Issue 33 December 2014/January 2015

Christmas Cheers! It’s all smiles at this year’s National Symposium

Merry ChrIStMaS to all Dhaa MeMberS – See you IN 2015

Page 12

JUST PLAY FAIR Addressing the inequities in the oral health sector

STATE OF THE NATION End of year round-ups from your branch

The official newsletter of the Dental Hygienists’ Association of Australia Inc.

ChrIStMaS

SPeCIal 2014

Educating for Dental Excellence

The 36th Australian Dental CongressBrisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre - an AEG 1EARTH venue Wednesday 25th to Sunday 29th March 2015

Stay informed on Congress developments:

facebook.com/adacongress twitter.com/adacongress youtube.com/adacongress adc2015.com

ADC2015-Ad-A4.indd 1 3/07/13 1:30 PM

3

The President’s final wrap for 2014

Welcome to the final edition of the Bulletin for 2014. I can’t believe that another year has passed so quickly.

also, another Symposium has come and gone, and I must say what a FaNtaStIC event the Canberra Symposium was this year. I found every single speaker engaging and knowledgeable on their topics, and was pleased to hear our members asking such insightful

questions. the gala dinner was certainly a night to remember- the National Portrait Gallery was a stunning venue, the food was delicious and the brazilian dancing girls brought the energy levels to a new high! I must again take a moment to thank all of our sponsors, who each supported the event financially, and also donated generous gifts for our trade Passport prizes at the conclusion of the Symposium. It was great to get a teaser for the 2015 Symposium, which is being held in Sydney from 5-7 November. the already confirmed line-up of speakers is truly impressive, and I can’t wait!

During the Symposium we also held a Special General Meeting, where the resolution to restructure the Dhaa to a Company limited by Guarantee was passed. a big thank you goes to the restructure taskforce (Cheryl Dey, Sue aldenhoven, robbern White, hellen Checker and Jacquie biggar) for all of their hard work on this venture. this is just the first step in ensuring our association grows and strengthens; the taskforce will now help to support the states in how to proceed in amalgamating into one association.

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to all the members who have donated their time and energy to the Dhaa in 2014. largely this association works because our members are so passionate about the profession, and are willing ‘give back’ to their association. I hope in 2015 we can engage with more of our passionate members, while reducing unnecessary burden through the newly appointed executive officer role. Mr Chris Wain joined us in october and has broad executive experience with a range of organisations. I know he is enjoying his new role and looking for ways to promote the Dhaa and improve it’s day-to-day management.

I wish all of our members a very happy and safe Christmas and New year.

Mel HayesDHAA National President

03

Contents03 President’s Message

The last one for 2014.

04 DHAA Gets Social More ways to stay in touch with your association.

05 DBA Update New examination process for overseas hygienists.

09 Product Review A detailed look at the P3 Mobile Dental Cart from BPR Swiss.

10 Just Play Fair Health Economics: Hellen Checker addresses the glaring inequities in the oral health sector

12 COVER STORY Christmas Cheers! Joanna Mohammadi reports from DHAA National Symposium – the biggest DHAA event of the year.

16 State of the Nation A state-by-state round-up of the year just ending.

21 Event Planner Check what’s happening near you in 2015.

The Bulletin is an official publication of the DHAA Inc. Contributions to The Bulletin do not necessarily represent the views of the DHAA Inc. All materials in this publication may be readily used for non-commercial purposes. The Bulletin is designed and published by eroomcreative.com

PRESIDENTMel Hayes

CONTACT

VICE PRESIDENTJo Purssey CONTACT

TREASURERCheryl Day

CONTACT

IT REPJosh Galpin

CONTACT

National Executive

The DHAA is expanding its social media presence – follow us!

DHAA Leadership Day 2014ACT National Councillor, Kate Farmer, reports on her first leadership day

My FIrSt leaDerShIP Day as the new aCt National Councillor in September did not disappoint. I have previously attended similar workshops with my private practice workplace, and was excited to be refreshing my knowledge, amongst my fellow councillors and executives who were to become the first board of Directors for the Dhaa ltd. the training day took place in beautiful adelaide, and what a great way it was for me to experience Sa for the first time.

our enigmatic trainer kept the day rolling effortlessly, as we progressed through leadership styles, personality types, behavioural styles and most importantly for me, learning the skills for good leadership and team building. I came away feeling motivated and with tools to assist me in the next phase for our branch – the restructure into the unified national association. I am very grateful to have experienced a great training program with my colleagues and learnt many new skills, including how to build collaborative teams positively and work around dysfunction and objections.

thank you very much to the national executive for organising such a useful leadership day, which I feel greatly benefited not only me and my branch, by the entire Dhaa. n

You may have noticed Dhaa on Facebook which has been a great success. We have since expanded

opening a twitter and Instagram accounts to help keep members and non members alike up to date with the happenings of the association.

Most recently we had a steady stream on images on all three sites of the Canberra Symposium showing what was happening throughout the event. We also had as a part of the trade display a photo booth where we had members tell us what oral health means to them.

these images were uploading to all mediums so if you haven’t had a look pop on over and let us know what you think.

