Hygiene Tribune U.S. Edition

HYGIENE TRIBUNE The World’s Dental Hygiene Newspaper ·U.S. Edition January 2015 — Vol. 8, No. 1 www.dental-tribune.com By Patricia Walsh, RDH, Hygiene Tribune Editor in Chief I can always tell when I’m in great need of a vacation: I start to dream about teeth. There are more subtle signs that often escape me. The first of which is the emergence of the robotic hy- gienist. She lurks inside of me and, fortu- nately for all those involved, doesn’t rear her ugly head too often. The other is the OCD hygienist. The one who doesn’t enjoy the human variety of her coworkers and sees them only through OSHA-colored glasses. To survive the reality of a dental office for decades, one has to care for both the body and the mind. They say, “Dentistry maims its survivors.” This can be true of both mental and physical well being if we don’t take an adequate amount of time off. I’ve been labeled a C.E. junkie in the past. But this vacation week, I wanted nothing to do with teeth. Big teeth, little teeth, interestingly odd teeth or perfect teeth: They were not on the vacation agenda. But I was wrong. I took a cab from my hotel in the French Quarter of New Orleans to the cruise ship terminal. My taxi driver, Dimitri, told me he was from Croatia. “That’s different,” I thought. Not that I expected him to look like Satchmo, but I was unaware of NOLO being the melting pot that it is. It remind- ed me of the time I was on the banks of the Thames in London. It was the day of the Lord Mayor’s parade. A beautiful majestic spectacle full of all the pomp the Brits do so well. What surprised me was the music. It was one Dixieland jazz band after anoth- er. Who knew the English were so fond of traditional American music? And this was long before London had a mayor born on U.S. soil. While my cab was at a stoplight on Bour- bon Street, a young man crossed the road in front of us. The only thing odd I noticed about him was his plaid undergarments hiked up to his waist. His jeans seemed to sit, precariously balanced, farther south. I thought that style had come and gone. “Look at him,” Dimitri said with his heavy Eastern European accent. Dimitri held his hand up and dramatically waved it around a bit. “Just look at him. All his tat- toos, probably cost $400 a piece, and yet he is missing a front tooth. Just stupid. He cannot fix his front tooth?” I wanted to say, “You’re preaching to the choir.” But instead I uttered my newly learned South- ern expression, “Um- Hmm,” with a big emphasis on the “Hmm.” A few days on the cruise ship and I was Seeing teeth everywhere (while trying not to) Commentary ” See TEETH, page C2 Final comments submitted on proposed standards for dental therapy education Federal Trade Commission and American Dental Hygienists’ Association echo each other in their input to Commission on Dental Accreditation The American Dental Hygienists’ As- sociation (ADHA) recently submitted its comments to the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) regarding the pro- posed accreditation standards for dental therapy education programs. After asking communities of interest to provide comments, CODA received responses from a variety of stakehold- ers — including remarks from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), whose comments to CODA paralleled many of the same points that were included in ADHA’s remarks, and in which the FTC urged CODA to expeditiously adopt ac- creditation standards for dental therapy education programs. ADHA comments noted, “CODA's mis- sion is to serve the oral health care needs of the public through the development and administration of standards that foster continuous quality improvement of dental and dental-related educational programs.” ADHA President Kelli Swan- son Jaecks, MA, RDH, said: ”The ADHA is focused on improving the public’s access to quality oral health care, which is an essential part of overall health. The com- ments we provided to CODA highlight the focus and commitment our organi- zation has on improving access to care through the process of an accredited ed- ucation program for dental therapists.” The FTC has commented to CODA be- fore on the need to revise the standards that were first proposed in 2013, and ADHA has expressed support for the FTC efforts to help ensure better access to care and enable dental therapists to op- erate to the full scope of their practice. FTC: Time to enhance competition ADHA Executive Director Ann Battrell, MSDH, said: “We were very pleased to see the FTC weigh in once again on the proposed dental therapy education standards. Chairwoman Edith Ramirez has been steadfast in her continuing ef- fort to promote competition in the oral health care industry for the benefit of the public.” Battrell also noted that the FTC’s comments referenced that timely adop- tion of standards has the potential to en- hance competition by supporting state legislative initiatives to create dental therapists, and that national standards will help facilitate the mobility of den- tal therapists from state to state to meet consumer demand for services. The FTC's comments noted that com- petition provides opportunities for the public to receive greater access to needed oral health care and opens doors for pro- fessional advancement to those practic- ing dental hygiene. In addition to any remarks supplied to CODA during the comment period, com- missioners were able to hear comments directly from ADHA members this sum- mer at an open hearing at ADHA’s an- nual session in Las Vegas; and ADHA President Swanson Jaecks, among others, addressed CODA at the American Dental Association’s hearing on the standards, held in conjunction with the ADA’s an- nual meeting in San Antonio in October. CODA is scheduled to meet on Feb. 6 in Chicago, where it is expected the com- mission will have further deliberations on the proposed standards for dental therapy education programs. The American Dental Hygienists’ As- sociation is the largest national orga- nization representing the professional interests of more than 185,000 dental hygienists across the country. For more information about the ADHA, dental hygiene or the link between oral health and general health, you can visit the ADHA at www.adha.org. (Source: ADHA) Ready for a recharge by escaping all things dental, Hygiene Tribune Editor in Chief Patricia Walsh, RDH, keeps encountering teeth throughout her vacation, even while exploring Mayan ruins in Belize. Photo/Patricia Walsh

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