Before specializing in orthodontics, Dr. MacKenzie had extensive scientific research experiene. Her graduate and doctoral research produced peer-reviewed publications in journals including Bone, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry, and Inorganic Chemistry Communications, along with two book chapters in a Springer textbook. Her orthodontic residency research, on the skeletal and dentoalveolar effects of the Damon appliance in patients with deep bites and open bites, was presented at the American Association for Dental Research’s annual meeting in 2009. In total, she is a co-author of 25 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapters and has had 28 research conference presentations.
In 2017, she was invited to participate in orthodontic clinical research by Align Technology, the company that makes Invisalign aligners. The research was about night-time wear of aligners, and her Saint John orthodontic clinic was one of 15 sites across North America (and only one of three in Canada) to enroll patients in a randomized clinical control trial studying the effects of wearing aligners at night versus full time. She and her team have participated in other clinical research, most recently on a clear aligner appliance for correcting Class II malocclusion (overjet and overbite).
Teaching and speaking
From 2010 to 2013, Dr. MacKenzie was a part-time Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at Dalhousie University, lecturing third- and fourth-year dental students on impacted canines, missing teeth, and the periodontal and restorative benefits of orthodontic treatment. She also worked as a clinical instructor in Dalhousie’s fourth-year clinic and second-year pre-clinic.
From 2015 to 2020, she served as a content expert for the National Dental Examining Board, writing the orthodontics section of the licensing examination used to certify general dentists across Canada.
She was an Align Technology lecturer from 2019 to 2025, teaching Invisalign treatment planning to orthodontists across Canada, in all provinces, including a guest lecture at the Alberta Society of Orthodontists. She was also an invited speaker to a study club at the Align Technology facility in Costa Rica.
Since 2025, she has served as a Key Opinion Leader for Angel Aligner. She has lectured for Angel Aligner in Quebec and Ontario, and has been invited to speak at the prestigious Angel Ascend Symposium in Chicago as well as the Canadian Association of Orthodontists in Newfoundland in September 2026. Since 2010, she has led or presented at more than 50 study clubs, symposiums, and CE courses across Canada. She gave a webinar for the Canadian Association of Orthodontists on the topic of Early Orthodontic Treatment with Aligners. Her presentations focus on Phase 1 treatment, treatment of patients with Class II malocclusion, treatment of growing patients, teen compliance, and how practice efficiency elevates the patient experience.
Professional leadership and service
Dr. MacKenzie is the orthodontist on the Cleft Lip and Palate Team at Saint John Regional Hospital. There, alongside a plastic surgeon, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, a pediatrician, an ENT specialist, an audiologist, a speech and language pathologist, a social worker, and a nurse, the team evaluates and provides treatment to children with cleft lip and palate as well as other craniofacial disorders from across Southern New Brunswick and beyond. She is the only specialist orthodontist in New Brunswick who serves on a Cleft Lip and Palate team affiliated with a hospital.
Dr. MacKenzie served as President of the Fredericton Dental Society from 2009 to 2012, and as Chair of the Public Education Committee of the New Brunswick Dental Society from 2011 to 2016, followed by a term as the Society’s representative to its Board in 2012 and 2013. She also served on the Advertising, Strategic Planning, and Annual General Meeting Organizing Committees of the New Brunswick Dental Association from 2009 to 2011.
Community commitment
Since 2012, Dr. MacKenzie and her team have donated more than $750,000 in free orthodontic care to children who could not otherwise afford treatment, through the Cleft Lip and Palate Team at Saint John Regional Hospital, Smiles4Canada, and the Kiwanis Club of Saint John. She has served on the hospital’s Cleft Lip and Palate Team since 2019, treating children with cleft and craniofacial conditions as part of its multidisciplinary care team.
Dr. MacKenzie built this record the same way she built her practice: one appointment, one lecture, one patient at a time. If you’d like to know more about how this training shapes the care you or your child will receive, her full bio is here, or you can book a free consultation to meet her directly.