We have had a lot of international colleagues following our pages which also very exciting as this is a great opportunity for our members to network with professionals from around the world. If you have any photos, articles or just want to drop us a line as itemised to the right.

If you would prefer our social media team to upload the content for you send us an email at dhaainsta@gmail.com n

How to get social with the DHAA

Facebook

Like our page and then post

directly onto the page.

Instagram

You can follow us at dhaainsta

and #dhaainsta when uploading

your photos to instagram.

Twitter

Follow us at dhaanews and

@dhaanews when tweeting.

Setting new standardsDBA UPDATE

Up until recently, the examination of overseas trained dental hygienists and dental

therapists had been undertaken by Curtin university and taFe Sa under a memorandum of understanding with the australian Dental Council (aDC). a Consensus Workshop was held on 18 october 2013 to determine the assessment pathway for these practitioners and was attended by representatives from the following industry bodies:

n Dental hygienists association of australia

n College of oral health academics n australian Dental and oral health

therapists associationn australasian Council of

Dental Schoolsn Dental board of australian taFe South australian Curtin university n university of Queensland

a reference Group met on 16 December 2013 and developed a blueprint for the written and practical examinations for dental therapists, dental hygienists and oral health therapists. this blueprint is based on the aDC Professional attributes and Competencies of the Newly Qualified Dental hygienist, Dental therapist and oral health therapist. Following approval from the Dental board of

australia, the first written examination was held in September 2014, and the first practical examination in November 2014. the written examination will then be held twice each year in March

and September, and the practical examination in June and November.

an Item Writing Workshop (examination question development) was held on 17 and 18 February 2014 to develop scenario based multiple choice questions for the dental therapist and dental hygienist written examination.

the aDC is intending to conduct further Item Writing Workshops over the next twelve month period.

the written papers broadly follow a blueprint to ensure a spread of questions from a range of disciplines (i.e. periodontology, cariology, preventive dentistry, oral medicine and pathology, paediatric dentistry, radiology, infection control, pharmacology and therapeutics) and domains (i.e. basic science, aetiology, investigations, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, outcomes, complications and social context).

the following components will be included in the dental hygiene examination: clinical communication, infection control, radiography, scaling, root debridement, rubber dam and fissure sealants.

the aDC will engage profession specific examiners for the practical examination and invites practitioners who are interested in becoming involved with the examination and/or Item Writing Workshops to contact Dr Matthew hopcraft at matthew.hopcraft@adc.org.au n

05

The rules are about to change with a new examination process for overseas trained Dental Hygienists

“ The written examination will then be held twice each year in March and September, and the practical examination in June and November.”

7

Product

P3 - Mobile dental cart Manufacturer

bPr Swissdistributor

William Green Pty ltd1300 363 830sales@williamgreen.com.au

Product descriPtion

the P3 – Cart is a small, sleek and compact portable dental unit containing its own compressor, two water tanks and four instrument hoses, which offer a variety of settings.

features

n totally mobilen two spray water bottlesn autonomously functioning cart with

integrated oil-free compressor n high-quality stainless steel housingn three-way syringe (air/water/spray)n Four instrument hoses (automatic)n Spray adjustment regulators for each

instrumentn light for instrumentsn Disc type foot control with spray valve

on/off function

the William Green P3-Cart is easy to assemble, requiring only to lift the compressor onto base of the unit, fill up and connect the two water bottles and plug it into the power. the compressor runs quietly in the background which is great because it does not interfere with dental treatment. although the cart requires two people to lift, it is remarkably portable. the cart rests upon four wheels allowing the cart to be wheeled around smoothly and efficiently. additionally the two front wheels both have brakes to ensure the unit stays stable during transport. I like how each instrument line has its own light and there are different settings for each line such as caries removal and tooth polishing. It is white in colour and its steel frame is easy to keep clean. all in all, the William Green P3-Cart is extremely easy to use and transport which is vital to a mobile dental service.  

Pros

The cart is totally portable which

makes it perfect for a mobile dental

service, especially in rural and remote

areas. There are a variety of settings

for each instrument line; each line has

its own light and can have its spray

adjusted. The sleek design is modern

and compact and looks good plus

it doesn’t take up too much space.

It has two water bottles allowing to

simply switch water bottles if one

runs out during a dental treatment.

cons

The cart is approximately 40kg,

which can require two people to lift it

for transportation purposes.

P3 – Mobile Dental CartPRODUCT

REVIEW

THE DHAA NATIONAL BULLETIN prides itself on keeping members up to date with information regarding our profession including CPD events, scope of practice and issues which affect our day to day practice; so why not extend this to the equipment we use in our day to day practice?

This segment, continuing from the product review on the EMS AirFlow by Joanna Mohammadi in the previous issue aims to review the latest technology or equipment available to dental practitioners to help clinicians make informed choices when it comes to using the right equipment.

If you use interesting equipment or the latest technology in your workplace, we would like to hear from you! Feel free to write a product review for this segment. You can write your own review or contact the editorial team of the bulletin to be emailed the template which you can fill in.

To submit a review or enquire about the template please email bulletin@dhaa.info.

We look forward to hearing about some interesting equipment you are all using!

