History
The Grantham Denture Clinic was opened by Joe Schankula, Jr. in January 1974. Joe was part of the group of denturists who pioneered denturism and denture clinics in Ontario. He was later joined by his son and your present denturist, Tim Schankula, first as a lab assistant and then as a partnering denturist. Joe and Tim had much of the family assisting in the lab and front office over the years, including Tim’s grandfather Joe Sr., Tim’s mother Irma and Tim’s brother Gary. Others included Mark, Tim’s classmate, and Linda, Tim’s principal assistant for 17½ years. The Grantham Denture Clinic has indeed a long and rich history, one which you can explore on this page.
History of Denturism in Ontario
In the 20th century up until the early 1970s, everyone in Ontario got their denture needs fulfilled by their dentists. This was pretty much the case around the world. However, most dentists, though very well trained and skilled with working with patients in all dental matters, did not specialize in the construction of dentures. They left it for the trained and well-experienced dental technicians in the many labs, both locally-situated and in the larger cities, to whom they sent the oral impressions of their patients in order to have all denture work done. Having said that, there were indeed some dentists that did the entire work from start to finish themselves. However, a group of these dental technicians felt that with extra education and training, they could do what dentists do regarding denture matters directly, without relying on a middleman or middlewoman in a separate lab.
So they began to lobby the Ontario government to allow this and initiated a powerful media campaign, and got themselves educated in various matters in medicine. With MPP Frank Miller (he became the Minister of Health in Premier Bill Davis’ cabinet in February 1974, and later the Ontario Premier in 1985) fighting for their cause, and with public sentiment on their side, they were finally victorious in 1974, successfully getting new legislation passed that would govern and license these new denture therapists (as they were called back then) and allowing them to open denture clinics to provide denture services directly to the Ontario public for the first time and at significant cost savings for the public—thus allowing freedom of choice to patients, which they can still exercise to this day.
Joe Schankula, Jr., DD
Joe Schankula Jr., the father of your present denturist, Tim, was part of this movement and a member of this group of courageous and pioneering denturists in Ontario, opening the Grantham Denture Clinic in 1974 (at the age of 41!), as soon as he and his fellow denturists successfully got the legislation passed allowing them to provide their services directly to the public (Joe had been one of these aforementioned dental technicians from 1953-1971). By 1974, Joe had already graduated from the post-secondary education required in order to fulfill the licensing requirements (he received his Certificate of Proficiency in Dental Prosthesis on March 20, 1972). Joe and his colleagues were overjoyed with their collective success and finally being able to accomplish their goal to fulfill all the needs of patients directly and provide more affordable denture services to those requiring it. Joe practised for the next 22 years, building up his practise and a devoted patient base, before retiring in 1996 and leaving the practice in Tim’s very capable hands.
However, Joe still enjoys good health, and at 91 years of age still comes into the office every Thursday to clean various equipment and tools, helps out with some minor lab work and gets everything ready for the next week. He still enjoys chatting with patients and even touching base with those that started out with him decades ago.
Joe Schankula, Sr. (Tim’s Grandfather)
In 1975 things were getting busier in the new denture clinic, and your new denturist, Joe Jr., needed help. Always there to help his family (and we mean, always), Joe’s dad, Joe Schankula, Sr., started assisting in the on-site lab with many denture-making and relining procedures.
Family History: Joe Sr. had his origins as a farmer in a German village in Romania (in German the village was called Traunau; now it’s called Aluniș in Romanian), where Joe Jr. was also born. The Schankula family originally had migrated there in the 1770s from the Swabian German area of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France/Germany when Empress Maria Theresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, continuing her father Emperor Charles VI’s policies, opened up huge areas of land for free for settlers to migrate to from other countries in order to resettle areas depopulated during the Turkish domination of eastern Hungary and Transylvania and create a buffer-zone between the seat of government in Austria and the Ottoman Empire to the east and south. The Schankula family already had a history of changing their name depending on who claimed the Alsace-Lorraine region at any point in history, France or Germany (e.g. between Jeanclé (French) and Schanklee (German) and Schanklas (German)), so the German-speaking Schankula brothers who migrated to the Bánát territory of Hungary and Transylvania (in what is now Romania) decided on “Schankula” to make it sound more Hungarian, the predominate ethnicity in the area, in order to “fit in”. The Schankula family, including 12-year old Joe Jr., fled their village and the approaching Soviets in 1945 during World War II, eventually living in southern Germany as refugees until coming to Canada in 1952 and settling in Niagara Falls.
