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First Annual Spring Fling Hygiene Expo – April 11,
2008
Dr. Robin Henderson
successfully hosted his first annual Hygiene
Expo for over 190 dental hygienists at the Cox
Convention Center in Oklahoma City on April
11th. The meeting was designed to
celebrate dental hygienists, be informative and
fun. It did just that! Because of
the overwhelming positive response on his first
try, Dr. Henderson will continue to host this
annual event every spring for all hygienists.
 Our featured morning speaker,
Anne Guignon, RDH, MPH spoke about The
Epidemics. Both physical disease and social
phenomena create epidemics that transform how we
practice. She helped participants develop
effective diagnostic and communication skills to
deal with a diverse set of issues as well as
identifying effective ways to work with some of
the century’s most complicated patients.
Hygienists were most
pleased with Anne when she gave everyone a large
bag of her favorite products to play with. In
addition, one of Anne’s favorite things to do is
raise money for local charities while traveling
cross country. This trip to Oklahoma was no
exception. Donations were accepted for a chance
to win an Orascoptic Apollo portable LED
headlight. The audience raised $1285 for “The Toothfairy Campaign,” part of the National
Children’s Oral Health Foundation, for Oklahoma
children. Congratulations to Charisa Winfrey
from Edmond who donated $25 and won the prize.
After lunch, Ricky
Williams gave a presentation discussing the
advantages of Arestin and how to incorporate it
in patient care. Later that afternoon was
Ask the Expert question and answer session
with Dr. Henderson. Participants were able to
anonymously write questions that he answered in
front of the audience. We put those Q&A’s on
this website under the FAQ section if you are
curious.
 All learning aside,
many hygienists had an opportunity to reconnect
with former colleagues and friends. Most didn’t
expect all those door prizes, the majority of
which were non dental related. The grand prize
at the end of the day—an iTouch donated by Dr.
Henderson! Congrats to Jennifer Striegel - the
lucky winner! It was a fun filled informative
day with the longest line not at the ladies
restroom or the buffet but rather the free
head/neck massages during lunch. It was overall
a positive experience for all who attended.
Thanks to everyone who made this such a great
success. We look forward to celebrating again
next year.
Perio Boot Camp
If you attended the Spring Fling
Hygiene Expo you were eligible for a real treat,
Perio Boot Camp at Remington
Park. On September 12, approximately 80
hygienists gathered for a free CE hosted by Dr.
Henderson. He
discussed many topics important to hygienists
today but mostly focused on the relationship
between malocclusion and periodontal disease and
how they directly affect each other.
Invisalign representative, Deanne
White, gave a presentation demonstrating how
correcting malocclusion dramatically changes a
patients periodontal situation. The pictures
explained it all.
The case types and difficulty
levels Invisalign doctors are challenged with
today are not the same as they were a few years
ago. What we thought were “too difficult” for
Invisalign are in fact becoming very common and
truly successful.
We were reminded that one of the
many obligations as a hygienist is to discuss
occlusion with our patients. We
 sometimes assume
a patient won’t consider ortho or perhaps
financially not able to do it, yet it is still
important to
educate them just as we do with
oral hygiene products, restorations, oral
cancer, blood pressure, etc. Make it a part of
every conversation.
Of course, all work and no play
makes for a boring day. Going with the “Boot
Camp” theme we asked attendees to don their
favorite camouflage and boy did they show up in
full gear, some with original war equipment from
military family members. It wasn’t easy but we
selected two winning groups.
Brianne Carter with Dr. LaBahn’s
office and Abbee Geissler from Dr. Shafer’s
office, both in El Reno, had matching
outfits with an original idea of a floss
necklace as their dog tags.
Dr. Pat Woods hygienists won Best
Team. Marty Stoddghill, Nancy Jarman and Susan
Shelden were really decked out in camo including
just about anything dental hanging off their
uniforms like prophy angles, toothbrushes,
forceps, even a partial for a little bling!
Congratulations to them and all
the other door prize winners. Dr. Henderson’s
staff appreciates all the positive feedback we
received and look forward to more fun CE courses
in the future.
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