From Trisha's Desk Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, MS, Hygienetown Editorial Director

Volunteering by RDHs
– by Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, BS, Hygienetown Editorial Director

Many Townies participate in volunteer programs at home and around the world. Hygienetown Townies have traveled to Honduras, Peru, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Romania, India and Mexico as volunteers providing everything from local anesthesia to oral hygiene instructions.
They pay their own way on these trips and bring their own instruments and supplies. The overwhelming response from all who have participated in volunteer trips overseas is the sense of receiving much more from those who they met and treated than they gave in their time and expertise as dental professionals. The sense of appreciation by those they treated was amazing.

Closer to home, many more Townies volunteer at local community free clinics, providing a half day here and there, or some find time to volunteer on a weekly or monthly basis. Clinics close to home need your volunteer services as much as those far away. The dental needs found in third-world countries are also found in our own neighborhoods. Dental hygiene and dental students often learn about local free clinics through rotations in these clinics. Several Townies have participated in large community-based RAM or Remote Area Medical clinics. First designed to bring medical and dental care to rural areas, RAM also provides 10-day clinics in cities like Los Angeles, with hundreds of dental volunteers. Others are part of an entire dental team that opens the office one day each year to provide free dental care to those in need as their own community service or through a state or national program like Give Kids A Smile.

Townies are also generous with their time, taking the prevention message to daycare centers, schools and senior centers. They teach preschoolers what to expect when visiting the dental hygienist for the first time, complete with gloves for them to wear. Others use puppets to teach grade-school children oral hygiene and to bring in nutrition, they build a pizza using healthy foods. Education is fundamental to prevention and Townies teach teenagers about the dangers of sour, tart, tangy, acid candies, gums, mints, sports drinks and fruit-flavored waters. To senior centers, Townies bring the news of xylitol, a sweet way to reduce bacterial biofilm in the mouth. The messages are adapted to the age of the audience bringing information and fun to the experience.

Personally I donate time, money and services to AD World Health, a foundation begun by my stepson and daughter-in-law. I serve on the board of directors as the secretary and have traveled to India to perform dental screenings and teach the children and adults basic oral hygiene at the Manjushree orphanage in Tawang, India on the India/China border at 10,000 feet. AD World Health, located in Los Angeles, California, is currently building a medical/dental clinic locally to provide care to underserved people in the Los Angeles area. AD World Health provides needed medical and dental care at the same time as providing an educational experience for medical, dental and dental hygiene students.

We are blessed to be in the dental profession, able to help others and provide for ourselves and our families. You might give back with your time, clinical services, equipment and supply donations or monetarily. However you decide to give back, your donations are sincerely appreciated and make a difference in the lives of others. Thank you for your generosity and caring. We have much to be thankful for in our lives. Giving back is second nature to dental professionals, and it turns out, you don't have to go far from your own front door to find somewhere to help.

Inside This Section
124 Perio Reports
128 Townie Poll: Fresh Breath
130 Profile in Oral Health: Sitting Doesn't Have to be a Pain in the Butt
133 Message Board: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia
134 Message Board: Frozen Shoulder
Look for additional content in the Hygienetown Magazine digital edition.
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