Greetings from the Atlanta Dental Hygienists’ Society!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and is looking forward to a productive Fall. The past year has brought exciting changes in our profession and I can’t wait to see what happens in the year ahead. It is truly an extraordinary time to be a hygienist!

As president of the Atlanta Dental Hygienists’ Society, I have chosen the theme “Working Together to Secure a Successful Future.” In coming years it will be vital for our members to unite and participate to advance our profession. This year I attended Lobby Day in Washington D.C and witnessed first hand the power of participation. It was such a thrill to see hygienists from all over the country storm Capital Hill to draw attention to the enormous problem of the underserved, the aging population, and the mentally handicapped. I believe that we successfully delivered important information to our Congress and Senate about the issues that we face as a profession.

This year the Atlanta Dental Hygienists’ Society is focusing on new and old member involvement. In order to accommodate our members in the huge city of Atlanta, we will be having several different CE meetings in different locations! To further accommodate hard working hygienists, we will be having some meetings on Friday mornings as many of us do not work on Fridays! I hope that these meetings prepare hygienists for the changes that are occurring in our profession and bring new ideas to the table.

As we continue “Working Together to Secure a Successful Future” please keep in mind the many CE opportunities that we will have available. Our first meeting will be at Higher Grounds Coffee House on Friday, September 8th. This year’s GDHA Annual Session will be held October 26th through the 28th in Athens, GA. We have wonderful speakers lined up for that event so I hope to see many of you there! As 2007 approaches and we need to renew our licenses, please remember The Atlanta Dental Hygienists’ Society Annual Symposium on Feburary 17th.

I wish all of you the best in the coming year. I hope to meet as many of you as possible and please remember that new ideas are always welcome!

Sincerely,
Candice Kendall, RDH, BS

*Special thanks to DDS Staffing Resources for providing snacks for our monthly meetings

Meeting Location: ADHS meets the second Tuesday of September, November, January, March and April, at Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody Campus, 2101 Womack Rd., Dunwoody, Building B , Room 1440. See Map below. 

Meeting Agenda: 

Calendar of Events:

2007 is our RDH License renewal year…..
SAVE THESE IMPORTANT CE DATES!!!

Annual Symposium: See above

Complete C.E. Course Schedule

Outreach Projects:

1. Special Olympics/Special Smiles: Date and place TBA. Created by Paul Turner and Dr. John McNamara. Athletes receive an oral health screening by GDA member dentists, oral education from dental hygienists and a bag of goodies donated by national sponsors Colgate and Patterson Dental.

2. PANDA - Prevent Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness. Continuing education credits can be earned through statewide learning video programs. Learn what signs of abuse or neglect to observe, what information to gather for reporting and what are the protections for reporting under Georgia law.

3. NSTEP - National Spit Tobacco Education Program. Their main focus is young people who don't realize that the oral cancer manifestations of this habit can either take several years to become apparent or happen sooner as it did for 19 year old Sean Marsee. GSTEP, the Georgia Spit Tobacco Education Program, is serving as a pilot program for spit tobacco awareness programs nationwide.

4. SEAL Georgia or Seal-a-Million Challenge. Their objective is to seal the teeth of the working poor by utilizing dental hygiene schools and the Division of Public Health with volunteers from GDHA and GDA.

If you are a hygienist who lives or works in the Atlanta area, please join us!

Map to Georgia Perimeter College (Directions to right)