Oral Health Therapist, Yvonne Flaskas, takes a long hard look at the BPR Swiss portable dental unit

8

JUST PLAY FAIR For eighteen years I have been

a registered and practicing dental hygienist in both the

public and private sectors and there have been many occasions when I have been compelled to deliberate my responsibilities and ethics as a clinician. these contemplations generally followed on from daily individual financial target reviews and corporate dental team training days.

often I would ask myself where my obligations and responsibilites reside as a clinician. My answer would be that I believe that they reside with the patients I am treating today, the patients with appointments and waiting for treatment, the patients who one day may seek dental treatment, and anyone who can benefit from treatment and health promotion – now or in the future.

as years passed by I was gaining more and more experience as a clinician. My perceived value of the individualistic emphasis on dental care had now shifted focus to include population health.

I raised the topic of financial targets for dental clinicians because efficiency is in integral in traditional economics. however it can be argued that health care differs from other goods and services in the market place.

you may well now be asking yourself now how do these targets link to the topic of efficiency?

technical efficiency is defined as the least cost of combination resources for the production of a good or service. you

may be familiar with technical efficiency goals in your own dental offices. however as clinicians and advocates for health it is also challenging to ensure equitable distribution of the very limited resources within a health system to achieve the best outcomes.

health economics introduce us to various forms of efficiency. these include allocative efficiency and dynamic efficiency and health economics can also familiarise us with normative economics. (What is fair and what we should do with the resources to achieve equity?)

research tells us that social disadvantage is an important determinate of oral health and that population groups in australia experiencing oral health inequalities can be clearly identified. 1

rural and regional australians have more untreated decay than city dwellers and indigenous australians had twice as

much untreated tooth decay as non-indigenous australians. 2

In both australia and europe the elderly, the homeless and rural and regional residents are identified as the disadvantaged. these groups share the burden of disease 3 and studies attribute these inequities in oral health to impaired mobility, inadequate transport and access to dental treatment and high costs of dental treatment.4

to achieve allocative efficiency we must use our limited available resources to achieve the best possible outcomes. allocative efficiency has three components which includes technical efficiency, cost-effectiveness and priority setting.

We can now recognise that technical efficiency which is the least cost of combination resources for the production of a good or service. however allocative efficiency also requires evaluating cost effectiveness, which include efficacy in this category and thirdly priority setting.

effectiveness is measured on either an individual basis or at a population level. there are various types of analysis: cost-benefits analysis, cost effective analysis, cost consequence analysis, which I do not intent to expand on fully in this article. Nevertheless it is important to touch upon the units of measurement and some of the limitations of using cost effective and cost utility analysis.

HEALTH ECONOMICS

“ Rural and regional Australians have more untreated decay than city dwellers and indigenous Australians had twice as much untreated tooth decay as non-indigenous Australians.”

9

JUST PLAY FAIRHellen Checker addresses the glaring inequities in the oral health sector

Biofilm Eraser: Implant MaintenanceApplication also for minor tooth polishing

PRODUCT INFORMATION | TECHNICAL SUPPORT Freephone: 1300 44 33 21 Email: info@nskoceania.com.au

Ultrafine water spray and glycine-based powder gently work to eradicate periodontal pocket biofilm and treat periodontal pockets and peri-implantitis in just 20 seconds whilst avoiding injury to soft tissue and root surfaces.

FOR A BRIGHTER, HEALTHIER SMILE

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Fine glycine-based biocompatible and water

soluble powder for efficient removal of biofilm.

11

Cost utility analysis may use measurements such as Quality adjusted life years (Qaly) and Disability adjusted life years (Daly). an example of using cost utility analysis (Cua) in population health may be a study that measures the cost of water fluoridation, giving a dollar value or cost of a Daly.

Water Fluoridation is cost effective and efficaci ous in reducing the socio-economic inequalities of caries. 5 extending water fluoridation to communities with less than 1000 inhabitants is not considered cost effective as the estimation costs of auD$92k/Daly exceeds the cost effective auD$50k/Daly threshold. 6

limitations of using the Qaly and Daly make it difficult to separate purely economic evaluations from those which consider equity. 7

efficacy describes the interventions in terms of to what extent the intervention arrive at the ideal outcomes. reflecting on the non-cost-effectiveness of water fluoridation in geographically remote areas8 we might ask ourselves what other cost effective and efficacious interventions are available and how does the research support these interventions?

Priority setting is the third element of allocative efficiency. Priority setting considers the allocation of limited resources between diseases and within disease. Priority settings in oral health are stated in the National oral health Plan and priorities include children of the socially disadvantaged, children of concession card holders, children in remote and regional areas, indigenous children and children of lower income earners. other population groups include

indigenous australians and rural and regional residents. Please visit the National oral health Plan website to read more. www.oralhealthplan.au

Priority setting also requires the evaluation of preventable hospitalisations. In 2010, there were 60,251 public hospitalisations due to preventable dental diseases.

Dynamic efficiency is another form of efficiency that helps both clinicians and advocates to recognise efficiencies. Dynamic efficiency refers to the health system’s ability to adapt. this may include the rate in which the dental system responds to changes and health innovations, legislative changes and other regulatory changes such as scope of practice and infrastructure and capital.

