October 30, 2018

Greetings WDHA members and potential members,

I hope all of you had a wonderful summer! We have had a busy year with amazing speakers. We started the New Year off with Jasmin Haley founder of “Beyond the Prophy”, speaking to us about “Opioid Addiction and the Dental Professional,” sponsored in part by P&G. Kelly Pratt spoke about the latest powered toothbrush and gave away several dental hygiene backpacks filled with tons of products, powered toothbrushes, manual toothbrushes and toothpaste.

 

In February, we heard from Mike at Lifesaver Learning about “Signs and Symptoms of Childhood Abuse and Neglect” and “Womb to Grow” presented by Cathy Stewart sponsored in part by Phillips Sonicare.
Everyone that pre-registered received a free Sonicare toothbrush.

 

In April, we had two wonderful women from Wichita State University Dental Hygiene program Kelly Anderson RDH, MHS, and Brandi Carlson RDH, MS present “The Ethics of Caring for the Periodontal Patient”. When “Ethics” became a continuing education requirement by the Kansas Dental Board, WDHA teamed up with Kelly who taught the Ethics course at WSU to provide a course each year for us. Since then, we have made a donation to WSU with the proceeds. We had such an amazing number of attendees this year that we were able to donate $2500 to the WSU Dental Hygiene clinic for some new equipment, which included a new ultrasonic bath. In 2017, we also donated $2000 for new Cavitrons after the Ethics course. Thank you to those who attended for your support! You helped make this possible.

This summer we set up a $250 WDHA Scholarship Fund with Flint Hills Technical College. Juniors will be eligible to fill out an application in the spring, which will include a short essay on a specific topic, and the student will receive the scholarship as a senior. We hope to renew it every year based on our budget. We are now into our 12th year providing the Wichita Dental Hygienists’ Association Scholarship at Wichita State University which is an endowed scholarship providing approximately $500 a year to a senior DH student. This year the scholarship was awarded to Cynthia Martinez. We continue to be a proud supporter of our area DH programs. If you would like to donate towards the scholarship, you can contact Drew Johnson at 978-3899.

Several of our students and area Hygienists went to ADHA annual session in Columbus, OH this past summer. Our very own Yoly Arends won the Liz Chaney Liaison of the Year Award for exceeding the fundraising goal for Kansas at the Institute for Oral Health (IOH). Thank you to all of you who donated. The IOH foundation is the only institute for Hygienist by Hygienists!

Our website had quite the makeover and we have been updating our Facebook page this summer. We listened to your recommendation and started accepting PayPal as a way for you to pay for courses. There is a small fee for WDHA to use it, but it makes it more convenient for you to register and pay from your home or phone.

On November 8, Dr. Melody Shubert with Natural Health Care and Chiropractic will present a 2-hour CE on, “Natural Allergy Solutions to Improve Breathing.” Then January, 18, 2019 Dr. Viola, Registered Pharmacist will present, “Sugar? Yes, Please” Diabetes Mellitus, Dental Considerations and Patient Care Planning & “Top of the Heap”, frequently prescribed medications and Clinical Dental Considerations for 4 CE’s at the Delta Dental building. You will not want to miss these speakers. Of course, we will be giving away many fun gifts too.

As President this past year, my main focus was increasing attendance at CE’s and membership to ADHA by having fun interactive meetings and giving away lots of prizes, free Ce’s and dental themed mugs and glasses. I am dedicated to giving back to our members and helping our profession and association grow. The launching of our new website and the streamlining of our Facebook page has allowed us to network in a more active way. It has been an honor to serve as your President, and I thank you for your membership. We are always brainstorming ways to make the CE’s fun and informative.

If you ever have ideas you would like to share we would gladly accept them or if you would like to run for a position on the executive council, we would love to have you. Please contact us if you have any recommendations or nominations for officers for the 2018-2019 WDHA Executive Council. We will be voting on the Treasurer, Secretary, President Elect, and Component Representative. You can email me at Shanin.peck@wichita.edu. Elections held at our November CE.

Shanin Peck RDH, MA, ECP II
WDHA President
 

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Email: wichitahygienist@yahoo.com
Mailed registration: WDHA Treasurer Megan Jenish 1825 South Vassar, Wichita, KS 67218
Kind Regards,