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January-February 2017 | No. 1, Vol. 7 PUBLISHED IN DUBAI www.dental-tribune.me Interview:“OurrolewithIFDHistopromotethe profileofthedentalhygienistacrosstheglobe” ByDentalTribuneMEA/CAPPmea DUBAI, UAE: Following the long journey from Australia to the UAE, two hands-on courses and two hour lecturing at Dental Hygienists Semi- nar, we finally had the opportunity to interview Robyn Watson – Presi- dent of the International Federation forDentalHygienists(IFDH). DTMEA: Please if you could share with us exactly who is thefamousRobynWatson? Robyn Watson: Thank you so much for inviting me, it has been a pleasure to be here. First and fore- most, I have been a registered dental hygienist for many years. I have had a varied career in the field of dental hygiene. My experience includes clinical practice, teaching and educa- tionaswellaspolitics,settinguppro- grams and designing curriculums, and consulting. Looking back I have hadawonderful,fun,longcareerand have been fortunate to have been elected as the President of the Inter- national Federation of Dental Hy- gienistswhichseemslikesometimes I had to pinch myself as to how did I gethere?However,Iamreallyenjoy- ing this role. I have had the role now since June 2016 prior to which I was the President-elect and I see it as an avenue to really raise the profile of hygienists and improve oral health globally. Howdidyouchoose tobecomeahygienist asopposedtoadentist? I chose dental hygiene after working in dental practices as a dental assis- tant in high school. Some influence came from the fact that my father was an orthodontist. I was still a youngteenagerwhenIchosetogoto dental hygiene school, and I would havetosaythatinthosedays8more years of school seemed quite daunt- ing! This was in the late 60’s when it wasunusualforwomentogotoden- tal school, and in fact there was only onewomaninthedentalschoolclass attheuniversityIwentto. I had considered whether to con- tinue on to dental school later but found my career in dental hygiene to be very satisfying and challeng- ing due to some of the experiences I havedescribed. What advice would you give to young students looking into becoming a Hygienist or dentist? Itisindeedafactthatmanystudents we receive coming into the univer- sity initially intend to use the degree as a ‘stepping stone’ into dentistry. After entering our program in Aus- tralasia where we have a dual de- gree program in dental hygiene and dental therapy, most of our students find it very satisfying upon comple- tionastheyaredoingmuchmoreto- wards prevention. A few continue to further their career in dentistry. The advice I would give young students looking into becoming a dental hy- gienist or dentist is that the study is quite intense but worth it to be able to improve the oral health of their patients The student needs to have a good work ethic and an attitude of wanting to help their patients to achieve optimal oral health, be good a good communicator and willing to commit to lifelong learning and net- workingwiththeircolleagues. What aresomeof theprogramsyouare runningat theIFDH? We have several new programs involving social responsibility, re- search grants, and education. Next year in July 2017 we are holding a conference to determine a Global Oral Health strategy for our country delegates to take back to their com- munities and create programmes to reduce caries and improve oral health for the children and the el- derly. Many children are still suffer- ingdentalcariesduetopoordietand lackoforalhealtheducation,andthe rise in the elderly population retain- ing their dentition is creating a prob- lem of access to care for this group. Some community projects are being highlighted with the introduction of a“SocialResponsibilityAward‘ We have a ‘Every Child has a tooth- brush’ programme that enables members to receive a small grant and toothbrushes for oral health projects. We also have research grants available for students, and we have a new ‘Education Academy’ to promote webinars and continuing education. We want to support our members to achieveoralhealthgoalsfortheirpa- tientsandcommunities. As the president of the IFDH, what is the strategy going forward in terms of aware- ness for the profession as wellasawarenessofthechal- lengeswefaceinoralhealth? The strategy with the IFDH is to pro- mote the profile of the dental hy- gienist as part of an interdisciplinary team. This means really increasing the profile of the hygienists them- selves which I do for instance when travelling to different countries to speakabouttheroleofthehygienist. When I started doing this in Austral- ia and particularly in New Zealand when we started up the hygiene pro- gram, the concept was difficult for the local dental profession to under- stand. The dentists had the idea that the hygienists would be economical- ly detrimental to them which is cer- tainlynotthecase.Thegoalistoedu- cate the profession, the public and other health professionals that may not be as aware of what a hygienist can do which will raise the profile of theprofession.Onourwebsiteofthe IFDH, our education committee is working on an educational page for the public which will also help raise the profile of the dental hygienist so we can be perceived as experts in preventioninoralhealth. We face challenges of increased mi- gration, social determinants of oral health, increasing elderly popula- tion, increased availability of pro- cessed foods and sugars. With our focus on social responsibility and promotion through our website we have the goal of helping to alleviate someofthesechallengingissues. How do you encourage new partners to join you across theworld? It comes down to being visible, and ourboardworksveryhardtodothat. OneofmyrolesasPresidentistocre- atemorevisibilityfortheprofession. We do that by visiting countries, and contacting people we know through our partners such as the Alliance for a Cavity Free Future and the Global Child Dental Fund. The dental hy- giene profession is familiar in Eu- rope, UK, United States, Australasia, South Africa, Japan and Korea and someothers.OurInternationalSym- posium in Dental Hygiene every few years attracts dental hygienists from countries that may not be members also, and we are able to network and encouragemembership. Recently we had our first members join from the Middle East, The Emir- ates Hygiene Club. We are now en- couraging participation from dental hygienists in India, Indonesia, and Boliviatonameafew. The recent CAPP Dental Hygienist Seminar has been a great opportu- nity in Dubai, it has been very suc- cessful, and it has been wonderful to meet many colleagues from the Middle East. Thanks go to our treas- urer Mary Rose Pincelli who has been visiting Dubai and creating partnerships with local hygienists and groups such as CAPP and Dental TribuneMEA. Following your big exposure and well attended lectures and hands-on courses, de- scribe your experience here at theDentalHygienist Semi- narinDubai? It has been enlightening, it has been fun and we have made a lot of new friends from the region. I have come to appreciate what is happening in the Middle East and I am very im- pressed with what I have seen. I am looking forward to more colleagues from the Middle Eastern countries becoming part of our global com- munity. If I have been able to inspire them over the last two days at this conference,thenIamverypleased! RobynWatson,President of theInternationalFederationforDentalHygienists(IFDI) “We want to support our members to achieve oral health goals for their patients and communities.”