In 2010, 88% of dental treatment was within the private sector and only

5% of children in australia received treatment in the school dental service. the majority of children were seen in the private sector. Given the current supply constraints within the public sector and in the context of both capital and infrastructure commonwealth dental scheme such as the Children’s Dental benefits Scheme 9 CDbS which address the prioritized children’s dental needs is largely facilitated via the private sector and therefore utilising the existing labour force and infrastructure. however, CbDS facilitated via the public sector is also essential to achieve equitable access.

the CDbS is a commonwealth vertical equity intervention which is considerate of both allocative efficiency and dynamic efficiency. other schemes that address inequity are DVa and dental services through community controlled aboriginal Medical Services.

It is important as clinicians we recognise we have a greater responsibility to our community than just providing treatment to those patients that fill out day book and the services for which we are financially accountable and have financial performance targets that are reviewed either daily, weekly or monthly. efficiency need not be limited to technical efficiency and as clinicians we should understand the concept of allocative efficiency and dynamic efficiency in relation to addressing inequalities oral health and recognise that improving oral health inequalities also required focus on improving living conditions, access to nutritional foods and availability of transport. 10 n

1,2,3 & 9 Chrisopoulos S & Harford JE

2013. Oral health and dental care in

Australia: key facts and figures 2012.

Cat. No. DEN 224. Canberra: AIHW,

viewed 1st September 2014;

4 FDI the World Dental Federation “A

report by FDI white paper; 5 Yeung,

C. 2007 “A systematic review of

the efficacy and safety of fluoride”

Evidence Based Dentistry 9 39-48

doi:1038/sj.ebj.6400578 Viewed 4th

September 2014; 6 Cobiac, L. 2012

“The cost-effectiveness of extending

the coverage of water supply fluoride

for prevention of dental caries in

Australia” Community Dent Oral

Epidemiology 40(4):369-76 doi:

10.1111/j.16000528, viewed 2nd

September 2014; 7 Drummond, M.

Sculpher, M. Torrence, G. O’Brien,

B Stoddart, G 2005; 8 Al Bloushi,

N. Trolio, R. Kruger, K. Tennant,

M. 2012 “High resolution mapping

of reticulated water fluoridation in

Western Australia: An opportunity

to improve oral health” Australian

Dental Journal 5:1-7 doi: 10.1111/

J1834-7819.2012.01727.x, viewed 2nd

September 2014; 10 National Oral

Health Plan 2014 “Inequities in oral

health” viewed 7th September 2014

www.oralhealthplan.au

“ In both Australia and Europe the elderly, the homeless and rural and regional residents are identified as the disadvantaged. These groups share the burden of disease and studies attribute these inequities in oral health to impaired mobility, inadequate transport and access to dental treatment and high costs of dental treatment.”

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Dhaa National Symposium overview

syMPly suPerb

2014 NATIONALSYMPOSIUM

The 12th Dhaa National Symposium opening event was at the australian War Memorial in

Canberra. a grand start to our industry’s major annual event. attendance was sweetened by the 16.5CPD points up for grabs across the two-and-a-half days – but there were plenty more fabulous reasons to be there!

this year’s conference theme was the notion of strengthening connections, our profession, our community and our health. the official conference dinner also had a gold theme which a lot of participants found interesting. Many of the speakers discussed the connection between general health and oral health, and although as oral health professionals we are aware of these links it seems that the greater public do not.

the first session at the australian War Memorial had speakers ranging from the Carevan Sun Smiles Program, an oral health promotion and caries prevention program based in the albury/Wodonga region, to Dr Stephen yeung who really made us think about why we believe certain oral health practices are beneficial to our patients.

the final speaker on day one was the very interesting and somewhat controversial, David berg. David is a physiotherapist with an active interest in the relationship between nutrition and inflammation. Many left the auditorium asking if the paleolithic diet really the key to reducing or even eliminating inflammatory disease?

Following the last speaker, a few hygienists went to experience the last Post at the entrance of the war memorial. In military tradition the last Post is the bugal that signifies the end of the day’s activities. It was eventually incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell and denotes that the duty of the dead is over and they can rest in peace.

at the end of day one, welcome drinks and canapés were offered at the Crowne Plaza in Canberra. hygienists from all over australia, and even overseas, were present. While old school and work colleagues caught up and reminisced about the good old days, others mingled and forged new friendships.

the remainder of the conference was held at the National Convention Centre which was very conveniently located

around the corner from the Crowne Plaza. We had very interesting speakers from a Dental Public health Consultant, Pharmacist, oral Medicine Specialist, and a Community outreach program coordinator providing oral health services to marginalised populations such as the homeless and low income earners.

the trade display displayed great variety and the ‘exhibitor’s passport’ was a huge success. to complete your exhibitor’s passport you were encouraged to go to each stand and have a chat.

