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Campus Review
August 1, 2013
Dental Hygienists Volunteer for Mission of Mercy
A Dental Hygiene Celebration at the ADHA Conference
Last month, the American Dental
Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) cele-
brated 100 years of the dental hygiene
profession during its 90th annual conven-
tion at the Hynes Convention Center in
Boston. Clayton State University took
part in the celebration of those 100 years
of dental hygiene with an inaugural
ADHA/Clayton State Dental Hygiene
Alumni Reception at the Sheraton Hotel.
According to Dr. Gail Barnes, Clayton
State Dental Hygiene Department chair,
the event was a success with more than 25
alumni and friends of the Clayton State
Department of Dental Hygiene attending
from diverse locations such as Boston,
Tiverton, R.I., Chicago, Nashville, Tenn.,
Washington, D.C., Dallas, New York and,
of course, south metro Atlanta.
During the ADHA conference, Barnes
was a moderator for the Lunch and Learn
topic: “Everybody Needs One: A
Mentor.” Participants came from across
the United States, and their objectives for
participation were equally varied. Some
wanted to know how to find a mentor.
However, there were a few dental hygien-
ists who wanted ideas on how to start a
mentoring program within their local den-
tal hygiene association in an effort to
increase association membership; specifi-
cally for the recent dental hygiene pro-
gram graduates.
Barnes also notes that the 2013 confer-
ence remembered and honored the profes-
sion’s visionaries; Alfred C. Fones, DDS,
and Irene Newman. In the 1890’s Fones
was perfecting his techniques for disease
prevention: tooth scaling, polishing and
patient education. While in Bridgeport,
Conn. in 1906 he trained his dental assis-
tant and cousin, Irene, to clean teeth.
Fones is considered the “Father of Dental
Hygiene” and Newman the first dental
hygienist. A few years later, in 1913,
Fones’ school for dental hygiene was a
three-year program. His graduates were
the first to provide dental care to WWI
soldiers.
“As we celebrate 100 years of the dental
hygiene profession, we greatly appreciate
our matriarch, Esther M. Wilkins, BS,
RDH, DMD, who has greatly impacted
Recently seven 2013 Clayton State
University dental hygiene graduates, one
2011 dental hygiene graduate and two
dental hygiene faculty members, Joanna
Harris and Dr. Ximena Zornosa, volun-
teered in Georgia’s second Mission of
Mercy in Norcross.
The Georgia Mission of Mercy (GMOM)
is a charitable dental clinic sponsored by
the Georgia Dental Association. The goal
of GMOM was to provide dental care at
no cost for low and no income adults
while placing priority on patients suffer-
ing from dental infection or pain. The
event was staffed by hundreds of dentists,
dental hygienists, dental assistants, labo-
ratory technicians, and community volun-
teers.
In addition to the two Clayton State pro-
fessors, dental hygiene graduates Carmen
Quintanilla, Jessica Asdavut, Kieu
Nguyen, Minh Le, Lauren Cotton,
LaTasha Williams, Adilah Wazeerud-Din
and Bina Patel (she’s the 2011 graduate)
participated.
According to Zornosa, over a two-day
period approximately 1,700 patients were
treated. In addition to addressing the
urgent dental needs of this population,
GMOM sought to educate patients about
the importance of maintaining oral health
and raise awareness of the difficulty many
Georgia residents face in accessing oral
care.
In attendance at the ADHA/Clayton State Dental Hygiene Alumni reception were, from left to right:
Joanna Harris, RDH, MS Clayton State Department of Dental Hygiene instructor, Dr. W. Gail Barnes,
Clayton State Department of Dental Hygiene chair, Cherie Rainwater, RDH, MS, Clayton State Dental
Hygiene alum and director of the dental hygiene program at Georgia Perimeter College, and Ann
O’Connor, RDH, MBA Clayton State Dental Hygiene alum and vice president of the Periodontal
Strategic Business Unit at the Hu-Friedy Dental Company in Chicago.
Clayton State dental hygiene faculty
member Joanna Harris (left) and
alumna Bina Patel at GMOM
.
Dental Hygiene, cont’d., p. 8