With Joe Sr.‘s background in farming, lots of outdoor work and learning to do so much with his own hands (he actually came to Canada at 19 years of age in 1924 and helped build the present Welland Canal, before unfortunately returning to Romania in 1931), and with his large loving heart, he was a natural to learn denture lab work and help out his son when Joe Jr. asked in early 1975. Already years ago retired from the dairy industry (1969), he continued to assist in the lab until his second retirement in c.1995 at the age of 91 (with just a break during the Irma years—see below). Joe Sr. lived until 2005 to the ripe old age of 100, being in perfect health, having not been sick a day in his life—not until the last month of his life.
So we could say, with Joe Jr. still going strong today at 91—still driving, shovelling/snow-blowing his driveway and cutting his own grass (at least as of the summer of 2023)—that Tim has some good genes.
Irma Schankula
In 1977, Joe Jr.’s wife, Irma Schankula, also joined to assist in the lab. Though it was a challenge at times, Irma became quite skilled and meticulous with a number of denture-making procedures in the lab. She retired from lab assisting in c.1982. Irma is still today keeping the Joe & Irma household together at 84 years of age.
When other duties took Irma away more and more, Joe’s son, Tim, still a young teenager, began helping out in the lab in 1980 and basically apprenticing with his dad in all matters of denturism (except hands-on with the patients). Tim then studied formally to become a denturist, graduating from George Brown College in 1990, finally able to work with patients directly to fulfill all of their denture needs.
Tim With Grantham & Oakville Clinics
Tim returned from college to now partner with his dad as a full denturist. Simultaneously, Tim also opened a second denture clinic in Oakville with a classmate, Mark Chandler, and divided his time between the two clinics for a few years.
Joe initially opened the Grantham Denture Clinic in the only space available in the Grantham Shopping Plaza, in a basement suite of a retiring dentist, directly below where the current clinic operates. But he was continually looking for an alternative to the many steps his patients had to conquer in order to visit his clinic. His patience and dedication finally triumphed when new space opened up in 1992 directly above him on the ground floor, this time with a doctor retiring. Also very skilled with his hands like his grandfather and father, Tim, together with Joe, gutted the doctor’s old office walls, and built all the rooms we now see. Then it was a relatively easy move, with Tim and Joe needing to only move all equipment and supplies up the stairs, with the help of family. This is the present space Tim continues practising out of to this day. Mark also came to work for a few years as a second denturist at Grantham as well, and continues practising to this day in Etobicoke. Joe retired in 1996 and handed over full responsibility to his son, Tim, to continue the family practice.
Niagara Falls Denture Clinic
In 1999, Tim opened a satellite denture clinic in Niagara Falls to make it more convenient for patients local to that area. His brother, Gary Schankula, helped Tim out for a year in 2000, at both clinics, including transferring all patient files, scheduling, etc. over to a new denture-specific computerized system and database—the first of its kind in Canada [Ontario?]. However, managing a second office as a single denturist was not working out, and his main practice and its patients at Grantham was suffering, so Tim reluctantly decided to close the Niagara Falls office in 2002.
Linda James Vegh
Linda James (now Vegh) joined Tim as his principal reception and lab assistant in 2002. She was very much loved by all patients visiting the clinic, with her friendly smile and exuberant personality. Gary, Tim’s brother, rejoined the Clinic in January 2022 to help Tim with the post-pandemic rush, as Linda had decided to leave her position during the pandemic, like so many others.
Gary Schankula
In 2000, Gary Schankula, Tim’s brother, worked for the Clinic for 12 months to help Tim not only with the second office Tim opened in Niagara Falls, but also, as a computer programmer/analyst and fast typist, to computerize both clinics by setting up the new software and inputting all patient files into its digital database. We still use the powerful software to manage all scheduling, patient files, invoicing, insurance claims, etc.
Gary joined the Clinic once again in January 2022 to help Tim with the post-pandemic rush, with many people beginning to venture out again to address issues with their existing dentures and looking for new dentures. Gary then decided to remain indefinitely as Tim’s office, business and website manager, receptionist, secretary and lab assistant. With his good people skills and friendly charm, together with his understanding of business and computer issues, he feels he can continue to be a strong asset for Tim and the clinic.
Our Mission at Grantham Denture Clinic for more than 50 years (first with father Joe and now with son Tim as your denturists) has always been to bring our patients exceptional solutions, techniques and quality care to their denture needs along with a compassionate approach, creating a calming environment with confident, yet gentle, personalized denture care, always putting our patients first. We just love the joy we bring to our patients’ lives when we fit them with a denture that makes them feel whole again.
Office Hours
| Mon | 9:00am-5:00pm |
|---|---|
| Tue | 9:00am-5:00pm |
| Wed | 9:00am-5:00pm |
| Thu | 9:00am-5:00pm |
| Fri | Closed |
| Sat | Closed |
| Sun | Closed |