For the duration of the conference we were encouraged to participate in “active applause”. this involved standing up every time we applauded for a speaker. at first this seemed a little strange but after a while it became second nature and it was a great opportunity to stretch our arms and legs between speakers. Some recent research has shown that sitting is the new smoking! So make sure you give your body a good stretch between patients in private or public practice.

the Friday evening gala dinner was hosted at a beautiful venue. buses picked us up from our hotels to take us to the Gandell hall at the National Gallery of

Joanna Mohammadi reports from the biggest DHAA event of the year

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STACEY BRACkSLEY

Stacey’s love of dentists from childhood inspired her to study to be an Oral Health Therapist after completing high school. Stacey had a mixture of private and public practice but her passion for oral health promotion has driven her to embark on a PhD in this area.

Stacey currently lectures for dental and oral health students at La Trobe University. Stacey managed to present at this conference just after getting married last week! Congratulations Stacey!

About Stacey’s PhDTraining in oral health, dentists, community action, professional groups, looking into skills advocacy.

Best thing about Stacey’s jobStacey finds her job extremely rewarding, especially when she sees the moment that “the penny drops” for a student.

Worst thing about Stacey’s jobThe amount and time involved with paperwork and administration.

Tips for balancing a home and work lifeWork hard during work hours but keep the weekend “yours” by spending time with family and friends.

Tips for aspiring dental hygienists or oral health therapists wanting to get more involved in oral health promotionEven if you are solely in private practice, make links with your community whether it be with a local aged care facility, child care facility, schools, sporting clubs etc. Be proactive in your community! There is also the option for further study.

syMPly suPerb

2014 NATIONALSYMPOSIUM

SYMPOSIUM CATCH UP #1

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MARGIE STEFFENS

Margie has had a varied career ranging from pharmacy, airline, cosmetics, wholesale dental products and special needs. Margie is passionate about providing marginalised populations with access to dental care.

Through hard work and persistence Margie has set up a dental clinic through the University of Adelaide, School of Dentistry that provides dental care for people who are homeless and considered at risk.

The clinic opened in 2011 and the dental centre has now extended their services to refugees and marginalised people in her community who may find difficulties accessing conventional dental care.

Margie is truly inspirational, not only to the students she mentors but also to her fellow dental colleagues.

What motivates MargieGratitude for my own life and by being thankful and blessed.

Best thing about Margie’s jobDiversity in Margie’s role and the wonderful difference to affect change.

Worst thing about Margie’s jobAt times, frustration with politics and funding.

Tips for balancing a home and work lifeBy having supportive work colleagues and making sure you make time for family and friends.

Tips for aspiring dental hygienists or oral health therapists wanting to follow in your footstepsTake opportunities, even if you have a “niggle” at the back of your mind, nurture and act on that. Speak with people who have done something similar to what you want to do.

SYMPOSIUM CATCH UP #2

australia. We were greeted with drinks and more delicious canapes. It would be easy to get used to this sort of lifestyle!

the three-course meal and wine was delightful, everything was perfect. Just when we thought things couldn’t get any more exciting, suddenly there was the beating of drums and five beautiful brazilian dancers in flamboyantly coloured feathers transfixed us with their dancing. there were some hygienists who were able to ‘shake’ as well as these professional dancers... well almost!

the final day of speakers was equally as interesting as the other days with Clinical associate Professor Dr axel Spahr, head of Periodontics from the university of Sydney who gave us a couple of lectures with fascinating cases, an oral health promotion specialist, oral cancers, orofacial myology from a local speech pathologist and a lecture on sustainable practice for oral health care – recycling toothbrushes? have we ever considered this? especially given we advise patients to replace their toothbrushes every three months, it is one of our responsibilities, as oral health professionals, to provide information on appropriate recycling pathways. Colgate has partnered with terraCycle to help divert landfill waste by sending oral care products to terraCycle. In your practice or workplace you could have box to collect oral care products such as old toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps and floss containers. there are no sign up and participation fees and the cost for shipping is covered by the program.

Some delegates chose to stay an extra night to catch up with old and new friends and went home the following morning. the rain poured as we bid farewell to Canberra and set off on our journeys home.

Dhaa aCt organised a remarkable conference with their venue, speakers, catering, trade display and social program which was just fantastic.

We hope to see both new and familiar faces at the 2015 Dhaa National Symposium to be hosted on the 5-7th of November 2015 in Sydney, NSW. n

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CATHRYN CARBOON

Cathryn graduated in 1989. Her 24 year career in dental hygiene has varied in areas of general dentistry, orthodontics, periodontics and special needs.

Cathryn has practiced in Germany, New Zealand and Australia. In 2006, she became a Colgate Professional Educator presenting oral health modules as part of the curriculum for the Bachelor of Oral Health and Dentistry Programs at Melbourne, La Trobe, RMIT and Charles Sturt Universities.

Since 2007 Cathryn has also been the national network coordinator for oral health with SARRAH (Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health) and holds a position on SARRAH’s advisory committee.

She is also board member of the carevan foundation and manager of the carevan sun smiles program. Cathryn currently lives in Wangaratta with her loving husband and three beautiful children.

What motivates CathrynPassionate about rural and national oral health, Cathryn is network coordinator for SARRAH- rural services in oral health.

