Dental News - Industry commentary: Celebrating 100 years of dental hygiene

Lori Bernardo, USA

Thu. 27 June 2013

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In 1906, when Dr. Alfred Fones came up with the idea to train his assistant, Irene Newman, to clean teeth and perform preventive oral services on children, no one could have predicted how our profession could have evolved. Fones’ early vision of the role of the dental hygienist was revolutionary. His goal was to employ dental hygienists who were primarily from schools and medical practices.

He was quoted as saying: “It is primarily to this important work of public education that the dental hygienist is called. She must regard herself as the channel through which dentistry’s knowledge of mouth hygiene is to be disseminated, the greatest service she can perform is the persistent education of the public in mouth hygiene and the allied branches of general hygiene.” It was a lofty goal, which became the start of a noble profession whose purpose was to eradicate oral disease and improve the overall health of the whole population.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a reception sponsored by Crest and Oral-B to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of dental hygiene with fellow hygienists. In the past 100 years, our profession has fought hard to carry out Fones’ mission. As I reflect on this anniversary, there are two major areas where the dental hygiene profession has made leaps and bounds — the career opportunities available beyond the clinic and the oral health challenges facing our patients.

Although most dental hygienists are employed in the private practice setting, many of us have chosen to take our mission “to the streets” in a variety of ways over the past 100 years. We can still be seen as public health workers, teachers, marketing and sales representatives, research professionals, and more. I personally have had a very rewarding career that has spanned almost 30 years in the oral health industry. Although most of those years were spent in clinical practice, twice during this time I left to work in sales for different dental product companies. In my current sales representative role, the commodity that I offer is no longer the work of my hands, but the collected knowledge of 30 years in the dental profession. It is more about what I know than what I do; I believe this role allows me to continue delivering the message of our original dental hygienist mission on a much larger scale and make room chairside for new graduates. Sharing information on new products and services gives other dental professionals the tools they need to do their work more efficiently, and in turn, help them reach more people. No matter where we practice, the cause of improving oral health unites us all.

Dental hygienists have always strived to educate the public on the value of oral health and its role on one’s overall well-being. Today that message is even more powerful as many believe the mouth is an indicator of a person’s whole-body health. In the first 100 years, we have made gains on the improvement of oral health, and the incidence of dental caries and tooth loss dropped dramatically. In addition, there was a steady rise in the percentage of the population that receives regular dental care. However, since the mid 1990s, we may be witnessing an alarming reversal in that trend. According to a recent National Health and Nutrition Examination survey, the incidence of caries among children is on the rise.[1] Additionally, research from the American Dental Association indicates the percentage of the population obtaining regular care has dropped and the frequency of dental visits has declined.[2] No matter what challenges lie ahead, I know that we are more than capable to rise to the occasion as we always have.

So, my fellow colleagues, I say we pause to celebrate our profession and all that we have done. Have a party. Enjoy a piece of cake. But don’t rest for too long, because if we want to honor the mission that Dr. Fones set out for us 100 years ago, we still have a lot of work to do.

Are you ready? Now, let’s get started on another “100 Years of Dental Hygiene!”

Note: This article was published in Hygiene Tribune U.S. Edition, Vol. 6 No.4, May 2013 issue. A complete list of references is available from the publisher.

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