A Dental Hygienists’ role in Public Health Dentistry
By Sara Hallowell, RDH, BS

CLICK HERE to read more about Sara's article on Heartland International Health Center

This year the Illinois Dental Hygienists’ Association (IDHA) hosted their Annual Session at Lewis and Clark College in Godfrey, IL. For this meeting, North Suburban Dental Hygienists’ Society (NSDHS) provided seven Delegates and one Component Trustee to represent the members of NSDHS. I would sincerely like to thank NSDHS attendees: Trish DeDios, Jenny Rush, Erin Peters, Melissa Salzmann, Sonia Kerr, Linnea Heatwole and Rebecca Vanden Heuvel. Their dedication and commitment to our Association is very commendable. This year IDHA hosted the Illinois Educators meeting. The Educators meeting contained two days of continuing education. It also allowed educators from the 13 dental hygiene school in Illinois to gather and discuss the current changes in the schools curriculum.

The IDHA annually host a weekend meeting to complete the business of the House of Delegates. The meeting included recommended changes to the IDHA Bylaws and IDHA Policies. The full delegation attended Saturday morning classes, which included topics about current legislation, membership and review of Robert’s Rules of Orders. Many students from the dental hygiene schools attended and volunteered as pages and timekeepers. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful campus, great weather and camaraderie. We do hope that everyone will consider attending next years IDHA Annual Session in Westmont, IL. I will keep you posted on the future dates.

Congratulations to our delegates for speaking at the microphone on each Proposed By Law and Proposed Resolution. Each NSDHS Delegate has chosen to serve on an IDHA committee to further the association’s initiatives.  Thank you to Melissa Salzmann for serving on the Reference Committee.  We congratulate Melissa Salzmann, our NSDHS Co-Component Trustee and NSDHS delegate, for being nominated by a write-in campaign and being elected as a 2012 alternate IDHA delegate to ADHA Annual Session.    

North Suburban Dental Hygiene Society is happy to congratulate member, Donna Grzegorek, RDH, as the recipient of the "Harper College Distinguished Alumni Award 2011". The Distinguished Alumni Award honors former Harper students for outstanding career and community achievements. The awards were first handed out in 2008 as part of the College's 40th Anniversary celebration. Seventeen recipients, representing a variety of educational journeys and professional paths have been honored since then.

This year's 5 recipients will be lauded at a reception in November. They must also agree to return to campus at least once more within the year to be a guest speaker or participate in an activity designed to engage students. Recipients of this award have the opportunity to inspire others, including the students who now are part of the same campus that helped so many alumni get their start.

Join us in congratulating Donna for her commitment to enhancing the community and the profession of dental hygiene!

Election Results
Elections were held during the May 4th seminar. Here are the new NSDHS Board members:
President: Debbie Owens
Vice President: Lisa Schmidt
Corresponding Secretary: Sara Hallowell
Treasurer: Linnea Heatwole
Delegates to Annual Session (2 year term): Trish DeDios, Melissa Salzmann, Jenny Rush, Linnea Heatwole
Delegate (1 year term): Erin Peters
Alternate Delegates to Annual Session: Becky Vanden Heuvel
Student Relations Chair: Jacqueline Frede
Membership Chair: Kunjal Mahajan

Click Here to Read Descriptions of these positions.  If you are interested in any of these future positions, want to join any of our committees or just want more information, please contact our Immediate Past President Kathy Barnum at katherinembarnum@gmail.com

What an enjoyable weekend I had with the Illinois Dental Hygienists’ Association (IDHA) Board of Trustees (BOT) in Springfield, IL. On Friday, June 3, 2011 the IDHA BOT met to collaborate on the next year’s strategic plan. We broke up in groups of three to break down how we are going to accomplish the following goals: to maintain IDHA financial viability, increase membership, maintain and increase communications with coalitions, increase RDH visibility, and strengthen components. The following day the IDHA BOT narrowed down the Proposed Bylaws that we will be presenting at our Annual Session this coming Fall. Finally, we discussed old and new business. If you are interested in attending the next BOT meeting, we will be at Lewis and Clark College in Alton, IL, Friday, September 30, 2011. If you want to kick up your involvement one more notch, come to IDHA Annual Session the following two days in Alton, IL!

Thanks,
Melissa Salzmann, RDH, BSW, MSW
NSDHS Co-component Trustee
IDHA Webmaster and Hygiene Herald Editor
RVC Dental Hygiene Professor

Donna Grzegorek, RDH, a member of NSDHS, had a recent article entitled: "Perio & Ortho Go Hand in Hand: How an Orthodontic Hygienist Can Create a Sub-Specialty Niche", published in the March/April 2011 copy of the JAOS (Journal of the American Orthodontic Society). The article is referenced on pages 5 and 7, but begins on page 22

North Suburban member Donna Grzegorek was selected to participate in a xylitol clinical trial this summer. Her project was chosen to be presented in Cancun, Mexico, in February at a "by invitation only" medical/dental symposium. CLICK HERE to read all about the contest. Congratulations Donna!