Best thing about Cathryn’s jobDeveloping a rapport with patients – especially in the country. Having the opportunity to see the outback and to use your skills for volunteer work

Worst thing about Cathryn’s jobAt times, challenges with time management in private practice.

Tips for balancing a home and work lifeCan be a juggle at times. Need to prioritise what is important for you.

Tips for aspiring dental hygienists or oral health therapists wanting to follow in your footstepsFind a good mentor who inspires you and walk in their steps.

SYMPOSIUM CATCH UP #3

STATE NATIONthaNk you to all NSW members for supporting my role as NSW National Councillor and the many emails that I have received. It has been a very busy year with the transition to the National entity and the start of new National Dhaa executive officer Chris Wain.

on behalf of the state there have been number of documents, for example government policies, which were e-blasted to members. responses were colated and sent back to National Council to collate with other states and sent off as a whole to get the right lobbying and recognition of our profession.

the NSW CPD Committee we have is strong and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers who have made this year successful especially Nikolaos karadoukas who has worked very hard as President of the NSW branch.

Next year will bring more challenges especially in hosting the 2015 National Symposium in Sydney.

I look forward to more volunteers and support of my role as National Councillor and hope to serve again in 2015.

have a safe and joyful Christmas and bring on 2015!

Ian Epondulan

DHAA NSW National Councillor

A full state-by-state run-down of Association happenings around the country

“ We have also inducted three members into life membership at our recent aGM. all have held DhaaQ executive roles, been on the DhaaQ committee for more than 10 years and continue support the current committee.”

Queensland

WEBSITE

dentalhygienist.com.au >

CONTACT

Email Queensland >

“ We The NSW CPD Committee we have is strong and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers who have made this year successful”

New South Wales

WEBSITE

dhaansw.org.au >

CONTACT

0411 473 762

DhaaQ INC. helD its annual hygiene horizons (Cultural and Special Needs Dentistry) full day event at the Novotel brisbane on the 20 September. We thank Colgate for the gold sponsorship of this event and appreciate their continued support of our association.

our speakers for the day included Dr Mark Gussy, PhD, Med. la trobe university who spoke on Cultural Competence of Dental Care.

australia is a multicultural society and understanding cultural differences can only improve our patient’s dental health outcomes. Dr helen Marchant bDS (birmingham), MSc (london) FraCDS (SND) is a Specialist in Special Needs Dentistry discussed oral hygiene and the Special Needs Patient. Dr Diane tay bDSc (hons); is a registered specialist in Paediatric Dentistry practicing in Sydney and Port Macquarie and Ms. Natasha atkinson, who is a practicing Senior occupational therapist at the Calvary Mater Newcastle, discussed the occupational therapists role in the management of the autistic child and their dental needs. all speakers highlighted the need to work as a team for the best outcome of special needs

17

patients. having the patience to work with parents, allied health professionals and specialists to treat special needs patients at an earlier age to prevent more serious and complicated dental procedures. using tools such as storyboards can reduce anxiety in the autistic patient when preparing them for dental treatment.

this was another successful event for Queensland and it can’t be done without all of our sponsors and the wonderful DhaaQ committee.

We hope to see you at our next hygiene horizons 25 July 15 on the Gold Coast.

uQ Student Presentationannika houston and

robbern White visited the university of Queensland to support boh students. We spoke to all three boh cohorts at the same time and wish to thank the uQ boh

staff for making that possible. We presented a power point

presentation on the benefits of being a DhaaQ member such as Ir, employment, CPD and contract benefits. once the presentation was completed, we shared a pizza lunch supplied by DhaaQ. the DhaaQ committee will continue to support uQ students especially now with uQ no longer continuing with the boh programme once these cohorts have completed.

We have also inducted three members into life membership at our recent aGM. Joan James, Margaret McCormack and kyla Macdonald have all held DhaaQ executive roles, been on the DhaaQ committee for more than 10 years and continue support the current committee. they have shown distinguished service to DhaaQ Inc. association and

the Dental and oral health profession, Congratulations ladies!! Well Deserved.

We welcomed our new DhaaQ Committee for 2015 with few changes to the DhaaQ executive and some new members into the CPD roles. We bid farewell to Jodie haydon, Julie Carranza, robyn russell and Jo Purssey (Dhaa Inc. exec role) and we thank them for all their contributions. their hard work has made the DhaaQ a better association.

at our aGM we were fortunate to have Dhaa Inc. President Dr Melanie hayes present an evidence-based update on the links between nutrition and oral health. this was a wonderful presentation which showed the importance of omega 3 and probiotics. the relaxed atmosphere made way for much audience discussion

which contributed to this fantastic presentation.

to complete our aGM we held our annual CPr upgrade that had numbers increased from last year and will continue to be part of the DhaaQ programme in 2015.

DhaaQ Inc. executives, Deb holliday and robbern White, attended the National Symposium and we would like to congratulate the Canberra team on such a wonderful event.

lectures were held at the War Memorial which also included time to see and hear the last post. the wonderful dinner at the National Gallery was a spectacular venue plus a great variety of speakers and a wonderful opportunity to network with fellow members and sponsors from around australia.

Well done Canberra!!

