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Dental hygiene and dental meetings around the globe plus oral care for the cancer patient

Oct. 20, 2011
FOCUS Editorial Director Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS, highlights some of the dental meetings—both domestic and abroad—that she has attended in the last month. She also presents a list of resources for hygienists to use for patients who are being treated for various types of cancer.
By Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS
I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the meetings I have attended in the last month.
My travels took me to Mexico City, Mexico; Milan, Italy; Moscow, Russia; Odessa, Ukraine; and Las Vegas, Nevada. Flights delays, lost luggage, and jet lag abound, but I have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people around the world.In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I want to thank the authors from the last issue for their forthright stories. JoAnn, Stephanie, and Maureen, we all appreciate your candor and courage. I have compiled a list of resources for us to use in practice, as we all see patients that are being treated for all types of cancer. Oral complications of chemotherapy and radiation are frequent, and individuals undergoing cancer treatment of any kind require special care.Halloween is approaching, too! Let’s not forget those in need. Join Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy to help rescue children from preventable pain and a grant could be awarded in your name to benefit children in need! Every $5 dollars donated provides a toothbrush, toothpaste, rinse, and oral health education for an at-risk child.
Click Trick or Treat for America's Toothfairy to set up your own personal virtual fundraising page and invite your friends and family to donate to this child-saving, smile-saving cause! www.AmericasToothfairy.orgI will be attending The National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice’s (dent-web01.usc.edu/dhnet/) 2nd North American/Global Dental Hygiene Research Conference to be held October 20 through October 22, 2011, in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, at the DoubleTree Conference Center Hotel.
The conference is being held in collaboration with the American Dental Hygienists’ Association and the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association. The theme for this year’s conference is “Inspiration, Collaboration and Translation.”

Dental hygienists from around the world will share their original research, and invited speakers will present new research related to oral cancer, smoking cessation interventions, bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis, and remineralization therapies. Workshops, small group discussions and break-out sessions will be offered to enhance skill development, encourage networking and foster project development. Training programs will be available for all levels of investigators from the newcomer to the expert, and with special sessions devoted to clinicians who wish to use best practices to enhance patient care. I will report on the meeting in a future issue.

Calling all students! Students and educators, we want to feature some student articles, so please get in touch with me to discuss this possibility. Students are our future!!

We want to hear from you! If you have any topics you would like to see covered, or would like to author an article, please email me.

Sincerely,

Maria Perno Goldie, RDH, MS

To read previous RDH eVillage FOCUS introductions by Editorial Director Maria Perno Goldie, go to introductions.