This article originally appeared in Dental Assisting Digest. Subscribe to the monthly e-newsletter designed just for dental assistants here.
Ah, the circle of life. It is more than just part of The Lion King. It is also something that you can see in this very newsletter.
A decade ago, PennWell had the vision to start Dental Assisting Digest (DAD), and I was honored to be one of the driving forces behind its creation. Dental assistants needed their own newsletter and articles geared directly toward them, and Dental Assisting Digest provided that.
I was honored to be at the helm as the editorial director for the newsletter’s first four years before I left PennWell to start a new life in Colorado. My business card changed and my home address changed, but one thing didn’t . . . my passion for dental assistants and reminding them on a daily basis just how important they are to a practice’s success and to their patients.
Just over a year ago, I teamed up with Dr. David Rice of IgniteDDS to start IgniteDA, a community designed to empower, enlighten, and educate assistants. We joined forces with the Yankee Dental Congress and Chicago Midwinter Meeting to provide education tracks for assistants at these meetings. We toured the country to tell assistants why they matter. Heck, I even wrote a book for assistants, Battling and Beating the Demons of Dental Assisting, that I’m proud to give away to my audiences at many of my speaking engagements.
All is well. But there was a hole in my heart that needed to be patched and a need that still had to be met. IgniteDA needed to join forces with someone to push out our message of empowerment to a wider audience. Thanks to the vision of PennWell’s current leadership, DAD is officially back and I’m back where I started at its helm. Who says you can never go home again?
I am thrilled that DAD is back and that IgniteDA and PennWell are working together to reach assistants across the nation. We also have the ADAA and DANB working with us to provide content and ideas for the future. Trust me, big things are ahead and I can’t wait for you to see some of the plans we’re working on behind the scenes.
But for now, check out the articles in this issue, including advice from assistants who have “been there and done that” when it comes to impressions and how to make them seamless.
I could not be happier to be back, and I’m thrilled to have you join IgniteDA and PennWell as Dental Assisting Digest is reborn. It’s going to be an amazing ride as we work together to raise up the dental assisting profession.
Subscribe to Dental Assisting Digest here.
Read on, this is your newsletter . . .
Kevin Henry, Editor of Dental Assisting Digest