Robbern WhiteSouth Australian President

LEFT: The 2015 committee line up for a photo-call; RighT: Three Life members are recognised for 10 years’ continued service

“ Members will receive a special commemorative etched wine glass to recognise DhaaSa’s 37 year history.”

It haS beeN a busy year for us with a fairly young executive working together to plan numerous events. the biggest was the CPD day held at the Convention Centre.

We had great attendance and a list of engaging and informative speakers including “an evidence based update on the link between nutrition and oral health” from our National President Dr Melanie hayes, and “I have braces!” periodontal considerations, from Dr Danny ho. Dr alan broughton discussed “Dangers of ‘Dental Vacations”, Margie Steffens presented “Self-perceived discrimination in an aboriginal youth group with regard to access to dental care” and Joy Gailer presented “an update on pharmacology”. It was a

additional pleasure to host the national executive in adelaide over the same weekend for our annual leadership day .

the combined Dhaa Sa and aDohta event was in october at the lion hotel. this was a casual evening with nibbles and drinks and a very well received presentation by periodontist Dr andre bendyk – “Clinical Periodontics - applying Scientific evidence at the Coalface” .

In November I had the pleasure of attending the National Symposium in Canberra and thoroughly enjoyed the three-day program and of course the social events.

two of Sa’s dedicated members, Margie Steffens and Josh Galpin, were

presented with service awards for their tireless work and commitment to the association and community. the National Symposium is a great way to network, make new friends and catch up with old friends. I am already looking forward to the next symposium in Sydney 2015.

our final event for 2014 will be the aGM breakfast meeting to be held at the National Wine Centre. the morning starts with Dr lawrence McCarthy presenting “bite into risk education – it’s essential for hygienists” and will follow with aGM formalities. Members will receive a special commemorative etched wine glass to recognise DhaaSa’s 37 year history.

Tracey HermanDHAA SA President

South Australia

WEBSITE

dhaasa.asn.au >

CONTACT

Email South Australia >

19

“ Victoria has had a busy year and the DhaaVb CPD team have worked incredibly hard to deliver a variety of events, from dinner meetings to full-day conferences. ”

aS 2014 DraWS to a close, it is time to reflect on the highlights of the past year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the DhaaVb executive and committee members for their tireless efforts in making our state branch so successful. each have very hectic working and personal lives, but continue to donate their precious time to enhance our professional association.

I have had the opportunity to represent the DhaaVb on a wide range of issues and work with a number of organisations and groups.

Victoria has had a busy year and the DhaaVb CPD team have worked incredibly hard to deliver a variety of events, from dinner meetings to full-day conferences. In october, DhaaVb and aDohta Victoria co-hosted a full-day CPD event at Fenix richmond. this was a very successful day (in fact we had to close registrations early due to excessive demand),

with members from both associations providing very positive feedback. We will definitely endeavour to partner with aDohta Victoria in providing future CPD activities.

In November DhaaVb held a full-day CPD event. this event was also very well attended (despite it clashing with the Victorian polling date). this was another fantastic day, in terms of the venue, the program and the event planning.

November also saw our aGM and I am delighted to be able to continue in my role as President for another term.

other executive members re-elected were Narelle hartwich (treasurer) and Jade lemmon (Secretary). I would also like to welcome anne Di Paolo back onto the executive as our newly appointed Vice-President.

our committee remains largely unchanged with kate richards as the website and employment officer,

Cathryn Carboon as library officer and alternate National Councillor. Neill Cullen and lauren hogan will continue with the CPD team, with support from Jane McGuinness (who due to personal commitments will be taking a less active role in 2015). Jane has been the driving force behind our CPD activities and we are grateful for her contribution.

our National Councillor, Stella Cristini, provided an update on the result of the Special General Meeting at National Symposium and the restructure of Dhaa into a single entity.

I would like to congratulate all 2014 boh graduates and also the first cohort of rMIt aDoh graduates who are joining the hygienist workforce. I have no doubt that these graduates will make valuable contributions to our profession and the field of oral health.

Roisin McGrathDHAAVB President

Victoria

WEBSITE

dhaavb.com.au >

CONTACT

0418 336 119

AbovE: Johnathan Skilton (orthodontist) presents the give a Smile Foundation; LEFT: Kate Richards (DhAAvb website coordinator), ingrid Cowley (winner of the door prize) and Roisin Mcgrath (DhAAvb president)

“ this year we celebrate 10 years of DhaaWa and weheld a Sundowner for all current members at a local boutique pub.”

yet aNother heCtIC year draws to an end…it seems that the older we get, the quicker they go! Since our aGM in august, some of our committee members attended a fantastic CPD day run by Dhaa Sa in adelaide, followed by a full day leadership course run by the National branch, where we honed our teamwork and communication skills. We are grateful to have been offered this experience and would like to extend our thanks to the Sa and National committees for their organisation of these events.

our branch recently joined the Public health association Wa, and also attended a dinner where Professor Clive Wright from the university of Sydney spoke on the issues surrounding the ageing Population and the effect on the provision of oral health Services…a massive Public health issue that will continue to worsen until there are effective “big picture” reforms made at Government level to address this supervised neglect.

our inaugural joint CPD Day with aDohta - “It Starts With us” took place in october at the university Club of Wa. It was a great

success with many Dhaa members enjoying the relevant and interesting issues that were highlighted by varied speakers from all reaches of Dentistry – Special Needs, local anaesthesia, Paediatric Dentistry and Periodontal conditions, Pain Perception and behaviour, and everyone’s favourite – “Dealing with Difficult People”!

recently rhonda kremmer and Wendy Wright presented our membership benefits to 30 soon-to graduate students at Curtin university. the students were encouraged to keep in touch with each other and to contact our association for any advice regarding registration, employment, indemnity insurance and CPD, as we understand that starting out in “real life” practice can be a daunting task. the students were presented with a Dhaa Inc. brochure and a small gift of hand sanitiser from DhaaWa.

We were lucky to attend the National Symposium in Canberra, “Strengthening Connections”… a truly fantastic event that continued the ongoing theme of the interrelationships between oral and general

health, and also cemented the practice of Dental hygiene within the broader scope of preventive healthcare. thank you again to the organising committee of this successful event and for inviting us to share the experience!

this year we celebrate 10 years of DhaaWa and weheld a Sundowner for all current members at a local boutique pub.

In the new year, we are holding another local analgesia update with the popular Professors Marc tennent and John McGeachie…a follow-up to our sell-out event earlier this year. We also have a CPr update course in late February, and many more “back to basics” themed CPD events throughout 2015.

Please keep up to date with our revamped website. We urge you to keep in touch with your representative committee members for any issues or suggestions that you may have.

have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends, and thank you all for your support in 2014. See you on the other side!

Natasha HuntIncoming WA President

Western Australia

WEBSITE

dhaawa.com >

CONTACT

0449 910 455

the 2015 CPD events calendar is already filling up. Full details at www.dhaainfo/events

Key to the state colours

Please email us if you have an event that you want to be included in the calendar

n ACT n New South Wales

n Queensland

n South Australia

n Tasmania n Victoria

n Western Australia

MONTH DaTe/TIMe eVeNT VeNUe

JaN 2015

31 January8:15am - 1:00pm

CPR Upgrade ADAQ CPD & Training Centre 26-28 Hamilton Place, Bowen Hills

31 January8:15am - 1:00pm

First Aid ADAQ CPD & Training Centre 26-28 Hamilton Place, Bowen Hills

FeB 2015

11 February 8:30am - 5:00pm

Medical Emergency Certification Training Centre for Professional Development - Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

14 February9:30 am - 1:00pm

Early Clinical Essentials: Periodontics Day ADAVB Meeting Rooms, Level 3, 10 Yarra Street, South Yarra.

20 February 9:00am - 5:00pm

Some Things Old, Some Things True, Some Things Borrowed and Some Things New

Centre for Professional Development - Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

25 February 8:30am - 5:00pm

The Paediatric Dentition Centre for Professional Development - Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

27 February8:30am - 5:00pm

Anxiety Relief in Dentistry Centre for Professional Development - Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

MaR 2015

13 March8:30am - 5:00pm

Pulpotomies and Stainless Steel Crowns in the Primary Dentition

ADAQ CPD & Training Centre 26-28 Hamilton Place, Bowen Hills

13 March8:30am - 4:30pm

Medical Emergencies in Dental Practice Level 7 Conference Room, Ingkarni Wardli Building, University of Adelaide Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide.

19 March08:30am - 5:00pm

Medical Emergencies in the Dental Practice ADAVB Meeting Rooms, Level 3, 10 Yarra Street, South Yarra.

20 March09:00am - 5:00pm

Primary Dentition Workshop Straumann Training Centre, Port Melbourne

aPR 2015

24 april8:30am - 5:00pm

The Basics of Clinical Photography Centre for Professional Development - Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

30 april09:00am - 5:00pm

Clinical Photography The Melbourne Oral Health and Training Centre, 123 Swanston Street, Carlton.

MaY 2015

15 May8:30am - 5:00pm

Periodontal Therapy Centre for Professional Development 71-73 Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

22 May1:30pm - 5:00pm

Modern Mouthguards - Providing Protection for Your Patients - Afternoon Workshop

Centre for Professional Development 71-73 Lithgow Street St Leonards, NSW

30 May 9:00am - 5:00pm

Anxiety Relief in Dentistry Chisholm Dental Surgery. 3/72 Halley Street, Chisholm

JUN 2015

20 June8.30 am – 5.00pm

Paediatric Pulptomies & Stainless Steel Crowns

Dental Simulation Clinic, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide

SeP 2015

4 September8.30 am – 4.30pm

First Aid and CPR for Dental Personnel Level 7 Conference Room, Ingkarni Wardli Building, University of Adelaide

19 September 8.30am - 5.00pm

Periodontal Instrumentation Workshop Dental Simulation Clinic, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide

NOV 2015

5-7 November National Symposium Westin, Sydney

DHAA Inc.PO BOX 10030Gouger Street, Adelaide SA 5000Email: contact@dhaa.asn.auWebsite: www.dhaa.asn.au

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